Realators license

orange150

orange150

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Fairfax City, VA
I've been thinking about getting my realators license just for kicks lately. but is there much of anything a 20 year old kid can do with it once acquired? If not I dont know if its worth my time as of yet.
 
a very good friend of mine just turned 23....she has had her license for about a year and a half

she made about $86k last year

while she is not the average (she is one of the most motivated and driven people ive met, she also spends about 70 hours a week working), it shows what could be done
 
Ill be graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering here in about 9 months, and I plan on getting my realtors license. If all goes well, I will only do engineering for about two years.
 
Well, to be technical, realtor does NOT mean real estate agent, all reators are agents but NOT all agents are realtors.

Realtor is a subset of agents that agree to certain rules and subscriptions and ethics codes AND mulitple listing services, etc.

Agents (which are changing in NC to all agent/brokers), are actually a pretty diverse group of work, some actually work with mortgages, property management, commericial and personal property management/sales, etc.

I think what you are asking is, "can I make money" selling real estate on the side...my answer is, it depends:

Are you REALLY asking, I am thinking about buying/selling houses/real estate. If so...don't bother getting your license, it will actually limit you to all sorts of ethics issues etc and nothing stops non-agents from buying/selling/flipping, etc property. YES...there is some decent money in this and THUS YES, there is LOTS of risk in this. As with all things in life, risk = reward

If you are just asking about being a part time real estate agent for a firm...the big boys don't want part time agents, so chances are you are talking about a small firm and they really have no incentive to help you either.... So...unless you really want a CAREER..., not sure it is worth the time unless you are serious about it.



I went and took the classes and passed, but never bothered to take the exam because I figured out by then I did not need it to do what I wanted to do in real estate! (buy/sell/rent houses)

Sam
 
I am just now starting to learn how to flip properties. I will not start until I get into San Antonio but am going to learn all I can now. I have not heard of one person that tried to flip and lost money. The market is just there....
Has anyone lost money doing one of these flips?
 
Yes, many people have lost money on flips. "Flipping" one defination of the term is actually illegal and the feds are doing major investigating. Flipping in the investment market and second home markets is a bad idea now as many are loosing there asses unless they can afford to hold on to the property for a couple of years when property values may begin to climb again. Primary residences still seam to be rising, however, at a slower rate that 2005 and previous. So, I have seen few loose money purchasing a typical house in a primary residence market that purchased and remodeled and resold property. However, I am watching a buddy of mine sit on a house in a second home market that he bought, remodeled, and was trying to resell. This guy is smart too, not somebody that jumped into it. He's been an agent almost as long as I've been an appriaser and he has gotten very comfortable in this market. But he did not see this coming.


There are many many inactive people that have gotten there brokers license that do nothing with it. I have seen many that make a pile of money, but I see few that make good money that don't work very hard for it.
 
jeepercreature said:
I have not heard of one person that tried to flip and lost money. The market is just there....
Has anyone lost money doing one of these flips?
Click to expand...
Are you serious? People lose their butts everyday on flips that go wrong. You can do all your homework and still lose money from the unexpected (termites/mold/soft market/interest rate hikes etc). And if the property is a foreclosure you can almost bank on a legal headache getting the deed transferred. Not all candy and rainbows as you were led to believe.
 
Cool, Maybe I have the termination wrong. I just want to do this.

1. Go to San Antonio
2. Buy a few houses (3)
3. Work on those house, (paint, repairs, landscape)
4. Rent the house for enough to profit each month. If I can sell it and make a dime i would.
5. Go fishing...

My unlce Rocky (yes his real name) bought 12 house in San Antonio and Dallas and is making a killing. My sister manages them and now quit her job and went back to school. He does well and I want to start doing something like that when I get out. I will always have my Dog Bed business but it uses very little time and I get the urge to work on new projects. I think this is the ulimate challege (real estate)

I am a natural sell person. I love the idea of convincing someone to purchase something based on a good product. I think the house is the largest purchase one makes so I want to be involved in that. I thought about becoming a real estate agent. Property managment, showing homes and getting a % of the sale/rent price. I dont think that is what I want to do. I want to purchase the house, fix it and sell it or rent it.

Dave, give me more on this..
 
GSW said:
Are you serious? People lose their butts everyday on flips that go wrong. You can do all your homework and still lose money from the unexpected (termites/mold/soft market/interest rate hikes etc). And if the property is a foreclosure you can almost bank on a legal headache getting the deed transferred. Not all candy and rainbows as you were led to believe.
Click to expand...

never mentioned candys and rainbows. Trust me, I know how to work. I am not scared of a finacial challege. That is what I live for. Large rewards can not be obtained without risk. I will be smart about what ever I do, but I usually have a pretty good eye for smart business decisions. I have not done enough research and reading to go out and purchase now but I want to "be in the business" within the next few years.

