Real Estate license: Helpful for investing out of state?

[Jason Howell]

Two years ago I started this journey of educating myself to prepare for out of state real estate investing (I'm near my 4th closed property via Turnkey in Indianapolis...within weeks of that).

Now I'm formulating my plan for taking more of this process into my own hands. But along the way, about a year ago, I signed up for a class at the Junior College near where I live to get a formal weekly basis of knowledge on Real Estate Principles, and now this semester, Fundamentals. The idea was less about becoming an Agent (which is largely what these classes prepare you for) and more about simply surrounding myself with a more traditional educational basis of knowledge on the industry at large, not to mention meeting people in class on a weekly basis, and all that comes with this kind of educational approach.

In the end, I'll likely be prepared enough to take the CalBRE Real Estate exam to get my license. If I've already gone through this much education, I might as well, right?

My question is: How useful is having that license for investing out of state? Sure, it'll be a California license, but I'll have access to the MLS and that's nationwide so that's a good thing... What other benefits might I see from having this license that I can apply directly to my goals of BRRRRing my own properties out of state? I'm not entirely interested in becoming an Agent. (I have a terrific day job) But that doesn't mean I shouldn't get the license. Right?

The license was never my goal. Education was. But if I've come this far, it makes sense to just do it. Right?

[Jason Howell]

Thank you! That was clearly an assumption on my part. We hear everyone talking about "the" MLS. I just assumed the MLS to be something that Agents had access to equally across the US.

Honestly, not get the license saves me a lot of time and headache so this answer makes me happy. :)