Thoughts from the Seasoned BP investors/mentors pls...
Port Orange, FL · Member since 2017 · 32 posts · 16 votes
So here is the situation:
I'm retiring from the military next year and can't really figure out what to spend my GI Bill (education benefits) on. I could pursue a Business degree or I could use my benefits to enter an apprenticeship to learn how to be a carpenter, electrician, plumber or any other trade. My ultimate goal is to become a REI, buy and hold properties for rental purposes. I also have the choice to move anywhere in Florida. With that said, I have a few questions.
1. What route do you think I should go that would be advantageous to my goal, Business degree or apprenticeship? or anything else that would be helpful...
2. If you were starting as a new REI, where in Florida would you move in order to improve your odds for success? I currently live in Port Orange near Daytona Beach.
Thank you in advance for your guidance!
Dario
@Dario Contreras, congrats on your upcoming retirement. As a fellow active duty military member I know what that truly means. Great job!
As for the GI bill, here are my two cents. I would say do both. If you want to have a great business then you will need some background. Why not take some business classes, and at the same time, find a general contractor to work for on the side. Learn how to paint, lay carpet, execute basic handyman stuff so that when you do start growing your investment portfolio you can knock some of that stuff out on your own. This way you know what a typical contractor charges, how long jobs should really take. Then, when you decide to hire all that stuff out, you are familiar with the entire process, etc...
Good luck!
@Dario Contreras, congrats on your upcoming retirement. As a fellow active duty military member I know what that truly means. Great job!
As for the GI bill, here are my two cents. I would say do both. If you want to have a great business then you will need some background. Why not take some business classes, and at the same time, find a general contractor to work for on the side. Learn how to paint, lay carpet, execute basic handyman stuff so that when you do start growing your investment portfolio you can knock some of that stuff out on your own. This way you know what a typical contractor charges, how long jobs should really take. Then, when you decide to hire all that stuff out, you are familiar with the entire process, etc...
Good luck!
@Account Closed: can you post a link to that. I tried looking it up on amazon and all I got was
The Creative Real Estate Investor's Notebook of 525 Rehab, Remodeling, Repair, and Maintenance Secrets (v 2.2) and I don't think you mean this book. I am interested in that notebook. Thanks!!!
also I agree with @Kevin Hunter and maybe think about both. In the beginning you are at a natural knowledge disadvantage to a contractor because you don't know know how to rehab and can be taken for a ride - I was. So learning at least how to do certain things will make you a better consumer of those services. As far as business not a bad idea however you will be learning many of those lessons first hand in your own business but I am a guy who loves classes so I say go - yes I was that nerd in high school who liked learning... As far as moving, how about checking out your backyard first. I am sure you can find some rentals or vacation rentals that make sense around Daytona Beach. May take some digging but I always say start in your backyard!! Happy Hunting!!
@Dario Contreras, Congrats! We are in the same boat. My husband just got out. Try to find a business program with a focus in entrepreneurial real estate. There was a program my husband was looking at in Tampa, also a good city for veterans and real estate if you want to move to a new city in FL. I think it was USF (@Dan Krupa feel free to chime in). It was on our list of possible places to settle but KC won out. Some business classes are helpful but I have my MBA and can tell you there a lot of fluff classes in there. I found financial, accounting, and business strategy courses to be the most beneficial. Also, project management courses are helpful. It's free education AND who doesn't like BAH? Best of luck!
