Newbie Architect Type in the Chicagoland Area (Advice at end)

[Jonathan Miller]

Good Morning Everyone,

I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Jonathan Miller, I'm 28, and I graduated last year with a Masters of Architecture. I have 4 years of experience in the field, have done work updating a few houses, and am working on becoming licenced.  However, after working the 8-5 daily grind I've realized that architecture isn't going to be the best retirement plan (unless I start my own firm). Since my passion is residential architecture, I decided to start looking into real estate investment. 

After doing some research and realizing there are different avenues I can take on this journey, I met up with someone from my church group who works at a firm as a real estate investor. He suggested that my best avenue would be to get in on the real estate side of things for the best cash flow. (He also said it's easier to get into real estate this way because a lot of construction companies already have the market saturated). I love to learn and want to get in on the real estate side, but I still want to be able to utilize my technical and design skills. Any advice for a newbie?

I also realize I need to post a picture of myself in my profile. I will once I get home from work tonight. 

Thanks in advance and I'm excited to talk with and learn from everyone!

[Tyler Hiatt]

Whoa, I never thought I would see any other architects (or pursuing licensure) on BP! @Jonathan Miller, I'm in the same place. Extremely interested in real estate investing and the "architect as developer" form of practice (check out what Jonathan Segal is doing www.jonathansegalarchitect.com/ ) @Jared W Smith, I have the same question as Jonathan... how are our unique skillsets applicable in this space? I've had a lot of trouble sorting out where the designer fits.