All Forum Posts by: Brian W.

Hi Brian,

As a dentist myself, I thought I could chime in.  I had a bit of a chuckle when I read this, "Dentistry seems like a relatively quick route to a six figure salary"  It is quick, in that you can get out of school and instantly make over $100k.  The problem is that dental school costs north of $300k now.  Given that you already have $20k in student loans, I am making the assumption that you don't have a large trust fund to pay for dental school with.  I didn't either, and neither did my wife.  We left school owing over $600k in student loans before we had ever worked a day.  Now, 7 years later, we still owe about 40% of that, albeit mostly at very low interest rates.

All that said, I just signed up for BP because I am looking at a possible real estate deal and need some advice, but it has taken me 7 years to get here, and the only reason I am looking at real estate at this point is because we would like to own the building that our practice is in, and it has become available for purchase if we would like.

Dentistry is a difficult profession.  Those doctors working 3 days a week are spending at least another day a week managing their practice.  They also spend lots more time keeping up with the ever changing technology and services by taking many hours of continuing education.  

Please, don't let me talk you out of the dental field, it is an incredible profession!  But there are tons of great jobs with excellent salaries that you can get with a 4 year degree that don't come with the $2k/month debt service that dental school does.  

Best of luck, if you are serious about attending dental school and have questions, by all means, let me know!

Ryan

Brian W. There's a million things that I don't know about investing in real estate, so I have attempted to surround myself with those that do know these things. This is called managed risk. If I was going to advise you on baby steps, the first would be to manage you first. You are the foundation on which your building on, if you are not secure then it all falls down around you. Then manage your team, most assume they don't have a team yet, but never get into real estate without a team!! Your team members don't have to work for you, but you need to be able to assemble them if necessary. For example: the floor in my rental house collapsed last week, so I had to assemble my four man floor crew to fix it and now that it's fixed they returned to their full time jobs. You need team members for every category. Next you need to understand a little about everything, if you don't know about construction then take a free course that lowes gives. Knowledge is power!! I can go on and on, but hopefully I've answered your question.

When you were born you were completely dependent on others, then you learned to crawl(still dependent), then you learned to walk(still dependent, after that you learned to run(still dependent), the question is how much has things changed. Ambition and dreams are great, but you also need experience, infrastructure, ect... You can do it but crawl first. Good luck

No!

Brian - good work on trying to get a jump on planning and RE Investing.  I wish I would've started earlier like you.

Like others said, you will have a difficult time getting a conventional mortgage with your credentials.  What is your anticipated salary upon graduation? How long will you be in school?  Unless you're getting a PhD, then just get by and live minimally until you graduate and then look at getting into a property when you have real income, a W-2, etc.  Too many variables in this situation I think.  

Good luck -

@Brian W.

I would do it and also take on much more you can handle in other aspects of your life.  

Your current job doesn't pay much, but stick with it if it pays more in knowledge.  In college I have several unpaid positions that people around me thought was foolish.

Side note the college debt I don't like, but the thought of being 10 years younger and balancing on my hands much more risk is something I would pay to rewind.

Frank

Brian,

You haven't specified what exactly you want to do in real estate.  You mention about a business.  What kind of business?  Flipping business?  Property Management Business?  

Most dentists I know work hard and work full time.  Sure there are always a few that seems to be doing extra well, but don't expect that will be you, especially coming out of school.  You will need to establish a practice, get a steady loyal patient base, and work in an area that has high income or good payor mix.  In the latter areas, you would expect a lot of competition already.  Another way is to join an existing group practice, but for a number of years, as a junior associate, you would be making less than your fair share to "buy in".  You also have to factor in the student debt accrued by going to dental school.

It depends on your end goal.  I wouldn't recommend going into dentistry as a means to start a real estate business.  That seems like a tremendous waste of time and capital.  However, if you love dentistry, but also would like to invest in real estate on the side, then go for it.