I was talking about the possibility of getting a real estate/broker license and was bouncing it off of a few folks. I knew this would be a great question for the forum.  I can see both pros and cons, so what have you found? Knowing what you know now what would you have done differently, if anything? 

This depends on quite a few factors but mainly, what do you intend to do with your license?  i.e., are you using it only for your own investment benefit or do you plan to sell real estate?  I obtained my licenses several years ago initially for my own benefit and quickly realized I love selling, so I left my full-time job to sell RE full time.  As there are a number of costs, continuing education, etc. associated with getting and maintaining your license, I would simply find a good Realtor to work with if you do not intend to sell.  Best of luck!

A license has allowed us to rep ourselves for the last 9 years or so on both purchases and resales plus we do the occasional listing or buyer rep. Along with that, we can also receive legal referral fees as well so I would say it has been extremely beneficial. The only downsides are the costs associated with getting and keeping your license but I don’t really consider that a downside as the commissions have paid for that thousands of times over.

Even if you use your license just to rep yourself, it is worth having. Plus, I failed to mention the value of MLS access as well.

@Will Barnard are you able to write off the fees as a tax deduction?

@David Carroll There are virtually no downsides to getting your license for the reasons that @Will Barnard mentioned. There are some very good points in his post.

The downside that is often brought up is that it costs money to hold your license. To be honest, if you can't afford fronting a couple grand to get your license and then maintain it over the years that is another problem altogether. You should probably pick a different business. Go for it and get your license, even if it just gets you the MLS access you need to land 1-2 deals a year isn't that worth it?

@Michael Noto both you and @Will Barnard bring up great points to consider. The mls can be a game changer for finding deals. I’m not worried about the fees associated with it. Are you both also brokers?

Originally posted by @David Carroll :

@Will Barnard are you able to write off the fees as a tax deduction?

Of course, it is just another deductible business expense as is office supplies, gas, or any other admin cost.

Originally posted by @David Carroll :

@Michael Noto both you and @Will Barnard bring up great points to consider. The mls can be a game changer for finding deals. I’m not worried about the fees associated with it. Are you both also brokers?

 No, we hang our license with a broker, the license is a sales license, not a broker license. So if you are not worried about the fees, get licensed and open up more possibilities of income streams and access for yourself.