Should I Join Realty Company?

[Brandon G.]

I will soon begin taking classes to get my RE license. I understand that in order to become licensed I will need to "hang my license" with a broker. I'm not quite sure what this entails, but I assume if I join one of the realty companies such as Keller Williams, Remax, Century 21, etc. that they will serve as a broker for my license.

For those investors who got their license solely for investment purposes and not to become an agent, did you also join one of these larger companies or are their smaller brokers? 

If the larger companies are the way to go, which company is recommended? I talked to Keller Williams and they said they have a good referral program where agents refer leads to other agents for a percentage of the commission. This might be nice should I be unable to close a deal as an investor because the seller decides to sell retail. I could then make a referral and earn some cash. 

Your thoughts?

[Rocky V.]

If all depends if you want to become an agent or strictly do your own deals.  Those companies you mentioned have steep fees every month so if you are not utilizing their services it is not worth it to me.  I choose to hang my license with an independent broker that operates out of his home and only has 4-5 other agents.  No monthly fees and extremely minimal fees per transaction.

It is common practice to offer a referral fee to another agent if they give you an able and willing buyer/seller that you close a deal with.  This has no relevance of which company you are with.