spouse getting realtor license?

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you can buy your way onto the MLS without the headache of taking classes and passing tests.

mcwagner, How do you buy your way on MLS?

find a realtor who will do it for you for a few bucks.

The license is good. You can also get commissions on the deals you find. You just have to associate with an agenct that doesn’t require floor time and expense sharing. Small agencies will do this just to make their agency look bigger with more agents.

The cost of maintaining a license, mls, affiliation with a local realty board should be covered by half of your first commission.

I say it’s worth it to have access to the MLS.

Your wife is considering getting a real estate license. A real estate license is granted by a State government. There is no such thing as a “realtor license”.

A REALTOR is a person who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS, which is a professional association. REALTOR and real estate agent are not the same thing.

Understanding this sort of thing will give you more credibility in the world of real estate and REI.

Hello,
New member here, but I thought I’d chime in anyway :smiley: I think you can also get access to the MLS through some of the self-sell websites out there: owners.com, infotube.net, etc.

Also, I have a very good relationship with my banker and she is usually willing to look things up for me, as is my insurance agent too. I’m real careful to not take advantage of them and have even steered several customers their way.

Hope this helps.

Cya,
Rick

Rick,
you can sign up as a client/customer of an agent or broker and get updates. but to get cma and days on market information as well as more sophisticated custom searches you either need to be associated in some way with a Realtor or Broker who is a member of an mls. I only provide this to my clients who i have a signed buyer’s representation agreement with, other agents are more liberal. The cost associated with belonging to an association mls can actually get quite expensive, and i personally do not give this service away gratis.

Yes, all good points and true. That’s the best way to get all the information one might need. I was only thinking outside the box and it has usually been faily effective for me. I guess it could depend on that specific point in time when an investor feels he needs to add a full-fledged agent to his team. I tried that route and found I could do almost as well without one, considering sales commissions. Maybe if I’d found a better agent…

Rick

It wouldn’t be a bad idea for your wife to get her license, but she needs to get educated. I’ve worked with agents who only do deals every now and then and they had no idea what they were doing. They accepted terms that weren’t great because they hadn’t done enough deals to be experienced.

They also weren’t aware of changes to the contracts or licensee law. If she’s going to get her license, it would be great if she can actively stay educated and perhaps stay around people who do deals every day. Otherwise, she’s not going to keep her skills sharpened. Maybe she can work a part-time assistant or in another capacity so she can be in the business.

There are pros and cons in getting liscensed.

It is expensive with schools, board dues, continuing eduacation and office fees.

You have to disclose and are held to higher standard if ever taken to court.

You can find better ways of getting MLS access.

Hello:

My spouse is planning on being a Real Estate agent as well. How difficult is it to get started? Is it possible to live off of a few deals a year? She wants to become one because
she wants more exposure to experienced agents and people that have been doing deals
for a long time. Is it hard to make any money just starting out?

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Hey Mike:

Good to hear from you as always. Thanks a bunch. I will PM you because I will probably speak off topic.