I would say look into purchasing Apartments complex's and after you start to build your capital then start to invest in bigger properties.I am 24, a syndicator, and invest in large multi-family.

Unless you really want to do complex models or really want to learn about M1 and M2 money supplies you can probably get away with some really good books by experts in the field (non-academia).One more question unrelated to college: My ultimate goal is to make passive income off buy and hold real estate investments, but that isn't a day job I can start out with.

The only way we were going to be successful is if we found an architect and construction manager with decades of experience who could help us navigate the complex waters of real estate development.

There are a couple new apartment complexes and condos being built in the area as well.

I would purchase 2 properties in the $300-350k range in a growing market and break even or even put in a couple hundred every month and just hold and wait with the end in mind to sell and 1031 all of the capital gain into a large multifamily complex or something along that nature. 

I read another post where @Mindy Jensen commented on the complexity of adding to the search functionality, so this probably isn't an easy add.

Did you end up buying an apartment complex?

I'll add in some thoughts.Risk analysis is complex and unsolvable, and a certain level of risk is acceptable. 

We had several conversations with local apartment complex owners in the area, starting to attend investor meetups which then led to us attending classes learning about syndication with commercial real estate and BOOM we had found something we could be passionate about and something we both enjoy learning about! 

A key question we are asking is how large a complex can the market handle?