Hello everyone!
I am a newbie, getting started in Sub. Philadelphia. Besides being on forums, reading books, planning on joining local REI clubs, I am thinking about going to class to get a RE Agent license. I think it will help me with understanding on buying/selling and I can represent myself when buying and selling. Before I register and spend $335 for the course plus state exam & license fees and join an agency, I wanted to ask your opinion on this step. Is it a good education/exp. to have when getting established, is it worth going for? I am trying to plan and budget the expenses. Any input is appreciated!
Olga S.
Hey Olga, I’m in the process of getting my RE license, that course gives you more understanding about real estate itself. There are few restrictions, but i do recomend to get your license, at least you’ll be seeing some of the deals before they get posted on the MLS.
I got my license years back to invest and can say that I didn’t learn anything in the classes. I learned everything in the field and the real estate investment clubs and resources taught me much more about real estate. I decided to go full time as an agent who helps investors because I wanted to build a real estate practice that can run on it’s own.
Board fees are about $1200 a year. Classes are $500-700. Once you get a license you are held to a “higher standard”, so have to follow legal and ethical guidelines when making offers. For instance, when you make an offer to a seller, we are told that it’s best to CYA by giving them a true estimate of value for their property. You don’t have to, but they may come back and try to sue you, saying you took advantage of them. As a licensee, they’d probably sue both you and your broker.
Our broker encourages us to give full disclosure that we are an investor and intend to sell the property for profit. We’d then tell them what we plan to put into the property and what we’ll sell it for after we’ve completed repairs.
I have the same question.
It seems to me that if I want to buy and sell real estate then I should get my license and become an agent; if I want to be a serious investor and developer, etc. then I should find trusted REALTORs to work with.
My focus is on investing. If I have a good REALTOR relationship, they should tell me of the deals before they are on MLS anyway , right?
I mean do folks like Donald Trump have their real estate license or do they avoid that liability?
As for the classes, I am glad that I took them and got a good solid foundation of a lot of basic information. Pretty sure you could simply buy the book and study it on your own though, this could save you $300.
Id like to know if you’re licensed in 1 state, but buying properties in another state that you’re not licensed. Do you still have to dislcose that you’re a licensee.
Yes – you are a professional going against amateurs…it opens a whole new box of liabilities.
Kieth