Should I give commercial real estate a shot before committing to grad school?
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[{"id": "g6flp04", "text": "Very hard to start out. If he has a large client portfolio why not take over his biz?", "replies": [{"id": "g6fm829", "text": "My dad loves what he does, he wakes up everyday excited for it. I just don\u2019t know if I would feel the same way about it but it\u2019s already established so I feel like I need to give it a shot and see.", "replies": [{"id": "g6fozs6", "text": "I would try. If you really don\u2019t care for it after 3-5 years, you can still sell the business to someone else for your Dad\u2019s retirement.  Psychology is a great foundation for dealing with people in real estate or finance. If you\u2019ve been considering grad school, presumably you know you have the math aptitude from stats courses, so that will not be an issue. Think if it as an internship in applied psychology! It\u2019s so hard to make a living even as a clinical psychologist that I think you owe it to yourself and any future family to give commercial real estate a shot. I don\u2019t have a degree in psychology, but I\u2019m interested and knowledgeable enough that I was able to help my 2020 psych-major daughter with her classes, and I\u2019ve enjoyed two areas in CRE very much over my career.", "replies": [{"id": "g6fpg9u", "text": "Thanks. That\u2019s what I was thinking as well. I spent the last 7 months working in an addiction and psychopathology treatment center and it\u2019s been emotionally taxing. I\u2019m passionate about psychology but It can always be something that I indulge in through books and films during my free time. I wouldn\u2019t say math is my strongest suit but I did get an A in statistics and I\u2019ve currently been studying for the GRE (which has a quantitive portion) I\u2019m definitely able and willing to work hard to improve in whatever it may be", "replies": [{"id": "g6fte3r", "text": "Read up on behavioral finance, too. It\u2019s a great intersection for those interested in psychology and finance. Commercial real estate is part of finance and managing it is asset management.", "replies": [{"id": "g6fyav2", "text": "Thanks! I\u2019ll look into it", "replies": [], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g6gdk74", "text": "@tristin_23\n\nIt\u2019s good that you have a heart for the poor and the broken: people who\u2019ve had bad breaks, bad relationships, self-destruction, lack of opportunities. Let\u2019s face it, with so much hate and anger in the world, there will be victims. Quite frankly, with drug abuse and mental illness, a lot of these people are too far gone. There\u2019s no turning it around for them, and all society can do is manage them and their afflictions. \n\nYour father has spent his life building and maintaining his reputation, valuable connections, and a lucrative business. This is so rare. You should realise that your father must have overcome many challenges and temptations in life in order to become successful. Thanks to his diligence, you have a tremendous head start and an amazing opportunity. You\u2019re guaranteed to do more in life to help the most people if you use the head start your father gave you. \n\nBottom line is this- the world doesn\u2019t need you to make a career out of behavioural therapy. The world needs people who can build and maintain good relationships; who are dependable and can be trusted to do thing the right way. When you do this, you\u2019re going to create opportunities for other people. You\u2019re going to have more influence and a greater impact in the world. You\u2019re going to be able to help more people with the opportunity your father is giving you. Managing commercial property may not seem very heroic, but I\u2019d beg to differ. Very few people know how to care for and maintain real estate. The world needs people with this knowledge and ability- it keeps our communities from becoming slums- and your father has the talent. He\u2019s giving you a gift. You\u2019re only going to get the opportunity once, because when your father is gone, the knowledge is going into the ground with him.", "replies": [{"id": "g6ggnh6", "text": "Do you have any recommendations for books etc regarding commercial real estate? Before I bring it up to him I want to make sure it\u2019s something I do want to make a commitment to trying out with him. I don\u2019t know how to discover if I feel a deep passion for it or not.I\u2019d like to gain some more background and knowledge about what the industry is about. Do you think there are certain specific skills/ personality traits that are especially important to be successful?", "replies": [{"id": "g6gkk1l", "text": "\"The Real Estate Game: The Intelligent Guide To Decisionmaking And Investment\" by William Poorvu is a great starting point - he teaches a real estate course at Harvard. With regard to personality traits, some people picture real estate professionals, at least brokers, as aggressive smooth-talkers. While this is true in some cases, I have seen the full gambit of personality types. Lastly, it is very hard to know if you have deep passion for something unless you do it, and often for many years. It's likely you have multiple potential passions that will go undeveloped and unrecognized due to lack of time and energy. A lot of the commenters here are correct in my opinion: you are very lucky to have a father who has overcome so many obstacles to have built what he has. While I come from a good background, my family was not involved in CRE, so I have had to hustle hard to break in and get to where I am today. If I were you, I would build on your father's legacy and enjoy the more easily attainable financial rewards. You only have one life and the less you have to worry about finances, the better. Good luck!", "replies": [{"id": "g6gkwvc", "text": "Great! I appreciate it a lot", "replies": [{"id": "g6gn13p", "text": "Check out my edited comment, I added a few thoughts.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g6h3sy4", "text": "\u201cDo you know a book I could read before I decide?\u201d\n\nThis girl is such an ungrateful sheltered snowflake, dude. Her head is in the wrong place. Maybe she does belong in the nuthouse. Try gutting it out there for a few years. Realize how fucking miserable that shit really is. Then when her dad is long gone and so is the opportunity, she\u2019ll finally appreciate it. \n\nGuys like her dad, love what they do for 40 years then retire, they don\u2019t live long. Usually dead 2 or 3 years after retiring.\n\nEDIT**** Yeah looking at her post history, this girl is a mess. 23 years old, lesbian, drinks 5-6 cups of coffee a day and just started taking adderall. Interested in the psychology of terrorism... this bitch is wacko and definitely belongs in the nuthouse. I don\u2019t think she could function in a world where the assignments aren\u2019t given to her on a syllabus and tests aren\u2019t scheduled far in advance.\n\nAnd I\u2019m 100% serious she does belong with the wacked out drug addicts. SHE IS ONE!!! She can\u2019t function without drugs. She\u2019s not willing to change or sacrifice anything so that drugs don\u2019t have to be a part of her life. The only difference between this girl and a heroin addict is that heroin is illegal.", "replies": [{"id": "g6hb3w9", "text": "You actually have no idea what you are talking about!! But congrats you are a completely  misogynistic rude asshole. Fyi I drink one cup of coffee,  WHICH THE POST SAYS, #2 I take my medication as prescribed by my physician for ADHD.  #3 my sexuality has absolutely nothing to do with anything. That is the most ignorant statement anyone could possibly make about drug addiction! Congrats!", "replies": [{"id": "g6hfany", "text": "It\u2019s great when an idiot starts with the word \u201cactually.\u201d You know this is gunna be good.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g6heqac", "text": "Lol. RIP your dad. Poor guy", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]