Greetings BP, I’m 17 years old rookie investor. I got into real estate almost a year ago, I’ve read the classics (Rich Dad, Poor Dad; Think and Grow Rich; Richest man in Babylon) and many other more real estate specific books. I devoutly listen to the BiggerPockets Podcast, while I work as a home construction repair guy. And now I’ve accumulated a little over $2,000 up to this point. But, that is my problem. I’m sick at this point and not entirely sure of the next best step. My opinion on college is that it would kind of be a waste of time and money. I think about all I could do with four years and $40,000+ dollars to invest. Also, I believe with the extra time I could spend more time getting the right kind of education ( real estate investing). But, I still don’t know of the best opportunities outside of college. There are trades like plumbing/ electrical; and also beneficial jobs like a salesman or real estate agent. I’d want to move from Denver, to possibly a more cash flow friendly market like Indianapolis or Kansas City. I’m curious to hear what would be the suggested path, and what has working for you guys. I’m grateful for any thoughts, thanks.

@Josiah Patrick Zebarth I'm going to give you a different perspective. I understand you might be tired of school but you are also 18. If my only option would have been to go to college in the states I would have not gone either. However, I had the chance to study in Europe. I paid $1800 for my whole education as elementary school teacher. I then transfered my degree to the us system for $200 and every school accepted without any problem. My suggestion, consider trying college in Europe for at least one year. Perks - Travel - Learn a language - Meet a different bunch of people - Party it hard If after a year it doesn't work, follow another path. In countries like Malta, Spain, Portugal among others you can live in cool cities for $300 a month. They have English programs. I know international students pay a bit more but not that much, just make sure is an official degree and you'll be fine. If it works, you will have a back up degree and stories to tell for the rest of your life. I don't know man, making money and adulting fast is good but I wouldn't change those years of my life for nothing. What do you have to lose?

@Josiah Patrick Zebarth. There are lots of paths to success that don’t involve college. I will have spent over 100k on my education (for 2 degrees) by time I’m done but I work in a field where I earn that money back very quickly. If you study generic business or something else from no-name generically school, then you’re probably wasting your time. If you don’t go to school your best options will be sales (like RE agent) or being a contractor. In your case, I think a contractor is the way to go. I met a guy today, at a property of mine to bid some foundation work. He moved to the US when he was a teenager, and never went back to school. Never finished HS. Owns and runs a construction company that has at least 15 employees. I don’t think he’s even 30 yet. All he does is estimates. He doesn’t do the work. To me that’s pretty successful. College isn’t for everyone, but understand without it, your best bet will to become a small business owner. If you’re not the owner, you’re the laborer and there’s much much less money in that. Just my 2 cents.

hello @Josiah Patrick Zebarth I just graduated from college last summer spending 4 years getting a degree in Business Administration from Marywood University. To be honest, I only went to college because I thought I had to go. It was just the "right thing" to do after you graduate high school. I finished college with around $25,000 in student loan plus an additional $4,000 in credit card debt buying books or for school-related things. Looking back though, I do not regret going to college. It was fun, I met some really cool students, meet some really great teachers (and poor ones), and had some good experiences. However, because I attended college and couldn't work a full-time job along with paying for my expenses, I was not able to save a whole lot of money. On the other hand, I have two buddies who did not attend college for their own personal reasons and they have worked full-time jobs since they graduated high school. They were smart about their money and saved up a few thousand dollars throughout the years. Because of that, it leaves them in a much better position to invest in real estate since they have the capital. But luckily, it has worked out for all of us. During my time in school, I was learning all I could about real estate investing (on my own) and they've seen the knowledge I have and they want to partner up so they can start investing. It has turned into a situation where both parties are winning. Like I said, I don't regret going and honestly, I would do it all over again. However, if college is something you do not want to do- don't do it. Keep working hard, get as many overtime hours as you can, save up, and invest that money into real estate all while you use BP to learn about real estate investing. Possibly look for a multi-unit property that you can use an FHA loan on. That way you are investing in real estate while working a full-time job. Hope this helps you make a decision on your next step. All the best!

