@Josiah Patrick Zebarth
Hey man! I went through the same questions myself when I was your age. I just finished my degree this past March (took me seven years) and have worked full time in construction based roles since I was 18.
So, here is the deal in my opinion:
College Pros:
- Opportunity to network and build a solid bunch of connections with smart people
- Opportunity to defer real life bills and save money if you work full-time
- College loans do not effect your ability to buy a real estate as only 1% of the debt is considered for your monthly debt to income ratio.
- Opportunity to learn about multiple subjects and decide if real estate is really the path you want to take
College Cons:
- Depending on your major, the job prospects honestly don't pay that well. With my marketing degree, I would take a 50% pay cut if I went and got a job at a marketing firm. I make almost twice as much selling roofs door to door as the "stable job" my degree affords me
- If know exactly what you want to do, you can go get a job in the blue collar fields that pay six figures - electrician, plumber, steal worker and even general contractors pay over $25/hr and non of those jobs require a degree or they provide all of the education in house/paid for.
- Surrounded by people who want to party and there is the potential to waste your time on these endeavors, but, it can be a lot of fun!
At the end of the day, if I could do it again, I would skip college and go immediately to one of the trades. I would save all of my money, live at home for a year or two, and immediately invest all of my extra income in multi-family housing. Because of my lack of debt and overhead, I would be able to start at a much higher level.
The down side is age. Obviously people do it, but in the real estate industry, if you are renting out you have to be able to deal with people (renters) trying to take advantage of you and you need to have the balls to stand up for yourself and evict adults. For me, that would have been hard at 18-20 years old. If you have a good mentor, this shouldn't be a an issue though.
The military isn't a bad option either. I work with a marine and he makes over 200K/yr selling roofs and drives a Maserati with the roof money. It definitely teaches you structure and accountability.
It's important to point out if you decide to not go to college your parents, friends and family will probably chastise you for it and will constantly look down on you. My family did when I dropped out and the guilt is what made me finish my degree. Ultimately the guilt cost me around $40K. Maybe your family is more supportive, but it is something you should be aware of and be ready to ignore and go for your goals and not theirs.
For whatever reason, previous generations think college is the only way and the reality is that it is not. It's not their fault because it's been smashed into their head their whole lives. But it is false information!
Hope this helps man!
