Agent in a state they don't know anyone

[Matthew Long]

I've worked at a 9-5 job which ended up being a 12 hour day 5-6 days a week for the last 10 years.. I am now 29 and over it. Also I lived in Oregon my entire life and it's gone downhill big time, way to many "keep Portland weird" people and the bum scene is ridiculous, not to mention the traffic. 

Anyways, I quit my job last week and me and my fiance have decided to move to Arizona, around phoenix area. We should be there by end of June and I have 0 desire to go back to what I was doing.. i'd like to enjoy life even a little bit. 

So I've decided to give real estate a shot, I have no problem working 24/7 as I do that now anyways but work that I hate. I have 45k in the bank to live off of, and my fiance is in banking so we have a decent salary to live off of while I'm not bringing in anything. 

A couple questions, everyone talks about needing the funds to make it through the first 18 months, is 40k enough to start real estate? Also I sold my truck a few days ago so we only have to take one car down to AZ, I am a huge anti car payment person.. if I buy a 5k car, say an older corolla or something, is that going to effect my selling? I always see agents in fancy cars, and I have no desire to own something I don't pay for in cash. And last, is it possible to become an agent in a new state that you don't know a single person besides my SO? Should I maybe seek joining a team at first?

[Jeff Hartley]

Hey Matthew,

Having just gotten into real estate and recently finished this process I would say join a good team. Especially with your financial cushion you should be just fine as long as you are willing to grind it out the first year. The splits aren't as good on teams but you should do a lot more volume, plus teams usually cover a lot of your fees and give you some good tools. Plus if you don't like the team thing you can always choose later to switch to being an independent agent. Just my thoughts. 

Good luck in Arizona!