Smart to Become a Real Estate Agent to Learn How to Invest?

[Marielle Walter]

Hi all, I am a professional in DC with an office job, and I have started investing in Real Estate. I want to be a full time real estate investor, and I wonder if a good way to dive in head first is to get licensed as a real estate agent so I can learn a lot more about the market and become better positioned to make solid investments in the next couple years. For those of you that have experience as agents and also as investors - is this smart, or is that a waste of time and i should just go find my own deals that appeal and go after financing? How much does a newbie real estate agent in Washington, DC, where I am based, make?