Hi,
I am getting ready to do my first rehab. A few people advised me to get my real estate license before I start.
Is this really worth the time and money? I understand that it would save having to pay a realtor 3% however I would still have to work with a realtor to get the property listed on MLS and it is their main job to sell houses
What would the benefits of getting the license myself be?
Any advise is most welcome.
Thanks
This has been discussed at length here.
The key is to find a broker who is investor-friendly. I work for a broker that allows his agents to list up to three of their personal properties using his company per year. I’m sure there are others who may not have those types of limits. I saw an ad from a broker looking to recruit agents in our local paper once that said “investors welcome”. Whatever that means.
More than likely you’ll be charged a monthly fee to cover office expenses, then if you join the Realtor association that’s another $500-600 a year.
The advantage is that you can list your own properties and pay only the 3% to the buyer’s agent. Even then, if you’re on a commission split with your broker he/she will get probably 50% of those savings. Again, it really pays to find a broker that is investor friendly and won’t charge ridiculous fees.
As far as using the MLS, yeah, you’ll get access to that, but everything that winds up listed on the MLS will be market value. Hard to make it as an investor if you buy everything at market value.
Bottom line: A real estate license is nice to have, but most people here will tell you it’s not essential.
Is getting your realestate license worth it?
If your going to be doing a deal a month…maybe. I don’t have a ton of respect for realtors. Most (but certainly not all) are very uneducated in realestate. Quite possibly the biggest investment the average person makes is purchasing their own home and they are depending on a realtor to give them advise. This is nuts!
Case and point…
By law, a hair stylist is required to receive more education than a realtor.
Good Luck!!
Save your money and your time. part of your investment group should include an investor friendly realtor. Let them do their job and you do yours finding and rehabbing.
That’s a blanket statement. Laws regarding training for a real estate license vary from state to state. Certainly, a realtor that’s just fresh out of real estate school won’t have the education and experience as someone who’s been in the business for 25 years. There again, a realtor with many yars of experience representing buyers and sellers has more knowledge than first-time home buyers, wouldn’t you say? Is that “nuts” ?
It all depends on the realtor one chooses.
…a blanket statement?.. Yes. But most realtors, new or experienced, just don’t get it. At least that’s what I’ve found. If they’ve had 25yrs of experience listing a house, getting an offer, accepting, closing, then collecting their commission…they wouldn’t be on my team. I’d be looking for a realtor who also invests “creatively” (so to speak). It just seems the realtors are educated in only one way. They’re shown the path and very few deviate from that path. Yes, it certainly depends on the realtor one chooses.
As far a first-time home buyer goes…I would hope they would spend some time digging for information before dropping $100k on a home. Do you think if they spent enough time digging they would even need a realtor?
Good Luck!!