I am an aspiring investor, but know very little about real estate. I currently live rent free and am looking for a job to pay my bills. I was considering a job as a realtor, figuring this would pay my bills and give me valuable experiance. Do you think it is a good move? Should I look for something that will take less of my time so I can focus on investing? I have no $ saved up if that makes a difference. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Less than 5% of all realtors know the investor side at all. They do not know the thought process required to buy an investment property or how to figure out if the numbers work. Being a realtor will give you access to many useful tool in the home buying process however. I feel no one will ever win the argument on should I be a realtor or not when being a investor. The question is always asked and answered with different views. I vote for being a realtors however.
If you like REI, get involved in the field. Are you young?? get your mortgage and insurance license. Get your realtor license. This will give you contacts, chances to be an apprentice and network with the right people while earning money.
You need to have a job get started. Maybe you can get a job with home improvement contractor or property management company. You could get some valuable experience on the amount of work involved in rehabbing/maintaining properties. I don’t think getting a RE license will help you much. I’ve posted that queestion before and most of the vets advise against it. You also ned to read books, save money and have your FICO be above 700. Just my 2 cents.
If you have no money saved, no income, then you’ve got your answer. Becoming a RE agent is out of the question. It takes $$$ to become an agent.
States differ, but generally, you have to pay to take a class to become an agent. If you pass that, you have to pay to take the state exam. If you pass that, then in most situations, you’ll have to pay to become a Realtor. Then you’ll usually have monthly office expenses to pay until you actually sell something, which is usually between six to eight months of full time advertising/networking (more $$$) before that happens.
All in all, depending on state fees/office fees/etc, you’ll spend at a minimum of $1500 to $6000 just for the privilege of being a Realtor before you’ll ever actually earn any money doing it.
Just a point. Being an agent is NOT a job. It’s a business. You may have to work under someone else BUT you work for yourself. YOU decide how much you can make.
Raj
the several real estate agents I know have all taken 2nd jobs while still trying hustle deals.
for example here in SoCal, sales volumes are off by as much as 50% and prices have dropped 10-30% depending on your area. That means for every $1 of commission paid out 12 months ago there is only $0.35-45 (or less now). that means there are a lot of realtors walking around with less than half full wallets. probably not a good time to try and break into the business.
I’ve seen some agents working at WalMart and one as a server at a restaurant… Times like these are where the go getter realtors separate themselves and the rest of em go get full time jobs.
I am an agent and an investor and do well at both. There is no right or wrong answer to either, I have found that no matter what you want to do in the world it is very easy to find people who have failed at it, because 90% of people do fail. But, if you want to succeed at something you always can, you just need to find someone who has successfully done whatever it is that you want to do, and then do what they do. Not rocket science
We started out as investors only and in our first year got so frustrated by incompetent agents that we got licensed ourselves. My husband does the RE sales and I do all the mortgages. I have to say that you do get a good deal of education when you go through the process of licensing.
A big advantage is all the insider information you can get that other non-licensed investors can’t access - plus it makes it so much easier to go out and look at properties. It is difinetely and advantage when it comes time to sell the property - as you don’t have to pay a comission to sell your own property.
I say do both. Get educated and get licensed. Both cost some $$, but well worth it, in my opinion. Read, read, read lots of books and if you are lucky enough to know an investor, see if you can mentor under them in exchange for running errands or something. My husband and I mentor newbies for free - all you have to do is pay your own way out to where we are (Vegas).
Note: Due to the slow down in the market, don’t count on realtor comissions to pay your bills. There were so many realtors in the market the last couple of years, and most have dropped out of the game. Only the most experienced and cream of the crop survive and continue to thrive in this market.
If you just want to get in to the real estate field then I would say get a job with a lender like countrywide or GMAC. You are in no position to start investing, but maybe you can get a job working for an investor and learn the ropes