New to BiggerPockets - Starting out my investment career.

[Colton Johnson]

Hello All!

I began my journey as a real estate agent not too long ago, and I just recently joined BiggerPockets. I am excited to pursue real estate sales and helping future clients grow their investment portfolios. I am looking for advice for someone starting out in this career, and I am excited to hear from both investors and agents who have stories/words of wisdom to share. 

Thank you 

[Marcus Auerbach]

@Colton Johnson welcome to BP! I have been an investor for about 15 years and the first half of that without a license (I got licensed in 2015 and own a team, train young agents at KW and also host a YouTube channel about Milwaukee real estate).

Most new agents want to work with investors, it seems like an attractive business opportunity. Plus investors always complain about not finding investor friendly agents, so there seems to be an opening for any motivated, hard working new agent. 

The issue is that most investors know more about real estate than their agents. I remember how frustrating it was for me as an investor to find an agent who knew more than me. It felt like half of the time I was coaching my agent. Investors also tend to buy comlicated deals, either distressed or with challenging ownership circumstances, so that's often the oppositie of easy for an agent. And new investors tend to be a huge time suck, most never pull the trigger, especially without the guidance of an experienced mentor.

So, where is the opportunity? The quickest way to success is first time home buyers. They tend to buy easy deals (house in good condition, straight forward sale). So for a younger agents that is the best opportunity to get deals under your belt. And you need lots of them, preferrably at least 2-3 per month so you get through the learing curve quickly. The good news is that over half of all transactions are first time home buyers.

The other thing I always tell new agents is to take advantage of their inisde track and buy investment properties! It is shocking to me how few agents actulally invest in real estate! I don't have hard numbers, but I estimate less than 5%. And that's shame. This industry does not pay retirement benefits, so buying a few rental properties every year for yourself is the single best thing you can do!