What college major would be helpful for real estate investing?

[Logan Wells]

So many of the success stories I hear seem to have real estate as a side job unrelated to their major then it turns into a full time job.

Is it better to:

-Go to college (WHICH MAJOR)

or

-Not go to college, put $ to investing in real estate

[Andrew Fielder]

Always invest in your education (as long as it adds value). Real Estate is definitely one of those areas that you can be successful without a degree. However I would say there's definitely higher chances of you meeting your financial goals with a degree than without. That's basically due to most well paying companies requiring at least a bachelors degree to be hired. Most people start working for someone else, then once they get experience in their field then they branch out into their own operations. Some people are lucky enough to have family money but that's not the majority.

In my situation I felt that a degree could offer me the pathway to succeed in real estate by providing me the education and the better opportunities in Real Estate. I completed both a bachelor of business administration and a masters of real estate and I can tell you that it has opened many doors/opportunities for me. I also placed importance on working in the industry while I was going to school to get the real world experience as well. The network gained from those universities has also been an extremely valuable resource.

My one caveat with getting a degree is that you need to be doing a degree that adds value to your real estate goals. Eg. a degree in biology is not going to add value in real estate. If the university you want to go to doesn't offer real estate then do business. I highly recommend this for an undergraduate course as it gives you a good understanding in many different areas of business eg. accounting, marketing, management, finance etc. Then you can choose your electives to be real estate courses.

Right now I'm working at CBRE, which again wouldn't be possible to work there as now even most sales positions require a 4 year related degree. You can learn a lot of good things from a company like the major commercial agencies CBRE/JLL/M&M/C&W/Colliers etc. and is extremely valuable to building a solid network.

Obviously getting a university education costs money so that's a big consideration. For me I'm fine with having some debt because I know that the increased pay from my education will more than pay for itself. Currently I have about $25k on an interest free loan. Plus there's so many scholarships out there that can help you financially.

Personally I leveraged everything I could out of my universities. I made sure to make a lot of friends because that means a bigger network and plus school isn't all about studying. I took as many real estate classes at university that I could, which helped me qualify for my brokers license and the university sponsored students to get an ARGUS certification which is a major requirement for most commercial real estate companies. I was offered internships with developers due to my connection with the university. I participated in the real estate association... etc. you get the point, I made the most of my time there, I didn't just show up to class and go home. People like Curt (no offense Curt), probably didn't go to university, or if he did, went to a really crappy one, or didn't network properly, or didn't participate like he should of, etc. The good universities usually have excellent faculty that know theory isn't going to help their students succeed in the real world. Especially at the masters level you'll find that every course has a good mix of theory and practical assignments that are useful in the workplace. Plus most of the faculty are active industry professionals so they are the ones that have connections to other investors/companies. One of my professors even hired me on to his real estate development company. So just keep that in mind, there's more to university than just going to class and learning theory and it's a good idea to supplement your studies with real estate internships.

Ultimately if you're committed to making it in the real estate industry, a good education in a related field from a good university will go along way to helping you succeed long term. Can you be successful without a degree? Yes. Are you more likely to succeed with a degree? Yes.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.