Also, I think it would be great to own a few houses and rent them. I think the relationship between the renter and tenant is great. I have rented a house before and had a great landlord. I want to do that to help the young guy who needs a break because I was that guy once.
 
Ok In the past 36 months I have "flipped" 7 homes.
[This is based on your definition of flip]
Foreclosures arent that bad, if you know how to do them. I will only do win-wins, I refuse to screw anyone, money isnt worth it.

But if you honestly think o one loses money, RUN away from this. Failed real estate investments are the #3 cause (behind credit card stupidity and medical tragedy) of bankruptcy.

Do not whatevr you do mortage your home to buy an investment.

LLing is a MAJOR PITA. Yeah I trid to help the little guy, good guy, even wheeled with him a time or 2. He changed his Harley's oil in my living room ruined the carpet and threw a rug down.

Another Yale grad, had a "tiny leak" under the kitchen sink (caused by them shoving way to much junk under sink and cracking a pipe) and let $7500 worth of water damage be done.
No more renters for me.

I buy/fix/sell only.
And last 3 have all been foreclosures. Closed in under 10 days.

Search your resources. Find who is about to be foreclosed on and balance owed. Knock on a door. I bought a house 3 weeks ago once fixed it should bring 85-90. Guy was about to be foreclosed on owing 26. I walked up knocked on door a fw phone calls and 48 hours later I ahd a house at half market value, he had avoidd foreclosure and had ~$15k in his pocket, and the bank had their money win-win-win for everyone.

Damn this turned into a book. If anyone is interested I will be glad to discuss what I do, no competition risk there are waaaay too many houses out there.
 
John, what you are talking about doing is typically a great situation. But make sure of a couple of things:
Only buy in markets where people buy houses to LIVE, not visit. If you are in a primary residence market, people are still buying and you probably will not get stuck with a house. I'd recommend hiring a few appraisers (one at a time) and have them appraise the houses two ways for you, one at current market value (so you know you aren't paying to much) and one subject to all of the alterations/repairs, etc you plan to do so you have an idea of the profit margen and know where your costs to remodel must stay for you to make a profit. I say try a few appraisers because some are crooks and some don't know what they are doing. Hire one local to the area you are buying in, many travel into markets they don't understand and try to appraise. They won't be of help to you. Once you have one you trust, stick with them.

The other thing you need to do is if you rent it, make sure YOU do the management. If you fix it up, you can charge a premium and the people that will rent for that premium price typically are people that will take better care of your property. But keep in mind, you will have some bad tennants no matter what kind of interviewing and checking references you do.



I agree with the NEVER mortgage your house to buy investment property. If you finance more, you will get less profit per property, but can spread your equity out and buy more properties. If you put more down on each property, you can make a better profit per property. Most of the time your rents should pay for your mortgage payment and help pay into a reserve fund for future problems.
 
Buy you a home in an area that will sale within 60 days. There are first time home buyer neighborhoods that sale fairly quickly and if you are priced right, it will sell quickly.

As far as pricing a home, just call a Realtor and ask them for a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) on the property which is free. The Appraisers use the exact same information as a Realtor to come up with a price for a property but cost around $300 per appraisal.

Buying a foreclosure isn't hard to do and getting a deed transfered is fairly simple since your closing Attorney handles everything.

Be carefull when buying a home from someone who is about to be foreclosed on. There is the possibility that the home could have liens against the property & if you take the property subject-to an existing mortgage, you have to pay off all of the liens before you can sell the home. There are deals out there but you need to do your research first so you don't get burned.


To find out if a home has any liens you need a title search or ......

Once a house is foreclosed on and goes back to the bank, any and all liens are wiped away.

Find you a Realtor in your area that has been in the business for a while and let them help you purchase a property like a bank owned property, a HUD home, etc. You don't have to pay them a commission since the seller is the one that pays for that. They are usually the first ones to find out about a property that is about to come on the market for sale.

Always get a home inspection before you buy! Spending $250-$300 for a home inspection can save you from buying a home that is in bad shape (termites, foundation problems, rot, roof problems, additions to the home, hvac problems). I say that so when you go to sell the property you aren't stuck with a buyer who wants all of the problems fixed.

Some loans won't let a buyer get a home if there are too many problems with the home. FHA loans are that way. Conventional loans aren't that strict, they just want the home to appraise at or above the sales price.

Sorry for my "Book" on this topic! I am a Realtor and my wife is a title searcher for a large Real Estate law firm......so I know who is being foreclosed on before anyone else does! All I have to do is look at her daily work sheet and it lists the names and addresses of those that she has to do a title search on that day.
 
and I bet these guys above, are NOT playing the "buy a house with no money down" game either... there is a bazillion books about this...but you know what is even easier? WITH MONEY!!