@Josiah Patrick Zebarth Interesting question. First, we all have to think twice about the statement that “colleges and universities are a waste of time”. Can this blanket statement be really true? I think not, as if this were the case, then we all wouldn’t have this great standard of living due to the knowledge of many doctors, engineers, dentists, research professors and all the amazing unnamed professionals around the world, many of whom graduated from colleges. With that said, some courses or degrees may be perceived as obsolete (not to name any). In addition, you also go to university for a ton of other reasons. 🤔 Now, if you think not going to college means you would be successful (or not) in Real Estate Investing 🏡, then think again. Success in any endeavor has no correlation with the level of education, but all to do with oneself. It all starts with you! The college is a waste of time is just, in my opinion, one of those sounds-nice statement that isn’t really true. Remember this Josiah, whenever we learn something we should never consider that time as a waste. Even if you learn something about quantum physics that may be directly applied to real estate investing. Don’t be stuck on the idea of going to college or not because you can buy a 4plex and rent it to your college buddies. Perhaps, you can do both! My $0.02 🤗 Goodluck

Hey Josiah, I did go to college and I feel the education I got was not worth the price and time I paid for it. That being said there are a lot of contractors who are very busy and could use the help. Working with one would give you great experience if you were planning on managing your own properties and would generate a decent income to start with. Get out there and network with people to find opportunities or try looking at online job boards. If you follow bigger pockets, you are also probably aware there are a ton of ways to start investing with very little or none of your own money. Brandon Turner has even wrote a book on it called "Investing in real estate with No (or low) money down." Check it out and get started when you feel you have enough knowledge and time.

Are you a good salesman? You can make 6 or even 7 figures as an agent. Myself I've sold over $125M so am doing rather well income wise from commissions. One thing to note though. I am in Ohio and in order to start my own brokerage a 2 years of college was a state requirement. So if starting your own brokerage is in your plans you should look into what the requirements are for you to sit for the Broker exam.

9 out of 10 agents fail. 10% stay in the game and the top 1% make a ton of money. If you put in the work you can (like myself) break into that 1% category in your market and inconsistent income will never be an issue. You need to treat it like a business though. This means investing a ton of money into your infrastructure. Most importantly your marketing. At the end of the day this is really a marketing business. Those who market the best will win out with the clients.

I went to college for a few years but that was it. My path was different. My dad was killed in a car accident when I was 16 years old and I had many other things in my family happen where I was tested at a very young age and had to grow up fast. College was paid for with a life insurance benefit. My friends and I would play pool between classes. One had a vending business and the other a computer business while going to college because school was what the PARENTS wanted. We all looked around and said what are we doing here? We are not going to work for someone else. I excelled in school often getting A's. I am a lifelong learner college was just not a fit for me. I saw it as a controlling path system of society to fit in a box when I am an outside of the box thinker and innovator. I can see it working for certain professions like doctors where some of my client surgeons buying commercial real estate make 1,000,000 or more a year. So professions where field is growing, money can be 6 figures or more in early to mid career years, and student debt tops out at say 40,000 all in it might make sense. Some students are racking up 60k to 100k in debt for a 50k job where the student loan debt in most cases cannot be eliminated in a bankruptcy! Really think about this. Someone starts out with 40k student loan debt and gets a job at 50k a year. They then have health care, food, clothing, place to live, possible significant other, car, family, and on and on. The debt load to live versus what they make virtually almost makes it impossible for them to really get ahead in a big way without someone major happening in their life like buying a bunch of properties at the bottom of the market. In those cases the cycle compression created the wealth not the money coming in from the job to invest that is over what they spend monthly as excess cash to invest. You are 17 years old. Goals change over time. Think carefully about what you want long term. Money is often not what people think it is. The people making 50k a year tend to dream of making 100k or more a year because 50k barely pays the bills. When money goes up to 400,600k, 1 million a year income the joy comes not from the money but what you can do with it to enrich other people's lives. I get more excited about giving a person washing my car a 20 tip and watch their eyes light up knowing it really makes a big difference in their world then I do making 100k commission on a transaction. I like the check but really get the joy from seeing what little things money makes an impact with in a big way. There are some people out there that obsess about money but that is not me. Money can be cold, hard, lifeless by itself sitting their not being put to use in some positive way for the world. Now I like to watch people working and see who really has a great work ethic and reward them.

