Agent vs investor question for you guys

[Kyle Curtin]

Hi everyone, so I am in a situation and I wanted to hear other people’s opinions about it.

So I am 19, work a 40hr a week as an HVAC Tech, and am also a licensed agent. I have been an agent for about 6 months.

However, I am beginning to lose interest being an agent. I got my license to get my "foot in the door" and have always loved investing and wanted to be able to analyze and purchase cashflowing investment properties. Now I come home from work and just want to learn real estate investing and have no interest in prospecting or anything as an agent. I have read a ton on it and do research and it comes natural to me and I love learning about it whenever I can. I am planning on buying a SFH or a du/tri plex in the next few years, and would rather be saving money for that than sending out mailers ect for my agent job.

Should I just cut the ties as an agent? I will be on the prowl for a few agents to work with to bring me deals and be talking to lenders pretty soon as well.

Thank you,

Kyle

[Jonathan Bombaci]

Hi Kyle, sometimes its best just to be an investor and using an agent rather than trying to be your own agent starting out. You'll be able to leverage the experience and expertise of the agent you hire to help you find and negotiate the best deals. When you become an investor you'll then naturally become a better agent since you'll now have the experience as an investor to fall back on and advise from. It sounds like you're on the right path but maybe you should become an investor first and then decide if you still want to be an agent. 

All that being said if you continue with your agent license I'd suggest trying to do agent prospecting that doesn't cost you anything. For example post here on BiggerPockets in response to newbie investor questions in the area and try to help them the best you can, while expecting nothing back in return. If you can provide value then you will naturally earn yourself some customers along. Then you can use the commissions as part of your downpayments on investment properties. Either that or maybe join a team where the team leader can give you 1-2 solid leads per month to keep you going. Your commission split will likely be less but you won't be spending your time and money prospecting cold leads. Your split would probably be less but you would be able to work warm leads that the team/owner paid for and nurtured for you.  

Just my two cents. I started as an investor and then became an agent and to this day we do not spend much on marketing compared to other teams of our size. Having the knowledge gained by being an investor yourself will give you the tools you need to standout amongst the competition.

Best of luck,

Jon