Should investors get their real estate license?

Investing in real estate has become incredibly popular lately with the current housing boom.

It’s all about buying, selling, and holding properties for the maximum amount of profit.

The fact is that many people overlook one large profit center when they get into the business is the transaction portion of their business.

They outsource to a real estate broker, not realizing how much money they are leaving on the table.

What if you could make an extra 3-6% a transaction and also have unparalleled access to great deals before other investors and the ability to network with the movers and shakers in your area?

Then quite possibly one of the most important questions you should be asking yourself is, “Should I become a licensed real estate agent?”

The answer is short and sweet. Yes!

You should get your real estate license if you are a real estate investor. There are countless benefits to becoming an agent/investor.

For those of you who need a little more convincing than that, I’ve put together a quick list of reasons why real estate investors should get their real estate license.

Commission Savings

If you are an investor, you know that some pretty hefty costs come with buying and selling properties. What if you could make some, or potentially even all of those fees go away?

Well, as it turns out, you can if you are a real estate agent!

If you are listing a home for sale, you can avoid the listing fee, and if you bring the buyer as well, you don’t have to worry about paying fees to an outside agent! In many places, the listing fee and buyers fee will be about 3% each.

For example, if you buy and sell a $300,000 home, you would save approximately $9,000 when you purchase the home and anywhere from another $9,000 when you sell the house or possibly $18,000 if you sell the home and represent the buyer.

Avoiding having to hire a real estate agent with all those extra fees means more money in your pocket at the end of the day.

Simplifying Communication

Have you ever been frustrated by the game of “telephone tag” that’s often played between yourself, your agent, the seller, and their agent?

Waiting a day for a simple answer and possibly losing a deal because of miscommunication is not proficient property investing.

Well, becoming an agent will remove a piece from that complicated puzzle.

Since real estate agents can represent themselves as buyers, you don’t have to worry about going back and forth with your agent.

You can reach out directly to the seller’s agent or possibly even the seller themself.

This will make communication with the seller much easier, helping you close a deal much faster.

Closing out a deal fast can give you a substantial competitive advantage because some sellers want to get rid of their property as soon as possible!

Shortening the Chain

Have you ever heard the old saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”?

Well, that saying holds true in business too.

The more parties you have involved in a deal, the more chances for something to go wrong. The fastest-moving deals will always have as few parties as possible involved.

If you want to cut down on your property investing business’s moving parts, then becoming a real estate agent would be a great move.

Like I mentioned before, becoming an agent can help you cut out one or even two people in the buying process.

This makes things much more straightforward and cuts down on the chances of your deal falling through!

Relationship Building

Much like in any other field, building a network is incredibly important in real estate investing. And there is no better way to build out your system in the real estate business than becoming an agent.

Having a good network of reliable people in your area will help you in countless ways, most notably knowing what properties are coming to the market before they are put on the market.

For instance, when a seller is looking to put their property up for sale, they, of course, have to contact a real estate agent. If you are good friends with the listing agent, they may let you know that a particular property is about to go up for sale.

If you are interested in buying said property, you can contact the seller and submit an offer before the property is put up on the MLS.

This could be a massive advantage for you since there is rarely any competition for off-market deals!

24/7 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Access

Imagine having access to most properties when they come onto the market well before other investors find them in your area.

Having access to the local MLS will do just that.

The facts are almost all MLS services (Boards) are operated by the local Realtor Board, and to have access, you have to be both a real estate license and join their MLS for a yearly fee.

This will give you access to the property database of all home buying and selling data for sale through brokerages, which may prove invaluable in your career.

Locating great deals before other buyers and running the numbers via comprehensive up to date comparable market analysis can help your career.

You will also save a lot of money on broker commissions because you will also be a licensed investor saving money on the commissions on every deal you complete.

In the end, you will save money, time, and stress by obtaining your license.

So what are you waiting for?