Career Advice - May 2022 Grad

[Drew Hoye]

Hello BP Community,

I am looking for advice on which career path to take, and I think it will be helpful to get other investors opinions as no one in my family/friend circle is into RE investing. I am 23 and will be graduating in May with a Finance degree with an emphasis in Real Estate. I bought my first duplex toward the end of last year and am currently renovating it. I know my long and end game is real estate investing and I'm trying to figure out the best way to scale my RE business through my career.

Background: I have been doing hardwood flooring since I was about 13 (learning from my father) and have actually started my own business in 2019. I had to take last year off of school due to a series of concussions so I got a taste of my income potential doing flooring full time. I paid myself around 75k (no employees, working solo) in 2021 which I realize is a good income but now that I will have a degree I am debating getting out of the physical labor into a different career. I am more or less looking for the best option to fund my real estate investments. The most appealing options that I have looked into other than continuing my flooring trade are 1) some type of sales role as I like the idea of earning commission w/ a base and getting out of something of what I put in. 2) Construction Project Management / Site Engineer. I have also tossed around the idea of becoming a RE agent for residential or a broker for commercial. I am weary of doing an agent role because they generally have no base salary and it can take months for a new agent to see any form of payment due to the nature of the job and being new, needing to network and build a client base/ book of business. 

Any thoughts, opinions, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read my situation.