Real Estate Agent · Fresno, CA · Member since 2015 · 25 posts · 4 votes
I'm brand new to the world of real estate investment. I'm still just in the "educating myself" stage. I asked a couple of investors I knew if they thought it would be good to get a real estate license and they said affirmatively "NO!" They said because of "disclosures"...like it was a dirty word. What do they mean by that and is an RE license advantages or not??
I don't see why they would say it is a bad thing. The only negative I see is that you will begin to see yourself as an agent and not an "investor". Don't lose sight of the fact that most o the wealth created in real estate is from investors, not commissions. Agents are always chasing the next commission, and lose sight of the big picture. Keep the big picture in mind and you will be okay.
I got my license in NY and it has not affected me. I also got it to educate myself on real estate laws and the relationship between agent and buyer and seller.
I actually think it lends to your credibility if you are an agent. You will have access to the MLS and you will be around deals and people who are in the business
Rental Property Investor · Fond Du Lac, WI · Member since 2015 · 261 posts · 78 votes
10y
Absolutely yes. I've been flirting with the idea. Just for the sake of actively being around real estate on a daily business AND getting paid for it. There are also the benefits of being able to access the MLS etc, etc, etc
I guess it depends on you really.. how involved do you want to be involved with real estate? Not everyone NEEDs to be an agent, but it definitely has it's advantages
Investor · Plano, TX · Member since 2014 · 188 posts · 149 votes
10y
@Mandy Silveira, I'm not an agent (yet) but a very active investor. I'm getting to the point where I should get my license. Some advantages of being an agent
1. You can pay yourself 1.5% or 3% (depending on agent/broker) back to yourself. Last year I spent $26.7k in commissions. Ugh!!!
2. You don't have to wait for the listing agent to see the properties
3. Access hidden notes in the MLS (as opposed to syndicate information from realtor.com or redfin.com)
4. Apparently, you can take unlimited deductions with a professional license as opposed to the 25k limit in a passive cashflow. This I've heard/read, need further digging
Downsides, since you are "licensed". You do have to adhere to a code of ethics especially if you have to represent yourself. For eg. a non-agent can buy a house for cash directly from owner bypassing MLS. But an agent, if the seller requests for MLS marketing, cannot bypass this step if the agent would want the property for himself/herself.
I don't see why they would say it is a bad thing. The only negative I see is that you will begin to see yourself as an agent and not an "investor". Don't lose sight of the fact that most o the wealth created in real estate is from investors, not commissions. Agents are always chasing the next commission, and lose sight of the big picture. Keep the big picture in mind and you will be okay.
I got my license in NY and it has not affected me. I also got it to educate myself on real estate laws and the relationship between agent and buyer and seller.
I actually think it lends to your credibility if you are an agent. You will have access to the MLS and you will be around deals and people who are in the business
Boxborough, MA · Member since 2014 · 230 posts · 62 votes
10y
I started out as an investor, but when I neede to get comps, I decided to get licensed. It is actually a very good thing. Now I will have multiple sources of income and can help other investors list their properties- and that's probably a few properties a year. Not bad!!!
The only downside is that you have to disclose that you are also a real estate agent when buying properties for yourself.
Real Estate Agent · Fresno, CA · Member since 2015 · 25 posts · 4 votes
10y
So, second part of my question would be, what is the best way to get my license? I know a lot of local agencies offer free classes, but that requires becoming part of their agency. How do I go about taking the required classes without being associated with an agency?
Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2012 · 506 posts · 331 votes
10y
I come down on the side of becoming an agent as an investor. I laugh when I hear investors worried about "disclosures" if they become agents. I ask if that means that they're doing something underhanded now - of course they insist they aren't!
Your additional disclosures will generally be to the seller (when you buy) that the buyer is a licensed agent and to the public (via MLS marketing remarks) that the listing agent has a financial interest in the property. There are ethical standards, etc. that agents are held to, but most of those (in Ohio, anyway) aren't a negative impact on our business as investors/wholesalers.
In Ohio, we have a few companies that you can pay to get your licensing classes done. I'd bet that a google search would find out if the same were true in CA.