My plan for life (as of now)

[djs13]

I was reading a book called "Nothing Down." It's a pretty controversial book - some people think it's the worst book about real estate ever while others refer to it as the Real Estate Bible. I thought it was OK, but what I loved was the beginning part about making your game plan. It's the best thing I took from the book, and it helped me make this:


​

Game Plan:​

I’ll graduate High School in January 2009 and then attend a community college while living in a dorm. I’ll continue to read and study about entrepreneurship and real estate while playing the guitar/drums. I will transfer after one or two years from community college to Babson College, USC, or Loyola Marymount for entrepreneurship or New York University for Real Estate (currently undecided).

During the end of my high school year and all four of my college years, I’ll launch numerous online business ventures. My goal is to build my $4,000 savings account into something larger. Not necessarily “financially free” larger, but large enough for me to begin real estate investing when I graduate college.

My goal is that I can leave college without having to get a job. I know I have the option to move back with my parents if necessary, but I’d like to be a full-time real estate investor when I am 22. The success of my e-businesses will be the deciding factor if I have to go in the work force and they will also determine what type of real estate I can begin investing in.

I’d like to build my real estate portfolio while I’m out of college and work my way up, progressively buying larger real estate properties. Ever since I visited Mohegan Sun, I’ve had a childhood dream of running a Hotel/Casino Resort. I also have a dream of living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. My goal is to build enough monthly passive income so regardless of any business/real estate transactions I make, I will be able to live comfortably with whatever I do.

Once I have established enough monthly passive income to live on my own after college, I will begin to work on my band. My vision is to have a band similar to The Beatle’s diversity that no modern band possesses today. The band’s influence will derived from Hard Rock (Led Zeppelin, Boston, AC/DC, Nirvana), Piano Rock (Paul McCartney, Billy Joel), Acoustic Rock (Jack Johnson), Southern Rock (CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd), Jam Band (Moe), Modern Alternative (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns n Roses), Art Rock (Pink Floyd, The Who), Blues Rock (Allman Brothers, Hendrix), and of course The Beatles. I plan on being the band’s songwriter/guitarist and possibly a studio drummer. I plan on reinvesting money that I earn from real estate into the band by purchasing good equipment and possibly hiring already well known members in the music industry for the band. The band will go after listeners that are not tended to by modern rock music. There are millions of young fans that listen to rock music from the ‘60s and ‘70s because modern rock is entirely commercial. Basically, no matter how successful the band becomes it will not be seen on MTV or play at the VMA’s.

To summarize, I plan on using e-business as a way to build enough income for real estate investing. I’m trying my best during my earlier years now so I don’t have to get a job when I graduate college. I’d like to be able to travel around to different places with a constant, steady income stream from my properties. I might even make a kickass band :yourock:

 

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[kurtyordy]

good job taking the time to make. My only question is, why waste the time and money on college when your plan does involve a need for a degree?

 

[djs13]

Hey Kurt. I completely agree with you. Unfortunately, my mom is a school teacher and my dad is a corporate manager so there's really no escaping it. If for whatever reason I were to become financially free from one of my ventures I would just finish my two years at community college and end it. The good news is that I get to pick my college. So while my parents think I'm looking at places like NYU because it's a good school, I'm actually choosing it because that's a location I want to be in.

 

[kurtyordy]

got it. what degree are you looking at?

 

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[djs13]

I'm majoring in Business Administration. The schools I'm looking at (Babson, Loyola Marymount, USC, Syracuse) offer business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship. I've also read though that NYU goes even further has an entrepreneurship real estate program. I've visited most of the schools but I haven't been to NYU yet so I'm not sure how legit the real estate program is.

 

[kurtyordy]

here is my advice then for what it is worth-

as much as your adviser will let you, take as many of your major specific courses and electives early on. These will have content that you can have immediate impact on your plans, and possible set you free.

 

[Yankees338]

I'm majoring in Business Administration. The schools I'm looking at (Babson, Loyola Marymount, USC, Syracuse) offer business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship. I've also read though that NYU goes even further has an entrepreneurship real estate program. I've visited most of the schools but I haven't been to NYU yet so I'm not sure how legit the real estate program is.

I'm planning on majoring in Real Estate or Real Estate Finance at whichever school I attend (depending on which is available).

My suggestion would be to go on the website of the school that you're interested in and check out the courses that they offer. Many schools actually offer some pretty specific real estate courses.

