What Degree field is good
9 Replies
Jayden Grissom
from Fort Riley, KS
posted over 1 year ago
What college degree would be great for real estate?
Or is school necessary for real estate?
Brian Adzadi
from Allentown, Pennsylvania
replied over 1 year ago
@Jayden Grissom
There is an online degree program called The School of Hard Knocks that most real estate investors go to. Its an excellent program, and the best part about is that its free. No need to take out financial aide or student loans for it.
Jayden Grissom
from Fort Riley, KS
replied over 1 year ago
What are some good marketing books to read?
Sam Shueh
Real Estate Agent from Cupertino, California
replied over 1 year ago
Business administration.
Michael A.
Investor from Richmond, VA
replied over 1 year ago
@Jayden Grissom I have a strong opinion about this.
You could be referring to 2 different things:
I lived in NYC for 12 years until recently while building my career as a licensed architect. The term “real estate” there meant “real estate development”. If you wanted to work for companies buying building and leasing property, you typically needed a degree in construction, architecture or engineering, along with some experience in these industries before you could switch over and start working for developers. This happened to a lot of my colleagues - they got hired by developers like Silverstein, WeWork, etc. to manage the development of real estate. There are Master’s degree programs that specifically prepare you for this too if you don’t have the other backgrounds I mentioned above.
If you want to buy and hold property for yourself like the vast majority of people on this site then you need a level head and a good financial situation, not a degree necessarily. This is an investment strategy for people passionate about this type of asset class after all. There are no grand mysteries. I am naturally inclined to this, given that my career has been all about buildings.
Raul R.
Rental Property Investor from New York City, NY
replied over 1 year ago
College degree is not needed but the following are popular within College Grad investors
Business Admin, any Engineering degree, Architecture
Avoid Liberal Arts!!!
David A.
replied over 1 year ago
If you want to work in private equity, a common path is starting out as an analyst at an investment bank. To be considered for that, you usually need a degree from a top 15 business school.
A JD could be really useful, if you were interested in being a lawyer.
Other than that, don't waste your time or money unless you want the degree to be some other kind of employee.
This asset class is just about hardwork, hussle, and networking... especially the networking part.
Jonathan Hulen
Rental Property Investor from Torrance, CA
replied over 1 year ago
@Jayden Grissom get a degree in something that will pay well. Investing in real estate requires that you have your financial life in order. Income, savings, and credit score, that’s what matters. As far as education you’ll have to self educate in order to gain the knowledge needed. There is no degree program that will teach you how to do this.
Roger Hefner
from Yuma, Arizona
replied over 1 year ago
@Jayden Grissom you don't need a degree you hire people with degrees.
Steve K.
Real Estate Agent from Boulder, CO
replied over 1 year ago
@Jayden Grissom depends on what you want to do in real estate. If you want to own rentals then no degree needed, I would argue you'd actually be better off working as a contractor, Carpenter, plumber, electrician, home inspector etc. and working on properties for a few years to learn about construction and how to assess a buildings condition as well as how to rehab and maintain a property correctly. If you want to be an agent then a sales, marketing and customer service background will benefit you most, no degree needed again. If you want to work more on the white collar side of RE such as being a syndicator, RE lawyer, commercial broker, REIT portfolio manager, lender, etc. then a degree will be more appropriate and the best degree would be one specific for what you want to do in RE: law, BA, finance, MBA with competence in RE, etc.