Should I Get My Real Estate License?

Question

Hello Everyone.  I'm in the process of getting my second income property.  I have been thinking about getting my Real Estate license to get access to the MLS and maybe sell a few houses to pay for all fees involved in being an agent.  Do you guys think this would be a good idea if I only want to do this for investing and w=sell houses part time?

Yuriy Skripnichenko · Answer

@Jason Meador

There are a lot of people who would say it is a bad idea for an investor to have license. When you have a license you kept up to "higher" standards.

However, I an investor and I have license. It was a good decision for me to get one. First I have instant access to all inventory on the market and do not need to be depended on an agent (and in my previous practice most of them were not very reliable). I can check out any property I want at any time without being held by another person and also I know the business from the agents side better. Which helped me to get my latest property under contract for the price that made sense for both parties. If I had an agent I wouldn't be able to get that deal.

So I would say go for it. And you can find an online brokerage that doesn't charge to much money to "hang" the license with them so you don't have work as an agent if you don't want to. And you use your license only for your deals.

Jason Meador · Answer

Thanks for the response.  Would you have any idea how much it would cost me every year to maintain my license while using an online brokerage as you suggest?