I've heard NYU has a Real Estate program, too. I have a couple of friends going to Stern (the Business School at NYU), but I don't think any of them have declared a major yet.

For some reason, I feel like Babson is a really good business or RE school... I guess I heard that somewhere?

Good luck; great plan.

 

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[J P D]

I know how important it is to have a detailed life plan laid out early on, especially during the late teens-early twenties when it is so easy to get distracted. So congrats, it is the first and most important step to making something of yourself.

I would have to echo kurtyordy's first comment in that I would sit and think about the pros and cons of college. In my case I chose to pass on college even though I graduated second in my class and could have gone to pretty much any college I wanted. I knew early on that I wanted to pursue my goals through RE investing and 4+ years in college would only be a waste of time in the end. Once I retire (hopefully in a few years) I can look into taking some college classes. Not only will college set you back for many years financially but in most cases you leave with no real world experience or credit which would severly hinder your venture into RE. I know you plan to generate income through web businesses so your situation might be different. Either way I would just really give some thought to the college decision. Don't just go becuase your parents are expecting you to. Nobody in my family thinks I am making the right moves in life.

Best of luck!

 

[Jeffs07]

I love your direction and drive! I totally respect your commitment in putting your plan into writing. I'm in a very similar situation, I just finished my 2 years of business admin. at a community college so I have some hindsight into the path your choosing. The thing I would love to see you do would to go ahead and think about being more specific. I love how you're open minded and following your dreams but by the same token I feel you need to focus on your plan to a more exact degree. I have a VERY similar plan and a challenge I've ran into was where to go now. For example I see you want to start online ventures. I think it would be beneficial for you to go ahead and start planning WHAT ventures you plan to pursue and in what order. For me, I always knew I wanted to start a business and put it into my plan; however I wasn't concrete as to WHAT business I was going to start and how I was going to do it. Due to my lack of EXACT planning I'm facing some difficulty now. I want to see you succeed and don't want you to face the same difficulties that I have and I think revising your plan to include more detail would mitigate a lot of risk and headache down the line.

Either way, good luck!

 

[hatterasguy]

I agree with what Jeff said above me, excellent plan but focus more and be more specific. Without more specific goals and dates to check yourself, you risk wandering off course.

Why do you want an E business? Do you enjoy E business? To raise money to invest in RE? You don't need money to invest in RE.

How about this; go to a state school for 4 years and save the money that you would have used for those expensive schools as seed money. As a WAG off the top of my head thats probably a $50k chunk of change just doing that, maybe a lot more.

Maybe your parents will partner with you on a deal with that money...

 

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[DeletedUser394]

I might even make a kickass band :yourock:

Awesome what do you play, punk, jazz, rock? I'm the bassist for the school jazz band, but punk rock is my thing :coolgleamA:

 

[djs13]

I'm planning on majoring in Real Estate or Real Estate Finance at whichever school I attend (depending on which is available).

My suggestion would be to go on the website of the school that you're interested in and check out the courses that they offer. Many schools actually offer some pretty specific real estate courses.

I've heard NYU has a Real Estate program, too. I have a couple of friends going to Stern (the Business School at NYU), but I don't think any of them have declared a major yet.

For some reason, I feel like Babson is a really good business or RE school... I guess I heard that somewhere?

Good luck; great plan.

I went to the city earlier today and walked around some of the NYU dorms and class rooms. I didn't go on a tour or anything because its the weekend and they don't have anything but the entire atmosphere is amazing. I loved just hanging out in Washington Square. It's definitely one of the better parts of the city.

I went to Babson in July and it was pretty cool. It seemed a little snobby, but I guess you would get that at alot of Ivy league schools. I'm not sure if Babson has a real estate program, but I talked to the admissions lady and she said that 50% of the classes are liberal arts - which is really high for college. That was a major turn off for me.

I would have to echo kurtyordy's first comment in that I would sit and think about the pros and cons of college. In my case I chose to pass on college even though I graduated second in my class and could have gone to pretty much any college I wanted. I knew early on that I wanted to pursue my goals through RE investing and 4+ years in college would only be a waste of time in the end. Once I retire (hopefully in a few years) I can look into taking some college classes. Not only will college set you back for many years financially but in most cases you leave with no real world experience or credit which would severly hinder your venture into RE. I know you plan to generate income through web businesses so your situation might be different. Either way I would just really give some thought to the college decision. Don't just go becuase your parents are expecting you to. Nobody in my family thinks I am making the right moves in life.

