Considering becoming a Realtor.

[Ted Phelps]

I am at the very beginning stages of my realty/investing career. I have only just started looking into investing in Wisconsin and have not purchased my first property yet. But I have found mixed reviews on becoming a Realtor in Wisconsin and if it is worth it to aid in investing. Just a little background info on myself and my situation to start. I am engaged and have a beautiful 5 month old son. We just purchased our first home and we close in May. I work at a body shop 40hrs a week and no weekends. I make about 30-40K and my wife stays home with my son. And we are going to spend a good majority of our savings on closing costs and getting the home ready to live in. I am not 100% on our budget for once the mortgage kicks in and we have home owner costs but we will not be able to save thousands a month like we do now. We will be on a pretty strict budget. Anyway I understand there are costs involved with being a Realtor and that starting out can be difficult and then money may not come in right away (or for a long time) depending on how you do. From what I understand if you only have a few properties and do not plan on growing that the cost of being a Realtor may not be worth it. But I think that if you plan on really growing your investing career, that being a Realtor can really save you on commission costs and access to the MLS is a very great feature. But how do you know when you have invested enough to make it worth it? I would also love to become a full time Realtor and invest on the side. But I think this time in my life will make that very difficult to do. There is also considering being a Realtor's Assistant to get you feet in the door and have a consistent income. What are some possible routes I can take or does anyone have any suggestions for ways I could get into becoming a Realtor and/or realty investor. Thank you.

Ted