Having to Give Deals to Other People

[Bethany Corey]

I want to be a real estate investor. period. But, as I have said before, I am also woking towards my real estate salesperson license. I do not particularly want to be a professional real estate agent, though. I simply want the benefit of being able to use my own yard signs, the know-how of the technical lingo of real estate transactions, and be my own agent.

But once I get my license, are there certain legal formalities that I have to follow that would limit an investment business (besides broker commissions), such as having to give deals that I find to buyers besides myself? I know that good agents will do so, but for someone who is not planning on becoming a professional agent, would I be legally obligated to be more generous with my findings?

I read a blog post on BP that said that putting yourself out as an agent, name tag and all, helps people be more confident in your abilities, opposed to just saying "I'm a real estate investor", which makes people who are unfamiliar with investing scratch their head and question your credibility. But it also makes people expect you to behave like an agent, and less like an investor..... which means giving more deals to other people and spending more time as an agent than as an investor. I don't like the idea of splitting my attention 50/50 between investing and "agenting". I'm either going to be an investor or an agent: I don't want to be both. I want to be an investor who just happens to have a license. Would having a license take from my revenue more than it would give? Is it as restricting as I think it is?