Starting out on my own...

[Justin K]

Greetings everyone, great forum! My name is Justin and this is my first post. I'm looking for general advice and I hope you can help me.

I'm 20 y.o., in my second year in college studying engineering and quickly finding out that it's not my cup of tea. My uncle is a real estate investor, owns and manages several residential and commercial properties. I had watched him over the years work and interact with folks - bankers, developers, contractors, etc. and been attracted to real estate ever since. I've been contemplating dropping out and asked my uncle if I can work with him but the whole family got involved and they're all trying to discourage me, and even convinced my uncle not to speak to me until "I got my degree!"

Anyway, I've been thinking about starting out on my own and proving myself without anyone's help. I've contemplated switching to business school and work to develop my real estate education. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on, I've also thought about getting a real estate license, try to get some internship in a real estate office, join and network through the local real estate associations, and just work on some deals myself. I've been able to save over $30K through some work and stock investments.

Anyway, what do you recommend for someone young, starting out, who really wants to be involved in real estate as a long term career?

[Mark Updegraff]

Hey Justin,
Welcome to the site! Engineering is a bit different, so I see your desire to drop out. Have you thought about switching? Thought about an entrepreneurial program?

This will be a tough decision. I think it would depend a lot on how much aid you're getting and how much debt you'll have when you get done.

Remember, a lot of skills are transferable, so if you just don't want to do school work, I don't think that is a good reason to drop out. If it is the debt, maybe a good reason.

Things that I think are important to get out of advanced schooling.
1. Public speaking! Very important, and there is no exception, but doing it. In a technical degree, there should be lots of opportunity to advance your skills in that respect.
2. Perseverance! Ugrad was hard, and grad was harder. I never spent as much time working as when I was in grad school. All nighters on the lab floor for one hour with no pillow... ahh, yes, work work work work work work work, shut your eyes, more coffee and then work work work work work. It really made me much better with time management, goals, work ethic. After all, you don't want to let your advisors down!
3. Mentors! Being around teachers and researchers that love what they do is a great environment. And guess what? They don't just know about what they teach in school. You would be surprised all the great lessons you'll learn over a beer, or at the park.

You can get so much out of school, but you've got to want to get it!
Cheers,
Mark