Let me preface this by saying two things. (1) I have a Ph.D. and my day job is doing scientific research, working with students. I do a lot of teaching and advising my students about their decisions to further their study. (2) We make about the same amount per year in rental cash flow as I do in science. Some comments, first on college: You don't have to go to college. Wait until you want to. It was said above @Lee Bell that you should do what you love. Very true. People not doing what they love are not only dragging their asses to work, but also become resentful. You will be successful and happy if you take an active role in your life. Doing something that excites you is really important. Where will the excitement come from? Is simply making money really that exciting? Not for me. A lot of folks go to college with only general ideas of what they like, and part of the way through they declare their majors, most likely because they liked a set of classes more than some other set of classes. Some have a wow moment. This happened to me in my junior year. I went up to a prof. after a class one time and said - "I want to DO THIS. How can I do this?" I was working in his lab a week later. Granted, this doesn't happen to every one. But in college you get a foundation and are exposed to topics that will allow you to explore. Or change your mind about things. Critical thinking skills are crucial. Especially now in the day of the internet- there is so much garbage out there, and young people need information to "sift and winnow" through it, and recognize what simply isn't true. It is certainly possible to figure things out on your own without college. Basic things, certainly. Advanced things, maybe. (Do you love to read? or are you an active learner?) But like others have said, will you? I noticed you lit up at the suggestion of college in Europe because of the low cost. Am I hearing that you would actually love to attend and learn were it not for the cost? Or is there something you don't like about your high school and the dullness of learning in classrooms... Would you enjoy learning more doing things independently, hands on? Is that your main drive? Because, let me tell you from first hand experience, students love project-oriented work. It's called "active learning". More and more faculty are realizing the benefit of active learning, but very few faculty actually know how to do it well. Bad attempts at active learning come across as really lame. But a prof. can only do so much. The students who go to college with a passive attitude, a bad attitude, will not succeed. You need to put work in. As others have said, college can be a real waste if you don't have a plan- and an open mind to change your plan. If that is the case, best to take time off and reconsider. (Profs hate grading papers of people who obviously don't want to be there. It's really clear.) College can facilitate and accelerate you on your path to finding your dreams, if you're up to the challenge. That path doesn't just happen to you magically if you spend money, borrow money, and sit in classes at college for four years. That's a waste of time and money. Some comments on real estate investing: Real estate investing has so many different avenues. Really, anyone can participate in real estate investing. Everyone needs a place to live. Like others have said, there's the most obvious = sales, there's flipping/rehab, there's providing a nice place for people to live. None of those requires college per se. Maybe only some of these facets of REI excites you. Personally, I certainly never want to be involved in sales. Earning an income and investing is only part of your life. Once you have all the income, what will you do with it all? Anything! Buy a lot of stuff? Will that be meaningful to you? Maybe yes, maybe no. Go and get a history degree maybe? Start another business? Could be really anything. Most people will reach the point of having "enough" money for themselves and then share it with others. That goes for knowledge as well. I have a lot of knowledge about science and my job is sharing that knowledge with others. But it's also exciting being at the frontier of knowledge as well. That's what drives research. You can project that onto any career path. Look at the most experienced investors on this forum. They post here because they want to share their experience. We all learn from each other. College can help steer you toward what you want to do with the rest of your time. And what path you really want to be on. Real estate investing can happen in parallel for any choice you make. Great way to supplement your income. For me, REI alone would be boring. Maybe not for everyone. But college also isn't for everyone. Trades are a great way to develop a skill. Pursue that. Good friends of mine are builders and electricians and plumbers. Some went to college and some didn't. Don't make your education/training choice simply because of cost. Or how much you can earn once you're done. Make your choice because you want to do something. Enough of this ramble. :-)

Do what you love. Or at least something you like. Something interesting. You don't want to be the guy that has to drag his tired azz to work every day and hates it.

NOT going to college, what should I do?

Daniel Sullivan

Member since 2019 · 4 posts · 2 votes

7y

I was in a similar position and I jumped in door to door sales position for a cable/ internet/ home security company. It changed my life for the better, I started making a lot of money really fast to invest with and I needed to get better at talking with people anyway! Pest control and solar panels can also be very lucrative door to door . Check it out - Door to door millionaire is a pretty good book you can find on audible- @Josiah Patrick Zebarth

NOT going to college, what should I do?

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