Considering not fully completing college to pursue Real Estate

[Blake Ramsey]

Hey everyone, my name is Blake and I'm a mechanical engineering major at a community college in Springfield, Mo. I have been diving into real estate for a little over a year and I am now confident it is what I want to center my career around. I am currently working on my associate's at OTC and had plans to continue my education and get a bachelor's at either MSU or MS&T, but I am now considering not going down that route. I think the opportunity cost is too great and my time spent on school work can be better put to use to further my real estate career. I know that going to college and doing real estate are not mutually exclusive and often go hand in hand, but I am not so certain that is the path I want to take. I'm not doing this because I don't like school or because I think that real estate is the "easy way out", but because I believe that my current goals will be better met if I were to commit full-time to accomplishing them.

Just so I can challenge myself and test my own commitment to this decision, I have set some goals for myself to accomplish before I will allow myself to leave school. They are to: 1) develop relationships with 3-5 investors in the area that I can learn from, and 2) save up $7500 to put towards a down payment for my first sfr house hack.

I'm not posting this fishing for responses that justify my decision, but rather to get perspectives from any of you who might have had similar experiences or have their own opinions on my situation that can help me see things differently.

If there are any investors in the 417 who happen to come across this, I'd love to get the opportunity to connect with you!

[Joe Villeneuve]

Finish school. What you learn at school is a lot more than what's specific to Engineering, and it doesn't prevent you from investing in RE. However, if you quit school now, and REI doesn't work out (keep in mind, investments aren't always consistent in getting paid), you'll regret not finishing school. If you do finish school, and REI does work out, then your worst case is you have the option to do both.

That's the key.  The word both. You're young, you have the time to do both.