BiggerPockets

As someone who is about to graduate college with a degree in accounting, what path would you suggest taking with the end goal of owning/managing a real estate investment company?

One option is starting at a cpa firm and trying to specialize in the real estate department. The other option is to go wok for an accounting department in an established real estate investment company.

I can see both having advantages and disadvantages, so I would like your opinions on this. For those of you with experience, if you could go back and pick between either of these options which would you go for?

Thanks for the quick reply..aside from the reasons you gave, working for a REI firm would leave me more time to obtain properties and work on forming my own business. Working for a cpa firm would probably have me logging 60-70 hours per week. The advantage I saw from working at a cpa firm would be the knowledge I would gain of the tax code and how to take advantage of it.

I am on a similar path. I did not know what I wanted to do in college so I majored in accounting in order to better understand how businesses operate. I knew someday I would want to run my own company, but did not know what industry I wanted to go in. I ended up with my cpa and went to work for a family owned real estate company that developed, acquired and managed office, retail, multifamily and single family developments. I've hung around the same company for over 20 years now. I got distracted from my original goal of owning my own company due to work, marriage and babies. Last year I decided it's about time that I create my own wealth rather than just for the owners of the company.

So, I think it depends on several factors. You could go to work for a cpa firm for a few years to "pay your dues". It looks good on your resume. Many cpa's end up going to work for their clients. Or, if real estate is your passion, get your accounting degree and find a real estate firm that specializes in what interests you the most and start learning the business.

Congratulations on thinking beyond this year! It sounds like you are on the right path, regardless of which way you go!

Originally posted by Ralph Scott

I have to ask, just what is your definition of a REI Company that would hire entry level accounting grads right out of college? Are you aware of any, and if so, what do these new hires do for the company after they join?

I'm talking about a company that acquires and manages properties. Something like what tod mentioned he does. I've looked for "real estate accountant" jobs on sites like monster.com...and it seems like they exist?!? Are you implying they don't?