Investor friendly brokerage in Virginia

[Brian C.]

My wife is currently working on getting her real estate license with the primary intention of aiding our own real estate investment activities.  Outside of our own purchases, we would only be potentially representing friends or family.  

We're looking for a brokerage that would be friendly to this and most cost effective.  In addition to any specific brokerages in the area (Stafford, Va and surrounding counties), any advice on terms of working with a brokerage?  I would imagine base case is a commission only arrangement, if possible.

Thanks for any input.

[Shera Gregory]

Hi @Brian C. - I am also an investor who got my license primarily for doing my own deals or for those very close to me. I have been "in real estate" for over 20 years as a landlord and have done a handful of flips. So I've been involved in several dozen transactions, just never as an agent. With that background I was very happy going with eXp Realty since it's an online-only brokerage with very little pressure to produce and minimal fees. For me, the cost of being an agent is mostly in the costs to get MLS access and pay the local Realtor association, not with the brokerage. The education piece is very important and eXp does pair up new agents with mentors and has a lot of training via live classes "in the cloud" and recorded training. So it depends on how much hands-on training your wife would want to have to feel comfortable. And, I believe, that has a lot to do with how familiar she already is with the overall process of buying and selling.