Should I go to college?

Question

Hello,

I would like to introduce myself to everyone, my name is Max I am a 21 year old student that is just starting out fully pursuing real estate. I have been in the loop for around a year now. I met a local investor that caught my attention and got me involved, too bad it ended up being a pyramid scheme trying to sell real estate education blah blah blah. Anyways ever since that point i started taking real estate seriously. It became my dream and passion and I would like to reach out to everyone on the forums for a little advice. I am currently working part time at AT&T making pretty good money for what I do. Now is my biggest dilemma. Should I pursue college? What types of degrees would benefit me with my real estate dreams and do you even recommend on going to college or should i just chase my dream and commit to this %100. Thank You.

Derek B. · Answer

@Maciej Michalak Max, as was mentioned, college can open up doors for you. The connections can be very valuable to your business.  Depending on what you study and what your investment path is, the education can be beneficial.  Remember that you don't have to go to school full time or move away and live In a dorm. Go to a state univ where you can live at home or with a relative. Go part time and work for a rehabber or another investor to learn the business before launching on your own.   As for what to study, pick something that interests you that will benefit your business- finance, accounting, marketing, architecture, construction technology, construction management, project management, any of the engineering fields, to name  a few. Best of luck to you.

Mitch Coluzzi · Answer

Well.. college comes with a double edged sword.  In college I met a lot of connections, who opened a LOT of real estate doors for me... but I also spent 60% of my time in class / studying and only 40% on RE.  I was able to learn from others mistakes and put away a pretty good chunk of change in college while working for investors.  Post college I got a great job with steady income that allowed me to apply that savings along with steady cash-flow to really start investing.

Just because you attend college does not mean you cannot be actively persuing a RE education and/or investing personally.   Or visa versa...  In fact, even if you do not WANT to attend college... college professors are a great resource to appeal to regardless of enrollment status.  They are literally WAITING in office hours for a motivated individual to ask for their tutelage.

In summary: College was my catalyst but that does not mean it will be yours.  It is an investment, if you pull the trigger do your best to do so wisely.

Maciej Michalak · Answer

Thank you everybody for your responces, it deffinetly opens my eyes a little and gives me great advice. At this age it gets a little frustrating trying to figure out your path but your anwsers most definetly opened up my mind. I will keep figuring out goals and strategies for my future. Thank You

Mark Gallagher · Answer

@Maciej Michalak if you learn more by "doing" rather than "learning" - I would give serious consideration to not attending college. 4 years of college can set you 4 years back from your dream. Less and less people seem to know the "trades" in this country. If you want to be a rehabber, I would find someone in your area an try to hop on board their crew. In 4 years, you'll EARN money while LEARNING the business. In 4 years or less, you'll meet enough connections and hopefully be able to source the funds to make your own deals happen. Pick up side jobs, work 80+ hours. At $15/hr, in 4 years that's $124,800 income working 40 hours a week. On college, you would be spending $40,000+ and have lost 4 years of income. I know a lot of very successful, high school graduates (some GED even). In my opinion, unless you're going to be a doctor or some specialized field, college prepares you for a career. If you spend those 4 years in the real world, you'll be prepared for LIFE.

James Wise · Answer

@Maciej Michalak

welcome to the site.

Maciej Michalak · Answer

I am in the process of getting my finances straight saving as much money as I can to start doing rehabs. This is my and my girlfriends dream. Rehab pros. She is considering in becoming a Real estate agent and I want to be the guy to put it all together. Like you said college is an enormous commitment and for me personally is a little over rated to some extent. I am the kind of person that has to plan ahead and see the end of the road. Going to school and taking general education classes does not make me excited. It makes me believe I am wasting time and money, But on the other hand being well educated in an area that could benefit me in real estate is definitely something I would like to do. Thank You

Nathan Emmert · Answer

What avenue of real estate do you plan to follow?  If you want to buy and hold, W2s are helpful.  If you're going to fix and flip, you're probably better off going to a tech institute type place and learning a trade.  If you're going to develop from scratch, who knows... or maybe just take the realtor classes so you can do that for some part time income.  College is a HUGE financial commitment if you don't plan to directly apply what you're going to learn in a career.

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