2020 Goal- Get Licensed

[Jonathan Breton]

Hey BiggerPockets family! It's that time of the year again. Where everyone makes their goals - and most people fail, myself included! This year, this goal will be accomplished. I hope to be a licensed realtor in the state of North Carolina. I was lucky in growing up watching my mother be a multi-million dollar realtor for several years. