Is college necessary?
Wholesaler · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2020 · 20 posts · 10 votes
Hello all! I am currently taking a year away from school to explore my options in real estate and whether or not those options would require a college degree. I do enjoy school, but after two years of accumulating debt, I am struggling to see how it will help me with a career in real estate investing. I am not opposed to taking a different route then my peers are, but I can't get over the idea that college is a must for success. Over the past 6 months, I have been listening to podcasts, reading, and spending time on the BP website, and I can truly say I feel like I have learned more useful information than I have in my previous two years of school. I am starting to believe that the time money and time spent earning a degree might be better spent learning through doing. I am looking forward to hearing some opinions. Thanks!
As someone who spent six-figures (of debt) on a college degree, I can say little of my degree has translated to real estate. My $0.02 is that the most important things are networking (which I am horrible at), and education (which is not required from college). No one has asked to see my transcript or degree when buying real estate. If you could replace that loan for school with one for a duplex, then you could learn RE first hand while providing yourself a place to live.
Flip argument: Are you studying for a 6-figure salary. A degree that makes you a high-income earner makes traditional financing easier. You may be making barely enough to eat as an entry level handyman or property manager if you "just leave school" and try to get into the field without connections or experience. That degree could allow you to spend 40-hours a week getting paid well and another 10-20 hours a week on RE until the RE is self-sufficient. However, if you are studying American History or French Literature, your degree may not pay off with the same benefits. :-)
@Macintyre Braun the short answer is no, in my opinion.
College tuition is a horrible investment. You’re going to borrow money then slave away for years just to pay the loan off. Whereas if you borrow the same money and invest it in a rental property, not only the tenant will pay off your loan but you’ll also make money from that investment with minimal work and being your own boss.
Education is education. Whether you get education from college or from reading real estate and investment books - both are education. Only difference is that the one COSTS you money and the other MAKES you money.
And then when you start having cash flow for life, go back to college if pleases you.
My two cents
@Macintyre Braun
I’m a fourth year student in uni major in finance. I’m doing an internship right now in commercial real state portfolio management.
Do I recommend school, if you're still deciding and you want to pursue REI, I wouldn't. Go find a mentor that's investing in REI. Also don't get caught up with those thousand dollar courses. Find someone who is killing the game and provide value and in return they teach you.
If you're already in school, finish up, get your degree and focus on REI after. (depending if you're in 3-4th year).
So, currently doing this internship, and I’m set I don’t want to do corporate after I graduate. If you’re someone like me who can’t sit at a screen all day, get out and network.
School developed great habits, work ethic and better comprehensive skills and attention to detail. (From what I benefited from) This habit will take you far. Education wise, uni is useless. Outdated info. 80% of it was useless 20% was useful.
P.S. only take advice from people who experienced and went to college/university in this thread. Very easy to say, “skip school, it’s a scam, not worth it” if you haven’t tried it. & “insert quote about how successful people didn’t need school”
College may tell you the nuts-and-bolts calculations on real estate, but you can learn that quicker by doing a couple of deals.
Add in that colleges are pretty sheltered from the harsh realities of life already. As an example, they'll teach NOTHING about sales and the human side of making a deal work. Just my personal issue with college since I've had 5 junior brokers with BS degrees and ZERO had hardly any business communication skills.
In sum, if you have good experience doing actual stuff, in a couple of years, 90% of people won't even ask about a degree.
No You do not need a degree I have a Masters in Business Administration and use very little of it in real estate. The important thing in real estate is to continue to self educate and have a great mentor(s).
I created a reading list for everyone I train at my company. If you where to read these books and understand them. You will know more than the majority of people "WITH" a Masters degree.
Master Your Mindset
Master Your Finances
Master Your Business
Now of course there are other good ones out there but as of right now these are my top ones I recommend you read.
@Macintyre Braun
When I feel like the discussion gets too one sided...
Yes, get a degree! Only if the degree pays (anything with engineer, stem, teaching, ect.).
I am a little shocked by the no education people. I chose not to get an education and go full time into investing. It is very very challenging. I will sum it up like this.
——————————————————————
The Tale of Two Brothers; a cautionary tale
One brother dropped out of college 4-5 times. He was constantly chasing the buck, taking crappy jobs, and buying real estate. After working every second of his life (100 hours per week) and using all of his vacation and sick time to buy property. He finally was able to quit his job. Lives a great life but would not do it this way again...
The smart brother busted his *** in college. Graduated with honors from a private college, no debt. Went on to get a Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Lade (or something like that). Started pulling in tons of money. He did this while not working that hard after college and having a nice home life balance. He casually buys property and has a nice little portfolio. He enjoys his 5 kids (not a typo).
———————————————————————
This is my point. I see my brothers life as so much more pleasant. I was completely absent because my value per hour used to not be that high. I simply had to put in more hours to make up the difference. I told myself that when I dropped out each time.
This is an interesting point! Do you think that four years of hard work and calculated moves is riskier than going in debt from college and getting a degree? I feel as if going to college may set me back a few years rather than on the flip side if I didn't go to college I could be ahead in real estate.
@Mack Braun I started college at the University of North Texas where there was(is)? a real estate degree which I was pursuing. However I wasn’t happy at my hometown school and transferred to an expensive big city university where A’s were much harder to come by and my GPA plummeted. I did however have fabulous life experiences I never would have had back in Texas.
The real estate classes were very valuable, the final degree wasn’t nearly worth the extra $75,000 it cost and I’ve not used it once but it did lead me to where I live now so ended up being life altering.
I’ve never made more than $45,000 in one year but have 25 doors in 3.5 years and am growing quickly and moving towards financial independence.
If you’re going to assume massive debt to finish your degree I would suggest putting it off till you have money saved up. You can always go back in a few years or finish up online. I’d recommend figuring out a place you’d like to invest and move there and get a job and start buying properties as soon as possible.