Getting my LICENSE, anyone else doing the same?
Realtor · Athens, GA · Member since 2017 · 336 posts · 123 votes
Hello, my name is Georgui Kasaev I am an investor and I live in Athens Georgia. I have been immersing my self in everything to do with real estate for the last year and it has been a blast.
On 12/30/17 I started my 75-hour pre-licensing course for the Georgia real estate sales license.
I'd like to connect with anyone undergoing any sort of licensing courses in the real estate industry.
Tell me about your field of study, how it's going, what are you planning to use the license for and where do you plan on working?
Would love to connect and build a network of hungry new professionals! Hope you all have a wonderful day and thank you for taking the time to read!
Whether you plan on using your license or not, if you are interested in Real estate and Real Estate investing, it's not one of those things that can hurt. It'll only benefit you. When you get your license, you'll have to join a brokerage in which you'll make contacts with all sorts of Realtors from all sorts of backgrounds. Just that networking opportunity itself and be golden for you. Do it and don't look back!!
I just got my license on 1/2/18. Right now I'm just busy looking for my first transaction. My goal is to work with investors since I have some experience house hacking and love the numbers side. Do you know who you're going to hang your license with? Good luck with the studying and exams!
What made you decide to go for it? I am in the fence trying to figure out if the early access to deals makes it worth it. Aren’t there tax implications of becoming an agent?
Thank you for your question! I have been on the fence about it my self for quite a bit. The reason I am finally taking the plunge is to pinpoint my focus and to generate additional income for my investing business. As far as getting your license just for the early access privilege I'm not sure if I'd get my license just for that. Easier to get access to MLS by either having agents setting up alerts for any new inventory coming on the market that fits your criteria or by becoming an unlicensed assistant for one of your agents. Hope that helps let me know what you decide!
I just got my license on 1/2/18. Right now I'm just busy looking for my first transaction. My goal is to work with investors since I have some experience house hacking and love the numbers side. Do you know who you're going to hang your license with? Good luck with the studying and exams!
Thanks for sharing your journey. Are you mainly focused on Dacula? I have not settled on a Broker to hold my license quite yet. I do need to start looking just because I need a broker who is not looking for a full-time employee because I will be focusing mainly on investing in real estate and working as an agent part-time. How did you go about finding someone to hand your license with?
Thank you for your time!
I plan to start out as a RE agent part time, with a local brokerage that has at least some focus on investors (Haven't started that search yet). I have an immense network of local contacts with customers I've known for years having been in business locally for a decade. I plan to run my current business along side being an agent for 18 months to 2 years, both to work that network for RE and to replace my income before selling the business. I can control my day to day schedule currently, so as the agent duties need more time, I can block out sections of time from my "day job" business without clearing it with a boss.
I plan to stockpile my commissions for brrrr investment seed money (to add with a decent amount of equity on my primary) and learn what buys and sells the local investors are making. My first few investment properties will likely be bought while running my current business and building a name as an agent, but any cash flow I receive from rentals I plan to recycle into the portfolio brrrr seed money early on. Once my commission income has replaced my business income for the most part, I can begin to live on commissions instead of manual labor...i mean entrepreneurship...and sell our business for more capital for RE.
I've got two kids, three step kids, an amazing hard working wife, and a total financial black hole of an ex wife, but I've taken inventory of where we are, and am taking steps to be an agent and investor full time going forward. My short term income goals are only to replace the high-5-figure income I currently make with agent commissions. My long term buy and hold investing is where I want to make 6-figure net worth plays. I can live a frugal lifestyle for now.
Thank you so much for such great detail. It seems you and I are thinking along the same lines. My partner and I just started out investing company and as a result of it, my desire for my RE license was reawakened. However, I also plan on working only part-time as an agent and doing most of my work on developing the investing business. Essentially I'd like to practice real estate long enough to maybe start my own brokerage, but we will see. May I ask what your business does now?
Thank you for your time have a great day!
Whether you plan on using your license or not, if you are interested in Real estate and Real Estate investing, it's not one of those things that can hurt. It'll only benefit you. When you get your license, you'll have to join a brokerage in which you'll make contacts with all sorts of Realtors from all sorts of backgrounds. Just that networking opportunity itself and be golden for you. Do it and don't look back!!
I've been licensed for two years, it has been the best decision of my life. When you guys get into your local MLS, find a program called RPR "Realtor Property Resource". Learn how to use this program, it has served me well in my investing endeavor. You can use this program to find any property across the U.S. If you go the "Distressed Properties" route for investing, RPR has a search criteria for distressed homes (local and national). Just because we're new doesn't mean we can be players in our industry! Good luck guys and gals!
@Georgui Kasaev Right now I'm mostly focused on Gwinnett county, but I'm open to do business anywhere East of the perimeter. When looking for a brokerage to hang my license, I looked for the one with the best training and highest number of closings. I chose Keller Williams First Atlanta. I am looking to be a realtor full time though.
