What courses should I take in college?

Question

Hi, my name is Giovanni and I am 19 years old. I live in Yakima WA but I just moved to Seattle WA. I am attending the University of Washington and just moved in this week. I was wondering if there are people out there who can help me decide what classes to take and what my intended major should be to become a successful real estate investor. Since I was a strait A and B student that came from a lower class family, I got all of my college expenses paid for. I know that it isnt super necessary to go to college if you're trying to be a real estate investor, but I have the opportunity to go for free. I just honestly dont know what I should be doing while I'm here.

Thank you for your feedback.

Nik Moushon · Answer

First I think you need to try and narrow down what areas of REI you want to focus on. Do you want to be a full time flipper or do you want to do more on the developer side or something else. Theres a dozen ways to make money in real estate and theres a dozen way for each one of those to have an advantage gained through college. Use me for example example: I'm an architect and didnt get serious about REI until recently. Its going on 10 years since I graduated college. From the several offices I have worked at i have experience in almost every major building type and business field. From Health Care and Commercial spaces to SFR and large MF. Now at first glance you might not think this ties into real estate since I took no business or accounting classes. I've never worked for a realtor. I don't make a huge amount of money like a doctor or lawyer. But now I know how to figure out what can be built on site in detail and get a good rough estimate on costs in a matter of hours. And because I have nearly 10 years of doing this I can look at a listing and with in less than a minute figure out if that land is worth doing detailed analysis of or not. And because of the similarities between codes and jurisdictions and other government entities I can do this for just about any part of the country (granted the largest cities like LA & NY are their own special case). I can list off a dozen things that my professional experience has given me an advantage in the REI world. But I can also list several dozen other things that I am still very much a newbie at (like anything accounting).

My point is that there is no REI degree so you will not find an all encompassing knowledge in one degree. If you try to pick a degree that gives you the "best leg up" (so to say) just so you can have an bigger advantage in REI eventually you will surely hate school and waste tens of thousands of dollars. Pick a degree in a profession you LOVE! The money is not going to matter if you hate studying, hate waking up to go to work and hate yourself for picking that profession. If your passion truly is to focus on something REI pick a degree that parallels with it in some way that allows you to love doing your 9-5 job while you gain experience and save money to eventually be a full time REI. My profession is an example of one that parallels very well with REI. Business and accounting also parallel well. Banking or Construction mngmt does too. There are plenty of examples that this works with. There also nothing that says you can't take an extra class to help cover areas your profession doesnt cover. I wish I had taken accounting classes even though they are not required for my degree. Another thing you have to consider is if you go for a higher degree. (Master or Doctorate) Because at this point you gain more income but you now gain debt. Weigh the pros and cons. It might not be worth becoming a doctor if you now have $200k debt form med school and only plan to practice medicine for ~10 years before you want to transition to REI full time. It could work out or it could not. I'm not suggesting one way or other. You need to do the numbers and decide for yourself.

Giovanni Partida · Answer

University of Washington offers a real estate minor. How does that sound?

Dan Bryskin · Answer

@Giovanni Partida, congrats on getting your education paid for, good start. Get a degree in banking / finance. High flying wall street job is a good source of income to start your investment career. Minor in accounting will help. Supplement it with some business / legal classes, Spanish (if you plan on being around construction), take some real estate classes if offered as electives and you should be all set. Oh and don't forget to have some fun in college :) Good luck

Thomas S. · Answer

What you want is a career that will pay the highest possible income to be able to get financing for investing. Instead of looking for something to assist in real estate investing concentrate on what you are interest it and prepared to make a career of. Carer and investing are not the same thing. A employment income is your source of money to invest.

Real estate investing is not a career it is a activity.  Separate your desire to invest from your education/career goals.

Always keep in mind when it comes to education if you don't enjoy what you are doing you will not do well.

What courses should I take in college?

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