Another College Dropout?

Question

Hello BiggerPockets forum! It has come to my attention that the topic of "college dropouts" has sprouted a seed of slight interest in a few discussions. Though having only joined BiggerPockets very recently, I couldn't help but to take part.

I am currently 20 and yes, I too am a recent college dropout. Call me crazy (as some already have) but I wish to instill my perspective and the vision that I have planned for my future on those who happen to cross this post. First, I must mention that I am not asking for advice on "what to do next" or "how to get started" because I already have a vision for myself.

I will try my best to keep my points short but I should readdress that I am not so ignorant to think that my way is the only nor correct way to live life for all people are uniquely special.

Why pay to be taught when you can teach yourself/acquire free knowledge? During my time at college, I was the type of student to never show up to lectures yet achieve straight A's in all my classes. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn but I personally found self-teaching to be more effective in exercising a desire and passion to learn. Self-teaching can also be utilized in real estate especially with the seemingly unlimited and FREE resources of the internet (as well as BiggerPockets). I also found that investing in business/real estate/mindset books is not only cheaper compared to the hundreds poured into college textbooks but also more applicable than gen-eds that are soon forgotten the next semester. It is true that some people need structure and need guidance to be encouraged to learn which is why the education system is perfect for them. I am speaking for the other side of that.
"Real estate will still be here 4 years from now so finish your degree." It is a known fact that if you hesitate in real estate, you can potentially miss out on a home-run deal. Though real estate will always be around, I am a firm believer that our time on Earth is limited and we should aim to accomplish our goals as soon as possible rather than "waiting for the right time".
"90% of small businesses fail." For those who are all in and are aiming big (as I am) this number should be comforting. "If you are aiming for the top 1% you must be willing to to what the 99% isn't." Everyone is bound to fail eventually but those who truly wish for success will only learn from those failures and continue forward.
Networking can be done outside of college!

This post went on longer than I had intended and I apologize in advance for that. In no way was I trying to bash the education system nor offend anyone in my statements. I am speaking from a personal experience and I fully realize that all cases are different. (I love education and the education system. I was a Secondary Mathematics Education Major before I dropped out. I hope to come back to teach high schoolers once I reach financial independence.)

To conclude, I would like to post my next immediate goal to state to everyone how I will begin my journey. I intend on house-hacking my way into a duplex/triplex as a way to get my foot in the door. Though seemingly small, all big things must begin somewhere.

Jason D. · Answer

@Jason Tran so how have you leveraged your time after dropping out to do "what the 99%" arent doing?What are your long term goals? It my opinion that dropping out of college in order to pursue RE investing, is short sighted. You're sacrificing long term goals for short term gratification. 99% of RE investors start while having a W2 job, and the better paying the W2 job, the better chance of success you'll have in RE investing. To start in real estate, you need money, experience, or hustle. Dropping out of college means you'll have less money, obviously, being new, you have no experience, so I'm assuming that you have hustle. So that leads to my first question, and I hop that you have been busting your a$$ since dropping out. Building your network, attending REI meetings, joining a mastermind, etc.... If you havent been doing that already, I dont believe that you have the hustle to overcome the lack of money.

Jason D. · Answer

It's great that you've started, but then the question becomes, what are you doing for money? How do you plan on purchasing this "house hack"? Creative financing doent work with traditional lending, so you need verifiable income to use and FHA or other conventional method of purchase. This is why you stay in school. You graduate and get a well paying job, and then executing your plan is that much easier.Take it from someone that left college because it was not getting me to my goals fast enough and i thought that i was a hustler. I had great work ethic, and im extremely intelligent, but without college, I became a tradesman, had to work my a$$ off to save money, and now I'm 41, still working in that same trade, and I wasnt able to scale nearly as quickly as I would have had I stayed in school, get my accounting degree (my major at the time I left), and got a high paying job.I'm not saying that it cant be done, and I wish you all of the thick in the world, but for every Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, there are a million of me. You dont have to beat the 99%, you have to beat the 99.99%

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

Here's another good one:"The Real Estate Investor's Pocket Calculator" by Michael C. ThomsettHowever, learning Math isn't the same thing as learning how money works.

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

LOL. I wasn't offended. If you feel the need/want to discuss this further, or to bounce an idea off of me, let me know.

Orlando De Los Santos · Answer

Way to go, Jason, it seems you are determined to your RE investment journey, that is great. Although you mentioned valid points as to why college might not be the best option for you based on your goals, it is still crucial for the development of a career with the right degree. Although individuals like Grant Cardone who graduated from Accounting did not become a CPA, it is evident he has used what he learned to pivot into his RE empire. College is as useful or as useless as one makes it seem to be. Many things can be learned outside of formal education, however, many things can also be learned because of formal education. Study something that is going to add value to your vision, but one does not compensate for the lack of the other.

Jack Inman · Answer

@Jason Tran You can teach yourself the math aspect fairly easily. A great book for the math heavy side of real estate is Real Estate Valuation - Principles and Applications by Kenneth M Lusht. If I were in your shoes, I'd consider getting a job working in residential construction/renovation. Having the extra cash from that job plus the knowledge of renovation costs would be helpful.

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

You say you want to learn, and yet you took what I just wrote as criticism? I just gave you a stack of education, and you missed it all. My friend, my fear is that you really are not interested in learning unless that knowledge is handed to you...and obvious...and I say that not as a criticism, but as an observation.

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

A - It's easier to get cash than financing.B - The analysis I was asking you to do has nothing at all to do with BRRRRC - I would suggest that before you do anything, you learn how to do 3 things well, which includes an intimate knowledge of what they mean, and how to use them as one: 1 - How to analyze Markets (not properties)...and 90% of the REA don't know how to do this for a REI. 2 - How Money Works. As an example: If you started with 1 penny, and doubled the previous day's total every day for 30 days, i.e...day 1 = 2, day 2 = 4, and so on...), how much money would you have at the end of 30 days? 3 - How to design a Plan, and not "get distracted by shiny objects" while following it...and, House Hacking to REFI out of it, isn't what I'm talking about. That's not really a plan in the first place anyway. That's just a strategy that you might use at some point(s) within the plan to execute that plan.D - Memorize this number sequence. 1073741824. It's the secret to REI success.

Matt Groth · Answer

@Jason Tran if you weren't going to class, you should have had plenty of time to get the degree with a 4.0, AND go all in on real estate at the same time.

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

As an ex math major, can you tell me how to calculate the future returns on a REI that you paid cash for now (20% down) and had a cash flow potential and future flip profit potential where you reinvested all of your profit potential back into your system which resulted in a compounding effect return...spread over the next 15 years?