How much should individuals be investing in their real estate education?
Real estate education is clearly important for every individual employed in the industry, as well as investors and other consumers. However, the amount investors should invest in their education remains a topic of hot debate.
Few blink at the high prices of private education these days. Spending $12,000 per year on elementary school education isn’t anything shocking anymore. Who really baulks at the high cost of Ivy League tuition? Every day average individuals continue to commit to massive debt in student loans, often for degrees which will be deemed irrelevant before they finish their first years, and which might bring in 10% of the income a top real estate agent or investor can make each year.
Most see all of these investments in education as a smart move, and beneficial over the long term. All home buyers and sellers could probably benefit from knowing a little more about the real estate world. Workers at all levels of the real estate industry, as well as CEOs, startup founders, and remote contracts will all find they are served well from all learning they engaged in. Then there are real estate investors who will certainly see a direct link between their success and their investment in education.
So what are some of the questions and factors to consider when evaluating education opportunities?
Never Lost
There are few things you can invest in without risk. It just so happens that education is one of those things. You’ll never lose the knowledge you have acquired. Even poor education programs have lessons to teach. Talk to any mature, leading expert, successful CEO, highly respected entrepreneur or thought leader and they’ll no doubt tell you that education and learning is of premiere importance.
How Fast do You Want to Go?
There is a lot to be learned from hands on experience, trial and error, testing, and just digging in and making your own mistakes. Real estate investing, marketing, sales, and operating a business is no exception. However, it is no secret that time is the most valuable and precious resource each of us has. So when debating investing in learning and real estate education, weigh the time savings and speed it can offer. If a strong real estate course or attending a seminar can shave years off of the process, and put the power of compounding gains to work for you years earlier, it could provide a 5, 6 and even 7 figure value in income. What’s your time worth? How many years are you willing to burn instead of getting on the fast track?
How Important is Retaining Your Gains?
It’s true that some have taken crash courses in real estate investing or have winged it in sales and have quickly built up large portfolios. However, the truth is that it can feel a lot worse to crash and burn, and lose it all after having experienced that level of affluence. Thousands of real estate investors, agents, CEOs, and even homeowners have experienced this due to being over confident and failing to build in sustainability.
Return on Investment
What’s the potential return on investment from real estate education? What are the costs of not investing in it? Being frugal can be a great thing, but many have seriously sabotaged their potential by skimping in this area. Others will say their investments of tens of thousands of dollars in education have been their best moves ever, and have clearly paid off many times over. The actual ROI on education can depend where you get it, and what you do with it, but truly intelligent individuals recognize this as an investment, not an expenditure.
Is There Even a Choice?
Thinking forward and taking the largest goals into consideration, most individuals will find that they really don’t have an option but to keep learning. When you stop learning, you start losing. Unless you really enjoy self-sabotage, you’ll be constantly looking for ways to learn. Money aside, there is a lot of fulfillment to be found in constant learning and self-improvement.
That said, choose how much you’ll invest in education and advancement each year. Maybe you’ll want to dedicate a percentage of your income or annual budget to it. Set it aside, budget it for it, and schedule your time for learning for years to come.
