Why do people say it’s not worth it to get your real estate license as an investor?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Who says that?!

Lol, it may not be. But it depends on the individual.

Investors acquire homes from over 100 ways. The MLS is only 1 of those ways. On the other hand, having an agent who is knowledgeable about the market and can tell you pretty exactly how much you can get for a property once you renovate it is priceless. That’s what agents do.
that is their whole purpose.

Now, if you want to INVEST a bit load of your time and effort to study and get that license, and learn and keep up with all the markets you tend to do business in, then yes, you should get your own license. You can say there is a benefit to when you sell (and buy on the MLS), you keep a percentage of the commission. The agent who you decide to work with actually works hard to get you the Very BEST selling price because they want you to succeed. If you thing that trade off is worth keeping the commission, that may be another reason for getting the RE license yourself.

I have my license because I am both, an investor as well as an agent in CT and MA. However, I don’t have a “day job” so RE is all I DO.

Hope that helps, GL!

like

Absolutely.

Even with only one sale or purchase a year, financially you will break even. So don’t fret on the cost of the RE license as much. Only look at your time and effort you’ll need to invest to acquire it and the time you need to invest to learn the markets.

You can have a license and work with a Realtor as well. Just need to come to an agreement.

Investing into real estate is risky still, even if you look at the data. Some accomplished Realtors know the market like the back of their hand. You can point out one home and they don’t need to look at data or comps, they straight out tell you how much you’ll sell it for on the low or high end, depending on the quality. That right there some investors find very valuable.

The main factor is cost/time. Also, the fact that you need to do additional disclosures as a broker and the potential for additional liabilities.

like

The fees to maintain your license - brokerage, continuing E&O insurance if not covered by your brokerage- in addition to MLS, keys etc may not be worth your time and effort. Vs just having a relationship with someone who can help you with access as needed etc.

If you don’t plan to sell or actively invest in multiple properties, I’m not sure the fees make sense.

For CT, Fees with eKeys and E&O cost around $1,200 to $1,500. For MA, these are closer to $2,000.

These are recouped with one good deal (primarily in CT). A good deal in CT is a home sold or bought for 200k+, leaving your broker with $5,000 commission. Depending on your split, You’ll take home anywhere between $2-3,000. MA market is a bit stronger, near the boston metropolitan area and some surrounding counties.

PS. As an agent, leave 33% of all 1099 income into a separate “DO NOT TOUCH” bank account. This is money you don’t own. An agent may get bulk payments, but they get taxed double time, as an employer and employee.

helpful

Just a decent property or two would cover your fees. The rest is if you see benefit in MLS and property access and not paying out commission. We buy a couple properties a year personally and worth it.

Get an online broker. Much lower percent. Doesn’t matter of additional support if only doing sales for yourself

Related Posts

Looking for suggestions around cedar park for 4yo bday party venue. Reasonable fun for large group of similar aged kids?

like

Hello Fishes, I have 3 years of experience in HR ABAP, should i further choose project in HR ABAP or should i go into generic/normal ABAP? Which has more better opportunities?

like

I was wondering if anyone did the CIPP/US cert and had any recommendations for studying. I planned on just buying the book, reviewing the terms, making an outline/flash cards. Overkill? Not enough? Also, how many hours did you study?

like

Fed up of WITCH and it's cheapness. Serving my Notice period and they are behind me nagging me to give company survey which I don't want to. They supplied a chair recently and as I am leaving charging 13+k for it . While the same chair is available for less than half of the amount they are asking us to pay. Will never ever want to be back in this organization again!!!

like

Best book for parenting? Have 1.5 yr old boy. TIA

like

Hello!
Could anyone refer me to PwC and Deloitte, please? I would really appreciate it!

like

Any Korean 동료/선배s on here from P Dubs? Looking to meet more Korean ppl in the firm~

HMU! Would love to meet up at the office or in-person - based in NYC.

U can’t be wrong if you’re investing in index for long term

Post Photo
like

Average time between interview and offer? If long (over a month), should you assume the opportunity is dead in the water?

like

Why do people in tech get paid so much more in America than in other countries? A fresh grad in my area makes $128k base in SF vs. $85k in London vs. $44k in China vs. $39k in India.

like

Have an interview for SPRO Investigator French. Please help me with the rounds of interview and what is the expected salary?

like
like

Someone teach me how to flirt! How do I let this guy know I’m into him?

like

Hi fellow teachers!
Another great resource for trauma informed teaching is Dr. Nadine Burk- Harris’ documentary Resilience. She also has a shorter Ted talk summarizing her main points. She is amazing

likehelpful

I start my first full-time, salary job Monday as a Social Media Manager for an amazing fashion brand. I have a lot of nervous jitters. I will love some advice for some things to focus on for the first week of work.