Get a 2nd/3rd/whatever job, build up a nest egg so you can buy the first actual DEAL...dont' spend ANY of that cash from the deal so you have enough now that if a 2nd deal comes along you can make it as well....

Keep doing this, leave the cash alone, keep working a day job so you never feel the pressure to make a move because YOUR bills are due, and slowly but surely make money.

Lots of deals out there, but again, having $10-20,000 cash in your savings acct makes getting started a whole heck of a lot easier. ($10,000 / 5.25hr, part time, min wage 2nd job, you could be there in a year or so...if you can make more per hour ON THE SIDE, just means it will be there quicker)

Final note... living BELOW your means is the best way to get rich, don't fall for the credit card game, drive a cheaper car, pay cash for all your bills and put the rest aside for investing. Just an observation from the various millionaires I work with every day.

Sam...working on my 2nd million cuz I heard the first one takes a long time...Hinton heh
 
I own several rental properties, yes money is good, yes work is hard it all depends on where you buy, but you better be careful jumping in now, the bubble is getting pretty big. I own one house near UNCG that profits over $900 a month after the mortgage is paid. The value of it has tripled in the last 9 years, but do your homework cause I got lots of friends who have lost their ass.
 
OOOPS forgot,

Now you have to go to real estate school longer and when done you will get your brokers license since NC is now an all Broker state.....no more salesman license.
 
SHINTON said:
and I bet these guys above, are NOT playing the "buy a house with no money down" game either..
Click to expand...
I put money down on the first place I bought 10 years ago, since then I have never come out of my pocket at closing, sometimes I've left the closing table with the house and several thousand in cash, again you got to do your homework.
 
My first flip I went to a small local bank and got a 1 year construction loan to buy the home. It was all interest only payments that you can write off. Just be sure to sell it before the end of the 1 year!
 
sqlhawkn said:
As far as pricing a home, just call a Realtor and ask them for a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) on the property which is free. The Appraisers use the exact same information as a Realtor to come up with a price for a property but cost around $300 per appraisal.
Click to expand...

Although a CMA in some markets will get you close enough to what you are looking for, I will put an honest appraiser up against a CMA from an agent anyday as far as accuracy of market value and realizing problems with the properties marketability. Of course we are required to be correct wheras agents are protected in every way possible from having to have any kind of accuracy. I am not trying to knock all agent, but I work for 10 of the highest producing agents on the Grand Strand and I do listing appraisals for them. I know what to compare to. Not one of them can accurately measure a house.
 
A few random thoughts fom things posted here

#1)Pay cash, you will never regret. Proverbs says "The borrower is slave to the lender" nuff said. I highly recommend the book The Total Money Makeover. Changed mine and wives lives, didnt change our finances changed our lives nuff said.

#2) If ya wnna do $0 down deals go ahead, not me.I like the 100% down plan. 0 risk essentially. If I wanna take 120 days to flip (like I did when BIL had health probs) no big deal, and I am in control not bank

#3) Carlton Sheets is an idiot

#4) If Carlton Sheets could make millions with zero down deals he wouldnt sell tapes...

#5) The only way to get rich quick involves guns masks and banks. Any other plan is more risky, revert to guns,masks and banks, or work hard live long and prosper...the first is often forgotten

lastly the kety to financial (or really any) success is working half days. Doesnt matter if you work thr first 12 or the 2nd but work half of them either way.
 
I dont make payments on anything. I will not ever do it that way. I dont like having bills. I would prepay my electric if New Bern would allow it. My plan was to purchase house in San Antonio, which is a great place to do stuff like this. I will take all of your advise and like a said, I will not jump into anything. I was placing on spending out of my pocket about 100k on serveral houses and then hire my uncle who is a contractor to remodel and improve the houses. I may even go into business with him since he has more dough than I do. I am just looking right now..

The thing about me is my day job is the military which I will be out of in about 5 months. I have spoken with a few board members about how my business is ran. I only spend about 1 hour a day to run it and it fully supports us right now. (military money, all 100% goes into a TSP fund or TDWaterhouse accounts) I use the business money to pay bills and save even more. I invest a lot (40% back into the business and the rest is used for everythin else. I have a pretty laid back life aside from the military and when I get out I know I will only spend 20 hours tops on the business. I ultimate goal was to own a lot of house near military bases in San Antonio and rent only to military. It is the ONLY safe renter, and this is a fact because if anything goes wrong you go straight to the members command. The member knows that will happen and therefor there is little risk. Also, payment is never an issue because they get extra money for rent. Thanks guys
 
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