Hey everyone, First time poster here, appreciate any responses. I moved to fishtown with my girlfriend in January and I like it a lot so far. I work in hospitality, which can mean brutal schedule/hours and a stressful and chaotic work environment. So, I’m thinking of ways to get out of it without taking 10 steps backwards and have always had a high interest in real estate. I’m interested in brokerage because of the rental market here and would love to eventually be able to invest in my own when I have the capital and more knowledge. I figured it made sense to get myself licensed, but I’m hoping some folks out there can give me some pointers on where to start, maybe even meet for a beer one day and chat about it. Thanks in advance for any help!

I'm a local agent/investor, I actually just helped someone get a house around Fishtown. If your looking for a less stressful career, i'm not sure that Real Estate is going to fit the bill- the process of getting a house from being on the market to sold can be exasperating. You have to work with the buyer and seller's bank, title companies, other agents (this one can be the worst often lol), home inspectors etc in order to bring a transaction to close. Mistakes they make can make your life immeasurable more difficult.

Also, you are starting a business, not just switching jobs.  It will cost about 2k to get started, and I would have enough saved to cover 6 months of expenses, which is often how long it takes to close your first deal.  You will spend a ton of time getting clients (through whichever way works for you, your business your rules).  Actually, you spend way more time trying to get clients than you do actually buying and selling houses, at least for the first couple of years.  

All this said, it can be incredibly rewarding, and profitable.  Theres no better feeling than getting your commission check at settlement, and if you put the proper systems in place, you can greatly minimize your stress.  If you have any questions at all feel free to reach out to me.  

Getting into investing your going to come across many of the same problems.  Despite what a lot of people will say, I would highly recommend against trying to get started in investing until you can comfrotably afford whatever type of property you choose to invest in.  I don't buy the whole "get started in real estate investing with no money down!" theories and posts.  You need monet to invest in Real Estate.  Save up, research, make a plan, and execute it.  

If you are trying to switch careers, my suggestion is stick to something that you know, and do real estate on the side gradually.  Start with house hacking and advance further.

Hardest part really is finding the deal... I still yet to find one.. it's been 5 months for me since I started this journey in multi family real estate.  I have documented my journey here StudyGuide.net/Real-Estate if interested feel free to check it out.

One thing i must mention indeed, real estate career is not a picnic in the park.  Unfortunately it's very hard, or at least so it seems to me. 

Stick with basic strategies, add value, sell things on ebay, teach, make money anyway you can that is not stressful at least on part time basis.

Also one thing that helps to understand how far you get with your journey is to document it, so you know how much progress you did... and realize this progress while doing this part time before you dive in deep.... 

hope this helps.

Hey Matt, welcome to the BP community! I work for a full-service brokerage with immense knowledge of the market. I would love to talk with you about investment strategies in the Philadelphia area. Just sent you a message!