Ways to prepare for a future in commercial real estate investing

[Lukas Briggs]

Hey, I am 17 and am very interested in a future in commercial real estate investing. I am currently interning for a friend of mine that owns a real estate investment company and am learning at a very slow pace due to only being there once a week. I am looking for any advice on how to prepare for such a career as a teenager; whether it be books to read, articles, ways to get more experience, or tips on skills and habits to develop. Thanks in advance.

[Guy Gimenez]

Sounds like you'd be well served to locate a partner no regardless of whether you go residential or commercial. 

Now, here is my standard response to new investors regarding step one.

The journey always begins with introspection. The first  step is always consider WHY you want to invest. If you don't have a very strong reason to start an entrepreneurial endeavor, you will surely fail early and often and in no time at all you'll quit. When your "WHY" is so big, so strong, so internalized...you will sacrifice almost anything (outside your health and family) and everything to succeed. You will devote every free minute to learning, to developing relational capital and to removing the barriers that are often put in place by long-time friends, co-workers and even family.

There is so much more to investing that reading a book or attending a seminar...it's work, it's time consuming, it's emotional. It's about growing personally and professionally every day.