Does a RE Agent License add value for a RE Investor ?

[Pras Palanichamy]

Hello All

I am starting out in REI. I am thinking if a RE Agent license is necessary to become a successful REI or it just does not add any value at all. I want to be a buy & hold rental property investor in the long term.

Have the following questions. Request help / guidance.

1. Does a Real Estate agent license help in closing deals / networking ? One of the points I hear in BP podcasts is that you need understand the problems of the seller & customize offers that solve that problem - e.g. multiple options - low cash offer , higher seller financing offer etc.,

As just an investor I don't have direct access to the seller to understand seller's problems. I need to route through my RE agent , then to seller agent & seller. Will having a RE license help in creating a direct access to seller ?

What would be your recommendation to overcome this problem ?

2. I also heard in a BP podcast that the REI guest had submitted upto 40 offers a week. Is it possible to submit that many offers without a RE agent license ? I live in California. Isn't a RE agent license mandatory to submit an offer in CA ?

[Matt Crusinberry]

@Pras Palanichamy, I would say it adds value, but not always the value that is needed. In other words, the squeeze isn't always worth the juice. To get and maintain your RE license is going to take time and money, but than again, anything worth having usually does. I agree with most of what @Alexis Monroe said in regards to your questions that are listed, and I think that her information is a good place to start. However, there are a lot of people out there without their RE license that make the same headway. I personally don't have a license, but my wife does. We hardly use the MLS to acquire comps, as there are a ton of websites that will give you the same info (i.e. zillow, trulia, realtor.com, etc...). These are tools that everyone has, and when your looking for properties that have sold in the last 6-12 months, it's not very difficult to figure it out. There are also other means to obtain information that will aid you in finding sellers. BP is actually riddled with ways to find leads and get in touch with prospective sellers.

I personally like going to sellers that don't have their properties listed or marketed in any manner. As Alexis mentioned, there are strategies that you may utilize to find these individuals. Also, not coming off as an agent sometimes works to our benefit in regards to people opening up. While this just happens to be my experience, I do find it easier to talk to people as a regular person trying to help them and their needs (hence, becoming a problem solver). While I'm not able to give you a definitive answer, I doubt that anyone is. I would suggest you see what it takes to acquire your license/maintain, and whether that time and money could be spent somewhere else that would get you closer to your goals. I wish you the best of luck!