All Forum Posts by: Ian Lockwood

@Tyler Flagg Where in New Mexico are you? Anywhere near Santa Fe?

I have a similar question about choosing a real estate brokerage. I am currently taking classes to obtain my license in New Mexico. I also recently moved to Santa Fe, NM and I have been going to all over town trying to decide where would be the best fit for me. I've realized there are two companies in town that offer extensive training, which I view as essential since I'm brand new to real estate. One is Keller Williams and the other is Barker Realty, which is a medium sized (about 50 agents - all full-time) company that is only located in Santa Fe, but are a big name in town and represent a large number of properties. Conversely I believe KW-Santa Fe has about 150 agents. Both companies do a combination of residential and commercial properties which I view as a positive because I have interests in both.

They both have told me that they would like to hire me as an agent once I acquire my real estate license. The problem I am having is deciding which would be the better fit for me. Being new to real estate it's tough for me to be objective in deciding which company is best. I'm more concerned with the training I will receive since I am brand new to real estate, not details like commissions splits. I'd rather take lower commissions if I knew I was receiving superior training. I'm thinking long-term education and growth. 

They both put their best foot forward and tell me how great their company is. When I sit in KW's office their pitch sounds great and then when I sit in Barker's office their pitch also sounds great. Yet I know they represent two very different companies, mostly since KW is so huge and Barker is more local.

The impression I get (although I'm not sure) is that Barker's training would be more person-to-person, while KW's training might be more technology based. Although I know KW's uses "teams of agents" which is a concept that sounds intriguing although I don't completely understand.

I was wondering if people could offer me some insight into making this decision, even though you might not know anything about Barker since it's a smaller local company. 

Here is there website if it helps at all: http://www.santaferealestate.com/eng

One other consideration is that I will probably only be in Santa Fe for three years. I'm not sure if KW being a national company might make them more appealing for that reason. Maybe not.

Lastly I should also add that I have a VERY big interest in personally investing in real estate, however I probably won't wade into the investing waters in the near future because I don't have the funds. 

Thanks for you help. Any insight is greatly appreciated since I will have to make a decision shortly. 

Does anybody know anything about eXp Realty?

http://exprealty.com/

I'm new to real estate so I'm trying to understand exactly what their business model is. Pros & Cons?

They bill themselves as, "The agent owned cloud brokerage."

Thanks for the help.

@Daniel DiGiacomo I appreciate your thoughts, however I've read a number of posts on BP about how difficult wholesaling is, especially for newbies. I'm not completely opposed to the idea, or saying it's a bad approach, but I also need to make a living. I can't afford to take months to learn wholesaling and maybe create income. I'll also be living in Santa Fe, NM which seems to me like a small market. 

I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts from people about residential vs. commercial real estate, based on my original question. 

BP Community, I'm hoping you guys can provide some insight into my situation. I'll start first with my long term goals. 

Long term: I would like to make full-time income from residential properties I own and rent. Start with small properties and over time acquire more and/or trade up for larger multi-unit properties. I currently have zero properties - brand new to this. Please don't ask me what "full-time income" means because that changes over a lifetime. I'm currently married with no kids, but that will change. I don't need to be stupid rich, but I would like to be financially comfortable with the freedom to live my life on my terms. Nothing crazy. 

With that being said, for the past 8 years I have been training college athletes, helping them to become faster, stronger, etc. The hours were awful and the pay was awful. Most jobs hover around $30-45k per year while working 60-70 hours a week. I enjoyed aspects of it but there was zero life/work balance. 

With my long term goals in mind, I believe becoming a real estate agent is the best approach to learning the ropes of the real estate world. However I do not have an interest in being a real estate agent for decades. I simply see it as a way to gain knowledge and lessen the learning curve for real estate investing. I'm hoping it could also help me make decent money (i.e., more then $30k) to help save for down payments on invest properties.

Leading a life with balance (not working all the time) is important to me though and my biggest fear is walking into a job with the same hours that I had before. I've been told that residential real estate has very bad hours (evenings, weekends, etc) and can be a grind to make a decent living. 

Conversely I've heard differing thoughts on commercial real estate. I've heard that it's a better life/work balance because the hours are more predictable and weekends aren't often required. However I've also read that commercial real estate is a huge grind and "only the strong survive / dog eats dog" type of stuff. All the info online about commercial real estate makes it seem far worse then residential, yet I've had the owner of a very successful private real estate brokerage tell me that commercial is a much better life then residential. 

With my long-term goals in mind, I would greatly appreciate any insight people could offer. I realize it's a bit vague (I'm new to this, remember), but anything is helpful. 

I wondering if any other BP members have more thoughts on this topic. I myself am in a very similar situation to @Stu Toepke . I have recently decided to switch careers and pursue real estate. I will be moving to a new city and hope to find my first job in real estate. I'm hoping for a job that will accelerate my learning curve.

However my knowledge base is very limited thus far so it's tough to really know which avenue to pursue. Just like many med school students don't know what type of doctor they want to become until they take certain classes and do different clinical rotations. I'm sure a few med school students know from day one, but not all.

If moving to a new city (Santa Fe, New Mexico) what type of entry level real estate jobs would be best to pursue for a person with almost zero knowledge. Are there certain jobs that allow people to learn a great deal about several avenues of real estate? Are there certain jobs titles that lend themselves well to newbies and would be ideal for someone like myself to pursue. It would be great to speak with real estate professionals and say I am interested in "X" job opportunities.

Thanks everybody for giving me some concrete info to work with.

@Paul Timmins - I've already read the Ultimate Beginners Guide and found it super exciting. Then when I got to the financing and money section I found it super overwhelming. Ha!

@Micki M. - We can definitely grab a beer sometime. I would love to hear about any suggestions you might have for somebody truly starting from square one in the real estate game. I know so little right now I'm not even sure what avenue I want to pursue. I figure working for a broker would be the best way to get my foot in the door and accelerate my learning curve. I will definitely try to connect with Tony Allegretti.

I'm curious, how would everybody suggest I approach brokers and real estate companies in Santa Fe. I'll be looking for an entry level position so that I can start to learn as much as possible. Are there certain jobs that lend themselves well to somebody in my shoes.

Having been a coach for the last eight years I really need to find a company willing to train somebody and I certainly wouldn't mind doing tedious, less desirable work. Is there a ideal way to approach real estate companies and convey this without seeming like a huge project to a possible employer.

Nick,

I will definitely let you know when we are finally down in Santa Fe. I'd love to meet up.

Also, slightly related, we are going to be looking for a rental property to live in with a lease starting sometime in September, so if you know any landlords with open property around that time we would be very interested.

Thanks for reaching out!

Hey everybody!

My name is Ian Lockwood and I am completely new to the real estate world. I currently live in Denver, Colorado but my wife and I will be moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico on September 1st, 2014.

I have spent the last eight years training athletes for a career, however the last few years I have been longing for something with a better life/work balance. I've always been intrigued by real estate (while knowing zero about it) and after weighing many options I have decided to leave coaching and pursue real estate.

I am incredibly excited to start learning. I devoured "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing" in one afternoon. I am looking to create a strong foundation of knowledge to move forward with.

I would also love to network with anybody in Santa, New Mexico.

Looking forward to learning from everybody!