Why go to college when you could become a Real Estate Agent?

Parents Forum
81

<p>Here’s a Liberty grad I know…</p>

<p>Seems to be doing ok…</p>

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<p>Degree: Liberty University
Bachelor of Science (BS), Political Science and Government</p>

82

<p>Bo- go in peace. You seem to have an aversion to listening to the advice you are soliciting.</p>

<p>You don’t need to be a math person to go to college or to be successful in life (I was not good in math in HS, avoided it in college, but had to take remedial math through calculus in business school). But asking for advice and then posting reasons why the advice is flawed doesn’t seem to me to be indicative of a mind or temperament which wants to learn. You post here and seem to want to argue.</p>

<p>Go be a real estate agent. Or a paralegal. Or go to Law School. Whatever. Just don’t go into debt for 90K for an undergrad degree from GW without a very clear value proposition as to why GW and why you want a degree from there. Just don’t do that.</p>

<p>Do anything else and go in peace.</p>

83

<p>That would be enough to get many to steer away from Liberty even without everything else.
Someone who cites a politico who is for sale to the highest bidder as someone to emulate, would not be someone to trust.</p>

84

<p>Bo, your link didn’t work so I googled the resume. It belongs to April Ponnuru, who also has a degree from University College London,</p>

<p>[April</a> Ponnuru | LinkedIn](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/pub/april-ponnuru/6/983/737]April”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/pub/april-ponnuru/6/983/737)</p>

<p>[UCL</a> and Imperial ranked above Oxford in top 10 of QS World University Rankings - Education - News - London Evening Standard](<a href=“http://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/ucl-and-imperial-ranked-above-oxford-in-top-10-of-qs-world-university-rankings-8806617.html]UCL”>UCL and Imperial ranked above Oxford in top 10 of QS World University Rankings | London Evening Standard | Evening Standard)</p>

85

<p>Forget Real Estate and everything.</p>

<p>[Want</a> to Be a Millionaire? You Can!](<a href=“http://www.fool.com/teens/teens01.htm]Want”>How to Start Investing as a Teenager | The Motley Fool)</p>

86

<p>She did her undergrad at Liberty. (this is for the person that said entry into top level grad schools was not likely from Liberty U… )</p>

<p>Okay well from what I’ve taken out of all of this from the masses is that…</p>

<p>GW = bad investment for 90 grand.
Liberty = Career killer.
Real Estate = Try it and see. If it doesn’t work out go to a legitimate college for a reasonable price.</p>

87

<p>

</p>

<p>I think this is pretty pathetic. I have no sour grapes (having graduated from a Flagship) but lots of people have to make do with what is available to them, fitting the school courses into their schedules, and sometimes that means for profit colleges. If a person has the fortitude to actually graduate from some of these schools, they should at least be given consideration and certainly not referred to as naive or foolish. Just because they go to a for profit school does not mean they are imbeciles.</p>

88

<p>For the record Liberty is a non-profit school with a residential campus and fully accredited law school. Just saying. (they’ve also beaten top ivy league schools in debates)</p>

89

<p>“A liberal arts major = pre-law and law = no jobs”</p>

<p>That is where your logic is flawed. There are thousands of jobs besides law. And law CAN be an option, but it’s super selective. Going to just any school and not getting top grades will likely leave you unemployed and with debt.</p>

<p>People do all sorts of things - one of my friends with a liberal arts degree, for example, went to a top grad school (all paid for by a stipend/work-study, except $500 a semester) to become a marriage counselor. There are lots of jobs out there - you can’t just focus on law or math and science.</p>

<p>And if real estate is your thing, give it a try.</p>

90

<p>Bo,
Just a suggestion, but you might want to spend a few hours reading a few real estate forums for perspective. To see what Realtors think of their jobs and the NAR try Active Rain. To see what buyers and sellers think of Realtors, try Redfin and Burbed. </p>

<p>In my area the percentage of Realtors who sold a house in 2011 was approx 10%. With the industry losing its tight grip on the MLS due to the proliferation of online listings, it’s going to be increasingly difficult to make it as a career.</p>

<p>Given the relatively low barrier to entry, if you’re really interested in this then you should go for it. But be sure to have a Plan B.</p>

91

<p>Well my plan B was continuing my education online at Liberty University to get my Bachelors in Paralegal to compliment my Associates in Paralegal Studies from my community college… While doing real estate… But everyone is saying that will hinder me from both gainful employment and good law schools if real estate didn’t work out.</p>

