Should I Get A Real Estate License?
My reasoning here is that with a license I could look up MLS listings for apartment complexes and not have to go through a broker or another agent...just contact the property owner myself.
Questions:
1) Do I need to be associated with a brokerage firm to get a license?
2) And if not, how do I sign up to use an MLS Service?
I live in Utah.
Thanks
Joseph
Some believe that by cutting the brokersale person out of the middle will give the investor an advantage. The reality is that most sales persons work hard to help you find the right investment and close the deal. They incur expenses up front and many times end up not getting paid and have to eat the expenses. If you get a real estate license, you will be obligated to disclose this at various times as required by state laws and rules.
The advantages of a license may be the ability to write a standard sales contract, the education you receive, and information and contacts you make. You can also go on to get a brokers license and open your own office and hire agents to help you, but as an owner without a license (Florida and other states) you can hire a broker to manage and sell property (e.g., subdivision sales) for you.
Additionally, as a licensee you have to continue with education and, unless you are a broker operating for yourself, you will likely have to pay fees to another broker
ealty to keep your license active (a major expense to the licensee and not to forget transaction fees from sales persont to the broker). On the otherhand, you have certain benefits besides access to the MLS (you have to pay for MLS use) such as additional listings and real estate services which you can perform, working for others, etc. It is especially helpful to me in land planning.
You can take some of the real licensing courses without sitting for the exam adn getting a license. This could make you a more educated investor.
I hope this helps.
[addsig]
I ended up w/ those to questions as well.
Even with having two agents/brokers that would other wise do things in the greay area w/ ease, they would not "lend" me mls access.
For the one that is in LA (I am in N. CA) I even offered to pay all his fees. No go.
Now I have a residential realtor I like, and a commercial one so I feel pretty covered.
unless you have a broker in your pocket, or as is happening w/ ****This URL Not allowed**** and other sites, anyone can have access.
I have have a seasoned 4 yr old LLC.
The only case where I was offered a non-recourse loan, is when the tenant of the building was going to be a "credit" tenant, AT&T in this case.
In all other cases, they ran personal (of all members) and business credit and required personal guarantees.
Clean up the lien (one of the penny on the dollar deals?), as your new commercial properties maybe target of the LLC and prospective partner might frown on your credit history.
You can partner w/ a equity source, like a high net worth individual, equity fund, etc.
Good luck.
Not sure as it depends on the market, but if you can find a value added commercial property, there might be an opportunity to either obtain seller financing with some good cash down, OR the possibility to become a partner with that owner, and make cash investment into the property for improvements, and once it is rent stabilized, pull some cash out for other investments, or sell the property at that time for top dollar. Of course make sure your partner is on board with that program..
Any thoughts on this approach from the board?