How to get ahead of the curve as a college student
I’m 18 and in college. I want to get into CRE. My dad has been doing CRE for 22ish years so I have a great source to turn to.  My end goal is to start up my own firm. Before that, obviously, I would work in a CRE company as an analyst for a few years so I get some real world experience.  

My dad said to buy a duplex, work on it, then resell it, and keep moving up the “chain.” (then apartments, then office buildings, etc).  

There’s no real estate program (other than a club) or major/minor at my college. I was thinking about joining the CRE club next year (as a sophomore). 

I have mentioned to my dad multiple times about investing in a property whenever the opportunity pops up (whenever he will invest in a deal, I’ll “piggyback” on it).  I can easily get an “internship” this summer at his company and ask his friends for advice/help. 

What steps should I take as an 18 year old in college to work towards my end goal?

Feel free to PM me and offer any advice. I’m open to anything and please don’t sugar coat anything &amp; I would love to answer some questions! 
[{"id": "eevlgt5", "text": "Best thing my parents and a couple of aunts/uncles did was buy a house in the town that their kids go to college in. Find yourself a 4 plex of even SFH with lots of bedrooms. You act as property manager and vet your friends to stay with you. They pay rent to your dad. ", "replies": [{"id": "eevw84w", "text": "Yeah, he was saying to build a duplex a 4plex and move into it and get 3 other tenants, then after a year, once one tenant leaves, I would remodel that part of the house and do that until the whole 4plex is completely remodeled and then sell it (or at least remodel half the 4plex). ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eevlkql", "text": "You would be hard pressed to find a stranger on the internet that could help you more than a pro with 22 years of experience. My advice would be to learn from him and have him help you network into whatever position suits you. After all those years he definitely has an extensive network in the industry which is absolutely essential to a successful career in CRE", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eew2jtz", "text": "Do you want to work on institutional quality/size deals or do you want to do small deals that an average person could finance?", "replies": [{"id": "eew3huw", "text": "Institutional quality. So office buildings, the occasional warehouse or mall. ", "replies": [{"id": "eew4kfp", "text": "Here is the ideal path.\n\nGo to college and double major in Finance and Real Estate.\n\nIntern after your first year. It\u2019s fine if it is at your dad\u2019s company.\n\nIntern after your sophomore year. Target [real estate private equity](https://www.perenews.com/database/#/PERE-50) companies. Target developers. Target pension funds that invest in real estate. Target lenders such as commercial banks, CMBS lenders, life insurance companies, and debt funds. Target investment sales and debt/equity brokerage shops. Accept the most prestigious offer you get at the firm with the most deal flow and largest deals.\n\nIntern after your junior year. Use the same selection criteria as for the previous internship. This should set you up for your full time position out of school. Place a greater emphasis on REPE, developers, and owner operators if that is where you ultimately want to end up.", "replies": [{"id": "eewg1nx", "text": "I cannot major in RE at my college. What do you mean by target? And want us REPE? ", "replies": [{"id": "eewi5m5", "text": "Target meaning those are the types of firms you should be learning about and applying to. \n\nREPE is real estate private equity. They raise funds of say $500 million to invest for a set period of time, which is typically 7-10 years. They typically partner with developers or owner/operators. REPE firms are generally the limited partner and might put in 80-95% of the equity, and the general partner, the developer would put in the rest of the equity.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}, {"id": "eewk12d", "text": "Real estate license is taught everywhere.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ef4dmfp", "text": "Pretty sure your daddy can help you answer this question...", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]