All Forum Posts by: Tim Booz

First and foremost, figure out how you'll generate or receive leads. Will they come from the office, a team leader, etc - or will you be generating them on your own? If on your own, how will you generate them? Do they have a system you can learn? Do they cover any marketing costs, lead services, auto dialers, pay per click, etc?

All of that will parallel with their training and mentor programs, but make sure you find out specifically about leads.

Leads=clients, without clients you could be the best trained agent in the world, and no one would know. Lack of leads/clients is the main reason a lot of people get out of the business soon after starting.

If you want to research some training/biz info/lead gen on your own check out the Tom Ferry Youtube channel, anything by Ben Kinney, and the Joshua Smith and Pat Hiban podcasts. They're all awesome, and can really demonstrate what's possible to accomplish as an agent.

Two very different paths. I've never gone the home inspection route, so I can't comment on that. As an agent you wouldn't be salaried, but would be an independent contractor earning commission, which is then split with your broker. One of the main issues to look at with being a real estate agent is lead generation. I'd recommend having a solid plan as to how you're going to find clients before you get into the real estate biz. RE school will teach you how to take care of the ethics and abide by the laws, but won't teach you about how to make a living.

As far as the criminal background requirements - you should call your state board to find out. You won't have to spend any money to do that. If you're good to go, then you can get an idea on the costs. You'll have RE school, licensing, MLS dues, and probably Realtor dues as well. If you work in a company that handles rentals as well as sales you'll be able to supplement the downtime between closings by getting broker fee / rental commission checks, which come in a lot quicker than closings - but they're smaller amounts of money.

If you have any questions on the Realtor path I'd be happy to help, just shoot me a message.

Not renewing is the right call. Sometimes it's the emotional side of things that clouds the business side of things, particularly when the tenants are nice people. Just make sure you have everything documented and set aside showing the reason you're not offering renewal, follow the local laws, and you should be fine.

@Curt Davis I agree, way too risky for me. I'm thinking maybe it's more focused on vacation rentals, since Monika mentioned "buy out your weeks". @Monika Haebich Does your business handle vacation/short term rentals, or do you have managers that handle traditional monthly/yearly leases? It's an interesting concept, the first model I've seen structured that way too.

I'm a property manager/broker, so this is something that hits close to home for me.

I ask my clients to let me know if they're looking to acquire more property so I can send them anything that I come across that's a match, whether it's a pubic/mls deal or something private/inhouse.

 That said, If another management company found them a great deal I didn't know about I'd be happy for them. I'd  recommend they stick with that management company for that property, as long as they're comfortable with them. As others said, no need to burn that source of business, they'll probably have more properties in the future to send.   

@Deanna Betancourth that's a great point from @Account Closed.

What type of financing are you using, Deanna?

@Chris Daliani In Essex I've had good luck in Belleville and Bloomfield - you just have to be mindful of which side of town you're own. For example, the Belleville/Nutley Border is a much different place than the Belleville/Newark border.

Clifton (Passaic County) has some good value as well. Watch the borders of Paterson, and try to stay on Public transit lines for the best bang for your buck.

I stand with @Darren Sager on Newark, Irvington and East Orange. I know some people who do well there, but for me personally I stay away.

@Bob Nugent Welcome aboard, Bob! If you need any help getting your feet wet I'm happy to answer any questions, send you stats, or help in any way I can. There's a ton to learn here, and a lot of really helpful NJ members as well.

@Chris Daliani Here's a link to Sunny's Diary entry so far...

diary-of-my-first-step-jersey-city-nj-multi-family--no-experience-no-idea-what-im-doing-no-regrets

@Matt M. Generally speaking, you'll hear that you can have one FHA loan at a time - but you'll find some people advising to the contrary. You'll find tons of info online - but like @Sunny Suh recommended, you're best bet is to speak with a lender and outline your particular situation.

Here's a link to get your research started: http://portalapps.hud.gov/FHAFAQ/controllerServlet?method=showPopup&faqId=1-6KT-879