92

<p>When did the law school become accredited?</p>

<p>

[Online</a> Law Schools Have Yet to Pass the Bar - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2011/03/23/online-law-schools-have-yet-to-pass-the-bar]Online”>http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2011/03/23/online-law-schools-have-yet-to-pass-the-bar)</p>

93

<p>Liberty University is a brick and mortar school. (i am talking about undergrad anyway) but they do have about 16,000 on campus and started as a small bible college.</p>

<p>The law school is on campus.</p>

94

<p>BoGentry,</p>

<p>Doing real estate is about far more than closing the deal. It is a service job, and if your priority isn’t on providing the best service you can, and not the money, you will not be successful.</p>

<p>Are you willing to tell a buyer to walk away from a deal, even though it costs you a $5000 commission? Are you willing to honestly give your assessment of a property and area, even if it scares off the buyer? Are you willing as a matter of principal to never accept a kickback from a mortgage broker? Will you recommend an inspector who will find every wart, rather than one who makes the property look good so the deal gets done?</p>

<p>If you don’t see yourself (and act) as an advocate for your clients, you will not succeed in the long term, because you will get no business from referrals and word of mouth.</p>

<p>Then there is your lack of life experience… if you’ve never bought a house, refinanced a mortgage, done renovations, heck, even moved, what exactly are you bringing to a client? How do you expect someone to trust you with their half million dollar transaction? It will take a lot of work to overcome this.</p>

<p>Another approach might be to do apartment rentals for a while. These tend to be more shorter transactions, and you can do a lot more of them. Even though each individual rental doesn’t pay that much, you can often get several done in a week. If you do a good job, you will eventually start getting renters coming to you for purchases.</p>

<p>It can be a rewarding career, and if you become a top producer you can make decent money. It won’t happen overnight though.</p>

<p>A note about brokers - make sure you are clear what the commission structure and ladder are, whether you will be expected to do phone duty and how much, what kind of training and support they provide, what the desk fees and office charges are, O+E insurance, ad budgets, etc. Most brokers are not too fussy about who works for them because it costs them almost nothing to carry another agent, but there can be large differences in what you will make. And go for a name-brand, if you work at a no-name with one office it is a lot harder to get business.</p>

95

<p>Liberty is an unranked law school with very poor job prospects in the legal economy. You are far better off in Real Estate. You may not make any money, but at least you won’t have hundreds of thousands in debt while not making any money.</p>

96

<p>I would point to the challenges a 20-something with a limited professional network will face. Most people want to deal with brokers who are at least as old and as educated as they are and can offer a lifetime of experience.</p>

<p>Additionally, the start-up costs can be daunting. An RE professional will dress more professionally (and incur far greater expenses) than a typical 20-something, and far, far greater than a college student. OP mentions that he does not have a car payment, but does not describe his car. Clients will not want to be driven around in a two-door, fuel efficient car typical of his age bracket.</p>

<p>Finally, how will clients feel when they ask where their RE professional lives? “Well, my parents picked a great location when I was younger…”</p>

97

<p>Very few people can make a living selling real estate. What you hear about are the exceptions, not the rule. Unless you’re an extravert and very good at selling (and you’d know by now if you were), go to college.</p>

98

<p>LU’s law placement is on par with many law schools these days. Also hard to rack up that much debt with average net tuition of around $15k/yr. </p>

<p>[Placement</a> Statistics | Liberty University School of Law](<a href=“http://www.liberty.edu/law/index.cfm?PID=21511]Placement”>http://www.liberty.edu/law/index.cfm?PID=21511)</p>

99

<p>@BoGentry - RE is a brutally competitive field with a very low barrier to entry. Here on LI an RE agent is a part-time job and very few RE agents make anywhere close to $100k. My neighbor works for one of the dominant RE offices in our area where a typical sale is north of $600k and I know for a fact she went almost two years between sales starting in 2008.</p>

100

<p>"Liberty is an unranked law school with very poor job prospects in the legal economy. You are far better off in Real Estate. You may not make any money, but at least you won’t have hundreds of thousands in debt while not making any money. "</p>

<p>^^^ THIS!</p>

<p>And law school ‘placement’ numbers are extremely misleading.</p>

<p>If you want to go into law, please talk to someone who has been through the process. Getting a job is ectremely tough - $60K or more in debt and no prospects will make your life very difficult.</p>

<p>Law school is NOT a back up option. Just like someone on a law school forum mentioned, people don’t just say: “Oh, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just go to med school.” Getting into a law career is just as difficult, and you don’t want tons of debt and no advantage to show for it.</p>