Getting real estate license

Member since 2025 · 10 posts · 6 votes

Is it a good idea to get my real estate license to have access to the mls?

I am seeing how much profit is going to my agent. I'm thinking to get my license so I can buy more properties. And possible even sell my own as well.

Anyone else doing this?

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Carlos Marin

Realtor · Austin, TX · Member since 2024 · 23 posts · 15 votes

As a Realtor myself, I believe that for most people, the best approach is to spend your time finding a good agent who can help you. There are many fees and details most people aren’t aware of, especially in the first year.

If you’re genuinely interested and have the time, go for it. But if it’s just to save money, I wouldn’t recommend it. A good agent will more than pay for themselves with a couple of solid deals and ongoing support.

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William WhitleyBusiness Member
Accountant · TN · Member since 2025 · 146 posts · 92 votes
1y
Good morning, Kerri,
This same question was asked in another forum, and I’ll share my response with you.

Like most questions, it begins with the answer “it depends”. There are various costs to pursuing and obtaining a real estate license. Then once you are licensed, you have to hang your license with a real estate broker, and there are costs associated with that. If you are actively selling real estate as an agent earning commissions, those costs are deductible of course. But your end game seems to be access to more properties for real estate investment purposes. That’s not necessarily a bad strategy, as long as you deem the start up costs and ongoing costs associated with being an active real estate agent worth the value you are receiving from that.

A couple of the benefits as you noted are that you could potentially buy more properties and earn commissions when you buy or sell your own real estate. If you are actively buying and selling your own properties and/or buying to hold, that may be a good strategy
As you will learn during the course of pursuing your license, once you are licensed, you will need to disclose the fact that you are a licensed real estate agent when listing or selling your own properties.

I hope this information is beneficial for you.
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Jake AndronicoBusiness Member
Realtor · Reno, NV · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 938 votes
1y
Quote from @Kerri Asekeme:

Is it a good idea to get my real estate license to have access to the mls?

I am seeing how much profit is going to my agent. I'm thinking to get my license so I can buy more properties. And possible even sell my own as well.

Anyone else doing this?
I bought with agents long before becoming one. If you want to scale, you need to shift your question to not "how?" but "who?".

I became an agent because it's how I wanted to make a living. I think finding the right agent for you is crucial, but "saving money" is not likely if you don't know what you're doing.

There are a TON of things I've learned and would've done differently on my own rentals after learning the business in depth for multiple years in single family and multifamily.

Lack of knowledge will cost you, not commissions.

The largest investors I know build relationships with brokers/agents and sometimes offer MORE commission to incentivize them to bring them deals first.

But if you want to get into the business for your income, I wish you the best of luck!
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Carlos Marin
Realtor · Austin, TX · Member since 2024 · 23 posts · 15 votes
1y
As a Realtor myself, I believe that for most people, the best approach is to spend your time finding a good agent who can help you. There are many fees and details most people aren’t aware of, especially in the first year.

If you’re genuinely interested and have the time, go for it. But if it’s just to save money, I wouldn’t recommend it. A good agent will more than pay for themselves with a couple of solid deals and ongoing support.

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Bruce WoodruffPro Member
Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
1y
I've done this (long ago) and so have many others (do a search).

There is very little advantage to having your own RE license. UNLESS.....you want to work as a Realtor helping other people buy and sell properties...

Otherwise there is very little benefit. The MLS is no longer any better than Zillow/Realtor/Redfin/Trulia/Etc. And IMHO, some of these platforms have better search features than the MLS.

And you will not usually even save the $$ that you think you will. You can offer 3% less to the seller but that doesn't always work, although it may give you some edge. You can buy/sell houses all day long without a license, I've done it many times and it is not that hard.

But as @Carlos Marin said, if you are just an investor, getting a really good Realtor on your team will make your life easier and save you money. But good Realtors are very rare any more, like maybe 10% IMHO....
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Rick Albert
Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1y
You have access to the MLS through Zillow, Redfin, etc. It all gets syndicated.
The problem in the real estate agent industry is the amount of money made is VERY misleading.
For example, let's say you close on a $500,000 home at 2% commission. That's $10,000.
But then you have to split that with the brokerage. There are so many structures out there, but a common one is 80/20. That means you make $8,000.
Then you factor in the cost of the MLS, maintaining your license, E & O insurance, etc. In one year you could eat up most of that $8K and we didn't even discuss taxes.
Delegate. That's where the wealth is. Find someone experienced and lean on them.
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