likeuplifting

PwC Toronto assurance: being offered a job as a transfer from the US. I’ll be transferring as a senior associate 1 (aka this is my promo year). I’ll be either tier 1 or 2 since I’m an easy promote here in New York. I was offered 61k CAD assuming I’m tier 3. They said they might adjust it if my rating comes in higher. What should I expect if I were either tier 1 or 2? Trying to minimize the salary reduction…

like

Tribute to SPB sir

like

Well I did a very bad thing... we found out this week my husband’s father has an aggressive terminal cancer. My father in law doesn’t want to tell anyone and I am supposed to not say anything. The only reason I know is because we live with him. When I was speaking to my mom on the phone I burst out crying and had to tell her, and I had another burst out crying event where I told a friend. I told my husband this and he is rightfully furious with me. :( not sure what I can do to make it right...

like

Our baby is due soon so we’ve made the decision that we will only have visits from vaccinated family members (not realizing it would be an issue) only to find out that my Dad will never be getting vaccinated, planned to lie about it AND asked other family members lie to us about his vaccination status too… when we found out and asked him about it, he started to FREAK out. Now I’m questioning if we’re being unreasonable… how have you guys been handling unvaccinated people meeting your newborns??

I’m thinking about increasing my wealth but wanted to see what options I have. I don’t know much about stocks. I know real estate is a good way but not sure I have enough money for a second home right now. What other ways do you make extra income? My background is in audit, anything I can do with that in the side?

like

Additional Posts in The Real Estate Bowl

Any recs on where to park $300k for 3-6 months while my LLC takes a pause on buying RE? My partner has low-ish risk tolerance but I'd like a better return than the "high yield" savings.

like

Thinking of buying an apartment in Boston. Which area should I do it and what’s are some factors I should be looking out for? (First time buying) goal is to rent it out

How much do you need in free equity to begin RE investing in either flips or rentals?

like

How bad is this Airbnb crash going to be? Can’t be as bad as GFC, right?

like

Anyone buy a house in the past few weeks? What rate did you get quoted at?

like

Making an offer. The sellers said they had 30+ people walk through the open house today, and are asking for best and final. They’ll make a decision on Monday. The list price is 775k. We were originally thinking of offering 700 to start since comps are around 735k. However, this is nicer than the comps renovation-wise. What would you all suggest we offer? We’d rather lose the house than overpay, so this concerns us.

like

Has anyone here bought new build townhouse before? I'm about to close in 2 weeks and the contract states that nothing can delay or stop the closing even if something needs repair. If something needs repair, they will fix it while we're living there. And we have warranty for everything for a year. So my question is, should I just save money and have an house inspector come until 3 months before the year is up?

like

Look! House prices are coming down in the Toronto area! Owning a decent home seems almost attainable now 😭

Post Photo
like

Anyone in the DMV area and interested in joining a young RE investors club?

like

Anyone work in real estate or familiar with the Realogy rebrand to Anywhere? Curious about opinions.

like

How do you go about figuring out the upgrades that you’ll need to do to a property when looking at a property to flip?

like

Top 3 attributes you look for in a SFH (for rental)?

like

Question for my tax gurus. Want to refinance my rental property. I assume I can deduce closing costs, new interest expenses. The cash im pulling out, however, is going to a personal reason. If al@this above board? I’d love to be able to increase my interest expenses in a tax deductible part of my finances (I take standard deduction).

like

I’m currently leasing an apartment in Philly. A new company just bought my building and now we owe payments to them.

Are we supposed to be given a new lease when this happens? No where in my current lease does it say, if someone buys our company that we’ll automatically have agreements transferred

likefunny

I’m now in month 5 of waiting for my mortgage loan to be approved. I had hoped to be moved in months ago. Is there anything I can do to get the bank to speed up the process?

like

How do you judge a low ball offer with how the market is changing? Earlier this year, you would look at comps and say this is the value. Now with rates going up and people pulling out, how do you justify the value? (View point from the buyers end)

like

Thinking of buying a lake front house and rent it on Airbnb. Does anyone here have experience being a host and guide me thru how to estimate the cash flow and rental stats in the area etc

like

Hey guys, I’m looking to invest in the purchase of land in Austin. Because it’s not commercial or residential investment at this point, I’m at a loss for financing options. I’m short $100k. Any ideas on where I can get a loan from for this?

like

600k cash, 250k/ yr TC, would you pay off a one bed condo and be mortgage free? Or mortgage additional 300k to get a 2 bedrooms?

like

Been house hunting for quite some time. Keep getting outbid every single time. Just found something within my price point, but is new construction. Should I go for it? Do new builds hold up their value long term (10-15+ years)?

like

New to Fishbowl?

Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
  • Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
  • Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
  • Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.

Already a user?
Login here

Share

Embed this post

Copy and paste embed code on your site

Preview

Download the
Fishbowl app

See what’s happening in your industry
from the palm of your hand.

A phone with Fishbowl app

Send download link to your phone

OR

Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Messaging rates may apply

Download app

Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Already have an account? Log in

Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use(New) and Privacy Policy(New)
Messaging rates may apply

Already have an account? Log in

For account settings, visit Fishbowl on Desktop Browser or

General

Legal