Why I choose to be a licensed real estate agent

****THIS POST WAS INITIALLY PUBLISHED IN JAN 2015, AND FOR A REASON I CAN'T REMEMBER I DELETED IT***** IT IS NOW BACK BECAUSE I HAVE WRITTEN AN UPDATED FOLLOW UP, AND I ENJOY SEEING THE DIFFERENCE IN PERSPECTIVE.

Should I become a licensed agent?

This is a question that I feel many investors ponder over at one time or another, and the choice is a personal one to all of us. Never let anyone tell you what you “should” be doing as an investor. Evaluate your personal circumstances, and make your decisions based on what works for you. Always remember there are many different ways to accomplish a goal. In this post I am going to share some reasons that made me commit to getting this professional license. Keep in mind, they are in no order of importance, each is equally important in my mind.

• 1.KNOWLEDGE- For me personally, knowledge is the key to success. I feel that being a licensed real estate sales agent will help keep me immersed in this world at all times. By default it will improve my ability to evaluate properties, improve my understanding of my local market, and provide more insight into the underwriting process, appraisals, and a horde of other things. All of which are important to real estate investing .This gets accomplished by having the opportunity to work with other professionals in the business such as mortgage brokers, home inspectors, appraisers, other realtors. Constant exposure to these professionals and their experience is priceless.
• 2.IMPROVE SALES SKILLS- Like many other investors, reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad” really changed my point of view. One thing that is suggested in the book is to improve sales skills. This makes sense to me. In the real estate investing world you have to be able to sell everything. Houses, services, and even yourself. The ability to sell is gold. Over the years I have bought and sold many things. Stepping up to selling real estate will take my selling ability to the next level.
• 3.HELPING OTHERS- I have always found great satisfaction in sharing my knowledge with others. With other business ventures I have been involved in, I always was happy to share everything with anyone that took the time to ask.(And even people that didn’t haha) I owned and Ice Cream truck business, and once spent 8 hours talking someone step by step from purchase to selling out of the truck. I can talk for hours about the things I do, because I am passionate about everything I set my mind to doing. I have a mind that wants to attempt EVERYTHING. This is a strength, and my biggest weakness. I now make a constant effort to keep my passion, and energy focused on real estate. I still remember the feeling the first time I got the keys to my brand new home, I remember unlocking the door for the first time, the smell of the new carpet with the plastic still covering it, the smell of the new paint, the feeling I got when my realtor handed me a thoughtful gift of a Home Depot gift card. Even though it was stressful at times, I loved every part of the home buying process. I was lucky to have a very knowledgeable professional assisting me. He saved me from an unethical mortgage broker, and always treated me like I was his only client. He was able to get me into a brand new house, in my price range, and negotiated an amazing deal with the builder, when I had started out looking at foreclosure condos. I want to be that professional for other home buyers. I want every buyer I work with to have that same level of representation that I had on my first residence purchase. The feeling, and experience was amazing.
• 4.INCOME GENERATION- Everyone loves to get paid to learn, right?
• 5.VALUE ADD- I’m always planning strategically for the future, so what better way to add value to myself, and place myself in a position to help other investors, than becoming a licensed realtor. I see a lot of investors who seek out real estate agents for access to the MLS, among other things, and most look for an agent that has some sort of real estate investing experience. I have a funny story to share. A few weeks ago I was calling around my local area of Tucson Arizona to various real estate agents. I got on the phone with one, my first question was “Do you have any experience working with real estate investors” Her response, “Can you please clarify what you mean by real estate investor” I was blown away….I explained what a real estate investor is, and what we do. I politely thanked her for taking the time to speak to me, and started contemplating getting licensed myself. The future deals I want to pursue will require partners, and I want to be able to offer as much as I possibly can to them. Whoever they may be.
• 6. ABILTY TO SCOUT PROPERTIES- I have always loved to walk through and evaluate properties, but I also realize that time is money. I would never waste a realtors’ time by asking to see a property, without being ready to make a purchase. For me the ability to scout properties on my own is priceless. I also see it as a value add, as I will be able to assist other investors who may not be in my area, who are looking to make a purchase in Tucson, or southeastern Arizona. I can offer a no BS, honest assessment of a property from an investor point of view. Looking back, this would have been extremely helpful when I first started out.

I am sure I could sit here and think of a million other reasons becoming a licensed realtor can enhance my investing, but these are the major ones that helped me come to my decision. I just want to keep finding different ways that I can help people, and share my knowledge. I am in the process of scouting real estate schools in my area for the 90 hour pre-licensing. I will be making more blog posts on this subject as I navigate through the process.

Thank you for reading. If you are an investor that’s also a realtor please share some of the reasons that were important to you, or challenges you faced as a new realtor, and if you are a rookie that is considering this I would love to hear from you as well.