What job to get in Real Estate

[Craig Curelop]

Hi,

I am a new investor and have spent the past 4 months reading books, listening to webinars, podcasts, attending conferences, and meetups regarding real estate to get myself educated as much as possible. I am nearing the next step in the real estate journey which is taking action and buying my first property. 

Unfortunately, I reside in SF right now which is a market I want to steer clear of. I am looking in moving down to the Inland Empire area outside of L.A. to complete my first purchase via an FHA loan. However, to qualify for a loan (and make the payments), I will need to get a job down there. I'd like to fully surround myself with real estate so ideally, it's a job in real estate.

I wanted to see if the members of BiggerPockets had any suggestions as to what type of real estate job would be best for someone interested in buy & hold properties. I was thinking an agent, but am afraid the volatile income streams will make it more difficult to qualify for the loan. My next idea was to work for a property manager in the area, but not sure if that is the best value add. 

Any advice is much appreciated :).

Best,

Craig 

[Max Gradowitz]

Telling a lender that you are moving somewhere to get a new job as a real estate agent may cause some problems.  Real estate agents are considered self employed and must show 2 years of income in real estate (from what I understand, bearing in mind that I'm not a lender, it's best to ask one of those).  I'd highly consider trying to land a normal paying salary job, be it property management or whatever, if your plan is to get a job elsewhere and do an owner-occupied purchase.  Search Indeed.com for salary paying in the real estate industry.