@Georgui Kasaev this is great. I think learning the laws of real estate and immersing yourself in that world is a great way to get deeply involved and to produce capital for your future investments of which youll have cutting edge knowledge. There are some legal and professional concerns you'll need to consider such as disclosing your status as a licensed realtor even when you plan on entering a transaction merely as an investor. Do your homework to avoid running into ethical legal issues. Good luck!
@Nick Rutkowski Thanks for the RPR tip! Ill be looking deeper into this tool. I believe my board of realtors offers a few classes on it. Either way looking forward to exploring this.
@Russell Holmes I like your strategy. ill be looking to brrrr myself. first things first..l need to work on getting qualified for a mortgage. I don't have a lot of declared income history dating two years back so im having trouble getting loans through the traditional means. best of luck on getting financially setup with your real estate pursuits!
Whether you plan on using your license or not, if you are interested in Real estate and Real Estate investing, it's not one of those things that can hurt. It'll only benefit you. When you get your license, you'll have to join a brokerage in which you'll make contacts with all sorts of Realtors from all sorts of backgrounds. Just that networking opportunity itself and be golden for you. Do it and don't look back!!
Man thank you so much for the encouragement. I feel the same way, singularity of purpose was drilled into me during my brief career as a pro fighter. Coach always said pick your weakest point and concentrate on that for a month no matter what happens it will not be bad. Thank you for taking the time to write!
I've been licensed for two years, it has been the best decision of my life. When you guys get into your local MLS, find a program called RPR "Realtor Property Resource". Learn how to use this program, it has served me well in my investing endeavor. You can use this program to find any property across the U.S. If you go the "Distressed Properties" route for investing, RPR has a search criteria for distressed homes (local and national). Just because we're new doesn't mean we can be players in our industry! Good luck guys and gals!
Man, that is awesome to hear! Did you plan on getting your license from the beginning or did you realize you wanted it once you started investing? Thank you for the RPR tip, can't wait to learn all about it!
I got my license a few months ago in Tennessee and will likely add the Georgia License soon. I finally chose to get mine when I was sitting at a closing table for a 12 unit thinking about how much money I would have earned had I simply gotten a license. In that transaction I had simply called the listing agent and made the deal so he was able to get both sides of the commission which is fine since it came from the seller but next time I plan to split it with him if I can.
I am in the Chattanooga area.
I’ve had my real estate license for 4 years now. I working in the Knoxville, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg areas in TN. I bought my 1st rental at age 18 and then got into real estate a few years later. Knoxville is a great market to buy and hold as well as flip in. I work with other investors on finding and selling flips. My husband is a licensed contractor who often does work for my clients and then I will list the property.
I’m affiliated with Coldwell Banker Wallace and Wallace and it is an amazing company and offer so much value. I was named one of Coldwell Bankers International top 30 agents under the age of 30, a 1st from TN.
Let me know if you have any investors wanting to work in my area or if you have any questions about being newly licensed.
Wow, I hope to accomplish as much as you have in the industry! And I think we are on the same page as far as strategy goes. You and your husband seem to have created multiple ways you can assist your clients with purchase, rehab, sale. Which is obviously what any business wants, is to help their client in as many ways as possible. I do a lot of my own marketing and I am starting to realize that no matter how I try I get a lot of my mail delivered to houses whose owners are aiming to sell at market value. And as much as I love being able to refer them to any of realtors I consider to be part of my team, sometimes they are not available and I much rather keep the lead and help the client than to send my marketing dollars to someone I don't know. And obviously, a bit of extra income will help my investment portfolio to grow faster.
By the way, my father's company used to own Sable theater in Pigeon Forge. I visited a few times, it's a lovely town.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and I will keep you in mind for anyone who I can find that has investors looking in the Tennessee market. Is there a good way to reach you for someone who is not in bigger pockets?
@Georgui Kasaev I sent you a message, it wont let me post my contact info here.
@Georgui Kasaev That is great Georgui! I'm in the same boat as you are, new to investing and recently got my license here in CA. Figured it can only deepen my understanding of the business once you find a good broker and open new streams of income. Best of luck.
@Georgui Kasaev that sounds like a great setup adding your license to your partnership, I think you'll see significant value in it. You may find yourself blurring the line between when you're an 'agent' and when you're and 'investor'. I can imagine many scenarios where depending on a buyer's motivation, desired price, and property condition, you decide whether to wear the investor hat or the Realtor hat. If you were an investor only, that John and Sue with the full retail price home they want to buy or sell wouldn't be of any interest. As an agent, they can then become clients and you can get them top retail dollar for their home to another retail buyer. Who knows when their cousin may have a distressed house in the next town a year later. If I were to map our all of the interconnections between customers and referrals in my service business over the past 10 years, it would look like one of those chaotic tactical FBI crime web boards from the movies where the lines crisscross too much to even track.