Best of luck!

I know how you feel about family not believing in you. For the most part I feel like a rebel in my family, since as I mentioned above my Mom's a teacher, sister's a nurse and Dad's a manager. If college was optional I would definitely consider going down a path similar to yours. It's not so much that I'm just going because my parents are expecting me to. If I did everything my parents wanted I would go for engineering, live in a suburban New York town and then retire when I turned 65. But I would literally get disowned if I were to leave home and not go to college. I've decided to make the best out of the experience.

How about this; go to a state school for 4 years and save the money that you would have used for those expensive schools as seed money. As a WAG off the top of my head thats probably a $50k chunk of change just doing that, maybe a lot more.

My parent's are paying for the entire education so it's not like I'm losing money that would originally be spent on real estate. And there's a zero chance in hell that I would be able to talk my non-risk taking Dad into partnering with me into a real estate deal with money that would normally be used for schooling. I'm looking forward to enjoying dorm life and as I said earlier, this is going to be the time in my life where I spend all my time on business before I make the transition to real estate. I also am choosing my four year school based on location in places that I may be interested in living/investing later.

Due to my lack of EXACT planning I'm facing some difficulty now. I want to see you succeed and don't want you to face the same difficulties that I have and I think revising your plan to include more detail would mitigate a lot of risk and headache down the line.

I've been bouncing ideas around for different ventures all summer and recently I've been progressively getting closer to starting one. I also have a couple more ideas for smaller sites that don't have huge growth potential that I might fool around with. My plan isn't necessarily have a business started by such and such date, but rather what business can I work on today. I've sat around for such a long time that when I'm not taking action I feel like I'm doing something wrong. It took me a while to get there, but I feel like "analysis paralysis" has plagued many entrepreneurs including yours truly.

Awesome what do you play, punk, jazz, rock? I'm the bassist for the school jazz band, but punk rock is my thing

I play mostly rock, but a huge assortment of rock. Everything from blues rock to classic rock.

 

[randallg99]

I'm planning on majoring in Real Estate or Real Estate Finance at whichever school I attend (depending on which is available).
.... I've heard NYU has a Real Estate program, too. I have a couple of friends going to Stern (the Business School at NYU), but I don't think any of them have declared a major yet.
.

the NYU real estate program is as good as anywhere else but the networking can't be topped.... if your heart is in RE, then I would push for being in NYC

 

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[randallg99]

Babson is not ivy league, fyi

 

[djs13]

Hey Randall. Thanks for the advice. My sister said Babson was Ivy league but she doesn't know anything so I'll trust you :smxB:

Since I'm a real estate noob I was thinking about the pros and cons of being in New York City. Obviously it's a huge real estate market but it's no longer developing so I probably wouldn't be able to get as much as equity as other locations. Depending on my finances I would probably have to start off by managing some rougher areas too. But regardless of investing, it's definitely an area I'd like to live in my post-college life.

 

[Sid23]

Babson - known as a great entrepreneurial school

NYC - nationally respected RE program; GREAT school to go to if you want to do big-time Manhattan RE.

 

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[djs13]

Alex's post got me thinking. I didn't have any dates lined up with my plan I basically just explained my ideas. I just typed this up quick and I'd like to get more precise but I think it's a start:

September 2008 to January 2009:

• Continue to work on current venture while starting part-time web site.
• Choose web site idea by middle of October and then have it live by November.
• Continue to read and study about real estate investing and analysis.

January 2009 to May 2009:

• Have first venture set-up while operating web site concept
• Enter community college and join local real estate investors association
• Begin to look for multi-family properties (2 to 4 units)
• Develop ways to finance property

Summer of 2009:

• Purchase first property and find tenants
• Continue to manage 1st venture and site

Future:

• Transfer from community college to four year school
• Sell property or hire management firm
• Continue business ventures

 

[MKyz]

I'm an LMU Alumni and just wanted to say hi!

It sounds like you have a great road map laid out for the next few years. Since you're planning on going to college, I say make the most out of it! Enjoy your time and remember that some great ideas could come out of your experiences. Being around that many college age students could spark some great business ideas.

 

[marktech101]

Is it really prudent to start 'numerous' ventures?

 

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[fanocks2003]

Is it really prudent to start 'numerous' ventures?

"Prudent" is a misplaced word. You only need to start one venture in order to become a billionaire or very rich. You start many ventures because you like it. Prudent or not, is misplaced.