@Dario Contreras, Hello from Tampa. You remind me of my choices when I was fifteen and what I did when I was seventeen years old. I said that I would start with learning Blue Collar Trades. The two best paying trades are Plumbing and Electrician. Plumbing is the easier as all you have to know is that "Crap flows downhill." In my day the first question with plumbing was if you could dig a ditch and carry heavy, cast iron pipe. I did not want to do that and now we use PVC pipes for most work, but, you still have to dig ditches if you do the sewer hookups. During my time I have tried to learn Electrical installations on my own and I did start a Trade School course, but, gave up to be a Welder in the Oil Field. The question would be if you have an aptitude for math and the Ohms Law and schematics to learn how to be an Electrician. In any case, you can take cheap, $150 a semester, Trade School courses at places like our Hillsborough Community College and learn all the trades, including Carpentry in a couple of years. You can take adult courses and study at night after your Day JOB. There are five Trade Schools near Daytona Beach if you Google a Search for them. In S. Miami I would take courses at night and one of the teachers was taking each trade course and getting certified to teach each one. He was finishing the Upholstery course just before Hurricane Andrew destroyed that school in Perine. When I was welding a jack up rig, on the night shift in Corpus Christi, Texas, we finished the JOB and got laid off at a time when JOB's were scarce. The Cuban refugee who was working on my shift, taught me the lesson that every young person in our USA needs to learn. In order to prepare for Life, all young girls and boys should be required to take Trade School courses instead of Social Studies crap. That way they can have gainful employment when they finish High School and at least know how to read and write and do a JOB that pays more than Minimum Wage. The Cuban refugee had is box of Mechanics tools in the trunk of his car and the day we got laid off, he already had been hired by the Chevrolet Dealership, with Benefits. He said that in Cuba, all the girls and boys are required to learn three trades as they study to read and write. So, the Blue Collar trades was my first concern. Then, I thought, I would learn White Collar JOB's as I go along in Life and end up sometime in an Office and stop working with my hands. That would be your Business Management and Real Estate courses. Those courses can also be done online, at home, in your spare time and at Community College and private Schools. You don't need a University Degree to Buy and Hold and Refinance and Flip Houses. You can get a Real Estate License and I have seen on BP blogs, that there is a good instructor with seminars in St. Petersburg. I never worked in an Office, but, I did own and sail my own Yacht for six years and sailed to almost all the islands in the Carribean and Brazil and Argentina before becoming a Welder. Then, I studied to get the biggest Captain's license possible with Celestial Navigation and run crew and supply vessels and joined the MM&P Union where I worked on Oil Tankers. I had learned Spanish and Portuguese on my travels and on my months off from the ships I was building cheap houses in Brazil to rent. On the ships I studied how to fulfill my Third Goal and make Money with Stocks and Mutual Funds and I made $100,000 US which I used to buy my Portfolio of Rental properties in S. Tampa. I am selling off the rest of my Rentals at the present time. Everything that you can think of is now on short, youtube videos, online if you do the right Search with Google and include "youtube." To get the big picture view of investing and fixing houses all you have to do is to go on TV and watch all the Home Improvement shows and the Flip this House shows and the Decorating shows and the Real Estate Sale shows. Take a look at
http://www.hgtv.com/shows/flip-or-flop/flip-or-flo...
videos to see a couple of the "beautiful people" with smarts and money doing rehabs to expensive houses in LA. I really like Scott on
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcviVtB85dL...
Flipping Vegas. This guy buys Auction, almost sight unseen, completely destroyed houses to fix up like new gems. He is as nervous as I am and has a similar attitude, with life or death decision JOB's, like the Military, where it is "Lead or get out of my way!" Dario Cantreras, you may know how to Habla Espanol? Don't move to Detroit...stay in Florida and take advantage of your language skill. Look for the "short cuts" to get the education that you want and make sure you are not wasting Time and your GI Bill on useless courses in University that turn you into another "whining Millenial with no skills" and a humongous dumb ***, Student Loan. There are the three ways that I thought to make Money when I was fifteen years old. I am now in semi-retirement where I say that I will never stop working, because I will always keep one Residence and one Rental and when it comes along, one Flipper House. I also taught myself to trade Options and Futures online and I can make my Daily Cash each morning on my laptop. Pushing the buttons on my laptop to make Money is a lot easier than all the Blue and White Collar stuff. "Get 'er done."
The trades/building industry or property management will be of the greatest value to you in regards to real estate investing.
Getting a business degree would be like a dog walker going to veterinary college.
It is not necessary as you can learn all you need to know here and actively investing. This is not rocket science and knowing how to fix plumbing is more valuable starting out.
@Dario Contreras, He's going to get his master's in entrepreneurial real estate at UMKC http://bloch.umkc.edu/graduate-program/mere/default.aspx. Feel free to message me or him with questions! Best of luck to you too!
As @Kevin Hunter mentioned, try to do everything - the only thing stopping you from perusing both at the time is your ability to be efficient with your time and prioritize. Best of luck!
@Dario feel free to PM. I did a ton of research on both bachelor and master programs across the country.
My two cents is learn a trade. Become a GC, carpenter, or work in foundation repair. If I could do it again I'd skip school do that. I'd still read, take online courses, etc... but skip the formal university $300 a credit hour classes.
Thanks for your service.
@Dan Krupa Thank you for the advice, I will definitely check out the Apprenticeship programs around here. I've learn so much just being a member for BP and listening to some of the podcast and webinars. Thank you for your service as well and much success out there in KC!
@Dario Contreras , that is great to hear. Again, feel free to PM if there is anything else you want to discuss.