My current business is at it's core about as polar opposite from long term real estate investing as possible: I own a mobile detailing company. I sell a service that's needed over and over again without any tangible long term results. It's a profit machine, but it is very hands on. We are at a sweetspot where the overhead is very low, profits are great, and we have no employees or company vehicles aside from the two my wife and I drive and use as our personal vehicles as well. We've run numbers on expanding to a third and fourth truck by investing in more trucks, hiring, etc. It would barely break even the first year or two, and then maybe profit $10-20k per truck after that with mountains of extra stress, management, etc. So instead, we are enjoying the 'sweet spot' while we get our side hustles going. I should be able to sell the business for about what it grosses in a year, but I'm not betting my future on it. Owner operated service businesses are notoriously hard/slow to sell.
I don't ever really have plans to be a "full-time" agent or broker as in it being my sole and primary focus. Being the broker who's picture is on the billboard with the smiling family who just bought their mcMansion, offering to list yours, just isn't my gig. But working as an agent or broker with investors or other buyers who buy based on logic and numbers is extremely appealing to me. I will likely get my brokers license after I'm eligible in two years (FL law), but will likely hang it with a transactional broker as running a brokerage with agents seems like a nightmare. I plan to replace my full time income with agent commissions, and as soon as that happens, exit from my business as quickly as is reasonable and replace that portion of my productive time with investing. My ex wife blew about a $45k hole in my ability to capitalize my immediate entry into investing, but that was money well spent in that I kept my house with equity and my profitable business. Both of those will be the footholds I use to climb into RE.
@Christopher Makestas Qualifying for financing is something I'm working on too, but for different reasons. I have 10 years of strong 1099 income. That part is no problem. The problem lies in the expensive divorce battle I went through in 2014 and all of the debt I incurred due to it. I put some of it on a HELOC at the time and the rest on 0% credit cards. My house has appreciated quite a bit while I've paid the debt down some too. Currently my credit report looks like I have a knack for shopping. Early this year we'll be refinancing my primary at less than 80% LTV to wipe out all consumer debt aside from our work trucks. With how quickly the market is appreciating, we may only need 70% LTV to accomplish what we need, leaving more open for a HELOC for BRRRRs later. Only after cleaning up those finances will I even be close to "bankable". But I've got a firm grasp of all the pieces that need to come together, and working on getting them moving into position.
Sounds Great!! Let’s connect! You’ll love Knoxville and our amazing investment opportunities. Our property taxes are so low that you would laugh!!
@Georgui Kasaev Right now I'm mostly focused on Gwinnett county, but I'm open to do business anywhere East of the perimeter. When looking for a brokerage to hang my license, I looked for the one with the best training and highest number of closings. I chose Keller Williams First Atlanta. I am looking to be a realtor full time though.
Let me know if you ever hear about any distressed properties closer to Athens ga ;). I hear Keller is a great firm. I have a few friends working at Keller branch in Athens they seem to love it. You said you chose them because of the continuing education. What others did you look at if you don't mind me asking?
Have a wonderful day!
@Georgui Kasaev this is great. I think learning the laws of real estate and immersing yourself in that world is a great way to get deeply involved and to produce capital for your future investments of which youll have cutting edge knowledge. There are some legal and professional concerns you'll need to consider such as disclosing your status as a licensed realtor even when you plan on entering a transaction merely as an investor. Do your homework to avoid running into ethical legal issues. Good luck!
@Nick Rutkowski Thanks for the RPR tip! Ill be looking deeper into this tool. I believe my board of realtors offers a few classes on it. Either way looking forward to exploring this.
@Russell Holmes I like your strategy. ill be looking to brrrr myself. first things first..l need to work on getting qualified for a mortgage. I don't have a lot of declared income history dating two years back so im having trouble getting loans through the traditional means. best of luck on getting financially setup with your real estate pursuits!
Thank you for taking the time to post! Yes, I am currently reading through the chapter describing how an agent who owns property has to conduct himself and what disclosures he/she must give. Seems manageable. And I feel you on not being able to show proof of income for any sort of period of time I always thought it was a plus to get paid under the table, not so much now lol. We are working on other strategies that don't require traditional financing but even then it's not easy.
Good luck let me know if we can be of any help. Happy investing.
@Kendra Ellis sorry I should have mentioned that. This platform doesn't allow you to post contact info in public threads. I will be passing your info to one of my contacts who has investors looking to invest all over the states maybe that will produce some fruit.
@Georgui Kasaev That is great Georgui! I'm in the same boat as you are, new to investing and recently got my license here in CA. Figured it can only deepen my understanding of the business once you find a good broker and open new streams of income. Best of luck.
That's awesome, newbies unite ha ha ha. CA sounds like a tough market to be investing in but it seems like would be a great opportunity to make cash by helping people buy and sell. And that is exactly where I want to place my self. If and when I feel that the market become more of a seller's market I don't want to forced to chase deals with not much meat on the bone. Much rather get out of the way and sell quarter million dollar houses for clients, while keeping my eyes open for the diamond in the rough.
Thank you so much for reaching out and telling me your story! Happy investing!