Conflicted Should I Major in Accounting or Real Estate Finance

[Daniel Bronstein]

Hello Bigger Pockets community my name is Daniel and I am currently an Accounting Major at Baruch College. To get straight to the point I want to pursue a career in REI, but I don't have sufficient funds to do so. I would love to be studying the Real Estate Finance course at my college as I believe it will help me in my future REI endeavors, but as for getting a job out of school the odds will be highly against me. On the contrary if I stick with Accounting job opportunities are highly available especially in New York. So, do I stick with the major that isn't my passion and hope to have enough money to pursue REI in the future or go head first into the Real Estate Finance major learn in depth about all aspect of Real Estate and figure the rest out funding later. I hope some of you understand my dilemma and any input I will greatly appreciate.

[Matt Leber]

@Daniel Bronstein I'll probably be the only one to say this but if you like them both equally, accounting. You'll have almost a guaranteed job and a good one at that. One of the biggest assets for funding your REI will be your personal savings from your career. You can do all the REI math you want without a major in real estate finance. You cannot do all the accounting you want without your CPA. Plus, your accounting degree should teach you tons of useful things for when you get into REI. Maybe you can specialize your career. Tons of investors on here are always looking for a CPA with real estate experience.

I majored in finance and minored in real estate. I learned tons in my two real estate classes and it grew my interest. And the classes overlapped and counted for my major. Are you able to minor?

Of course if your passion for real estate finance is so strong it consumes you, you should go for it. Good luck! Sounds like you can’t go wrong either way!