How to ecome A WV RE Agent

Question

Hey BP family,I have recently decided that I would like to look into becoming an agent. I would like some specific advice as to how this works. I am looking into becoming licensed in West Virginia and Maryland. I would love as much detail as you can give me. If you lay it out in a step-by-step method, I would greatly appreciate it! All feedback is welcome and encouraged!Thanks all!-Dakoda

Stephanie Boggs · Answer

Hi Dakoda!Congratulations on taking this step! I just got my WV real estate license this summer and find it extremely helpful. I also did the Spruce School online and I thought it was a great course. A little more pricey than some of the others offered online but I know someone who did one of the other courses due to price and she will be taking the exam for the third time now. The nice thing about Spruce is you can do it at your own pace and as quickly or slowly as you like. I definitely recommend going over the study questions and exams they give you with this course as a lot of exam material came from those. There is a study session offered the day before the exam and I have heard that is extremely helpful as well but I wasn't able to attend. @Conner Snodgrass has laid the process out very well. If you have any other questions feel free to ask! Nice to meet a fellow real estate investor from WV!

Conner Snodgrass · Answer

Hi Dakoda,The available courses are here:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&u...I took the online Spruce School class, while working full time. I think the course was adequate.

Conner Snodgrass · Answer

Hi Dakota,I actually just went thru this process myself I found it pretty straightforward. Be wary there are plenty of fees associated with becoming a licensed salesperson. The process looks something like this:1. Take a WVREC approved 90 hour course to give you an overview of the responsibilities of a salesperson (~500$)2. Before completion of the course you will need to find a sponsoring broker with which to hang your license. 3. Also before the completion of the course they require you submit a background check to the WVREC (~50$) as well as an application (~25$).4. Once passing the course final they allow you to sit for the real exam in Charleston (~25$).5. If you pass that exam you then pay the license fee (~75$) and are ready to begin working with your selected broker!Whatever course you choose will more than likely have these steps and deadlines clearly defined. Let me know if you have any further questions and good luck on your journey!

Dakoda Spencer · Answer

@Stephanie Boggs yes that helps a lot! When you say "CE", I am assuming you are talking about continuing education. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Could you give me a ball park of what I should pay for a course? Again, thank you so much for all your help! You truly don't know how much it means to me that you (and so many others) are willing to assist me in getting started! -Dakoda

Stephanie Boggs · Answer

@Dakoda Spencer absolutely! I always love following along with fellow real estate investors and seeing their progress! I'm pretty sure it's a 90 hour instructional course so if you put 2.5 hours in every night you could be through the material in 36 days or so. I felt like the material they gave was enough. There's a book that they send you as well as material from the online webinars. I personally just took notes while watching the webinars and felt that was adequate. I studied over the notes and the practice exam material. There are always lots of CE opportunities as well once you are licensed. If there's a certain area you feel like you need more info on the CE's are a great resource for that as well as networking. I don't know of any YouTubers or anywhere else that would have good content. I hope this was helpful!

Dakoda Spencer · Answer

@Conner Snodgrass, thank you for the resources, I greatly appreciate it!@Stephanie Boggs, thanks for your input! I'd like to connect with you on here and hopefully keep in touch. I'd like to stay kinda local so maybe we'll run into each other later down the road. For both of you, could you give me an estimate of how long it would take to go through the class if I can put about 2 1/2 hours towards it daily? I'm super motivated and spend at least that much time on a daily basis now just researching stuff about real estate. Do you have any suggested resources to help me study that are free? For instance, do you know of any good YouTubers that put out great content or anything? This leads me to my next question; Can I use only the material they give me to pass the test? Or do I need to work just as hard outside of the class studying to gain enough knowledge to pass? It isn't my intention to just pass the test and not know what I'm doing, but I would like to have a gauge of how much knowledge I need before I go to take the exam. Thanks, Dakoda

Dakoda Spencer · Answer

Hey @Conner Snodgrass, thank you for posting! I have a few questions about the process.How can I find a course? Do you suggest any courses? Is this something I could do while I hold a full-time job? Is there an option for online classes?Again, thanks for your time and assistance! -Dakoda