BP,

Would it be beneficial to add real estate agent to my tool-belt for here in California market?

@Christopher Hunter this to me is one of the toughest questions to answer because it varies from person to person. If you are looking to buy/sell RE for others then the answer is obvious. Being an investor and wanting access to the MLS will for sure make life easier but it comes at an expense. Likely it will cost you $2500-3500 a year to keep your license. I strongly believe it can not hurt but like anything else if you do not utilize the tool it is useless. Great for getting in house an not having to worry about finding an agent to let you in.

@Christopher Hunter It is great to be able to buy and sell your own houses as you will get money on the commissions. Im assuming @Shawn M. is referring to the office fees you must pay your broker? However if you find a broker that doesn't require a large amount of office expenses then it shouldn't cost that much. If you want to be a REALTOR, then yes more fees will be requried.

@Shawn M.

@Nick Wing No I do not want to buy and sell real estate for other investors. On the podcast the same topic keeps reappearing. yes you have greater access to the MLS, comps and can gain access into the property faster. What might make more sense is to have a Realtor on our team.

Thank you for your input.

@Christopher Hunter I didnt meant get the lic to represent other investors, I meant to get it so that you can represent yourself on your sales. You will keep 3% of the purchase price in your pocket instead of giving it to a listing agent. However if you dont have time to list the property and market it yourself, reach out to as many agents as you can, offer them a listing if they bring you a deal.

@Nick Wing I get what you were saying. That is something that I was not going to concern myself with. There are certain parts of the business that I will let some else take care of and I will focus on what I do well.

@Nick Wing no I pay 2500 out of pocket to stay active. This price will vary state to though so I probably should not imply local numbers and/or numbers I have heard in other states. Cali's local boards could be way less. A better explanation I should have given was call your local brokers and ask them how much it costs to hang your license in their office. Keep in mind there are many other fees involved

@Christopher Hunter ... if you do not want to concern yourself in representing yourself in the acquisition or sale, we can now answer the original question a little bit better. No it would not be beneficial to be an agent, it might actually be detrimental as you would be expected to know and disclose many items a normal seller would not be expected to know and disclose. You remove yourself a step away from liability. You can get access to the MLS as an "assitant" to a broker or office. I dont know if its something you are interested in but maybe reach out to a broker near you that will allow you to register as an assitant, then pay the fee to get access.

YES! There's a lot of benefits to having your license. Try Allied Schools online to study or Kaplan. ;)

might as well do it.. I'm in the process now... I should have done it sooner.

What will you use the license for? If to have access to the MLS, the best deals are NOT in the MLS so....you don't need it.

@Nick Wing I did not know that. I will have to reach out to a view agents this weekend. I have been going to open houses on the weekend and there is a real estate meeting this weekend in Buena Park.

@Karen Margrave Thank you.

@Tony Cavalli Did you do the online coarse or through a broker? Keller Williams has been in contact with me.

@Wendell De Guzman Just to run comps with more accuracy.

online, its easy. just reading and memorization.

@Christopher Hunter It's one more tool in the toolbox. Aside from that there are the commissions that you can use for putting into your deals, access to the MLS for selling your properties, etc. You may think you don't want to represent yourself, but in reality writing your own offers makes it so much easier than having to depend on another agent and work around them.

As far as liability, if you are an honest person, that does business in an ethical way, you don't have to worry about a license being a hindrance.

You may even want to work as an agent one day, who knows? It's just another option you'll have available to you.