Still In College? There Was Never A Better Time To Get Started With Real estate Investments

College is a time to make up your mind about a career. However, it is never a bad idea to start young when it comes to investment, that too in plots in India or upcoming property in India. Some of the world's greatest investors like Warren Buffet started as a teen.

If you have the nose for real estate, it will show before you actually can make an investment. You can make an investment in property when you are still in college only if you have money at your disposal. But if you do not have a regular income and have a part-time job, you can always kick-start your savings to make up for one. If not anything you start planning your investments at a young age.

Few enter the investment market with a clear view of their future. You can be one of those rare people if you start your investment in college itself.

1. Research: It is never too early to start researching on a plot or a land or a location which is all set to become hot property a few years down the line. Choose four or five locations and make imaginary bets on how values of plots in India or flats in Delhi, for instance, will go up. Keep a regular track of changes in values. Also, you could give good real estate advice to an uncle who would be impressed. Or, if you are able to secure a good deal, you can even convince your father or other family members to put in money in real estate. It might not be technically your own investment but the credit for it will always be given to you.

2. Internship: Every college course these days requires a summer internship. Instead of choosing a bottling plant, manufacturing company or an ad agency, choose a real estate company to spend your summer. Proactively, approach a manager and convince him or her to let you assist. That would give a good idea of the insider-view of the workings of real estate. Study the land prices dutifully and chum up with experts who have inside information of the way property values will appreciate. If you manage to make friends in these companies, you might be able to get a tip or two. If not anything, you might land a job offer!

3. Part-time agent: After college and studies, you can use your weekends and other holidays to be a part-time broker in a real estate firm. Since it works on commission basis, you can make good money and also get acquainted with real estate terms and tricks of the trade.  

4. Savings: All the while do not forget to start saving. The amount that you save might be of great help to start with. Every penny counts when you are in a crunch. Save the birthday gift money or scholarship funds, or even money from part-time or summer jobs. Invest wisely in mutual funds. Five to six years of savings can be a huge help when you are in your mid-20s and buying a property.

(The writer has been working as a business journalist for the last nine years, and has covered beats across banking, pharma, healthcare, telecom, technology, power, infrastructure, shipping and commodities)