Dropping out to become an investor

[Kenneth Noronha]

Hi BP,

I wanted to get your opinion on something that's been bugging me for a while now. First off, I'm 18 (turning 19 in a month) and I'm in my first year at McMaster in Hamilton in the engineering program. At the beginning of university I discovered RE investing and biggerpockets as well. I got very interested in the thought of creating a business on something that has been proven before and I now find it more interesting than ever. 

What I wanted to do is possibly pursue RE a few years after getting a job as an automotive engineer after getting a master's degree since I love cars. I also thought it would take years to book learn the business and I thought I had to have that in order to succeed. While I still think this is true, I realized that you need a lot of time and real life experience to succeed in the business as well. As the year went on I also realized that automotive engineering isn't what I thought it would be. 

My current position is that I want to drop out of school and pursue RE investing full time and do whatever it takes to succeed because that's my only option and goal. School work and clubs currently drag me down in terms of time and keep me from learning much about RE every day and it annoys me because I just want to get going and keep learning. While I get good grades, I just feel like studying for this degree is going to be useless to me because I want to build my own business and hate the idea of working for someone else for my whole life in the field I would like to be in. I have a plan on what I'm going to do as soon as summer starts, but I just wanted to get your opinion.

Sorry for the long post!

[Linda S.]

Unless you have an new way to get capital, banks will want proof of income.    You need funding, either through loans or credit, so again without building credit, it's a very steep slope.    I'd strongly suggest you stay in school, get a job as an engineer, and then leverage it that way to house hack and build from there.   After you get some equity in your first multi-family house, then you leverage yourself to more properties.   In the meantime, take additional classes on basic electrical/plumbing, etc, that stuff is HUGE when it comes to maintenance and low term rentals.      

Also, find a mentor in your area, and offer to work for free on the weekends so you can see what it's really like!   When you see the real numbers, both $$ and time wise, and not to mention if you help with the physical work,  you'll get a better grasp to see if it's what you want to pursue.   Good luck!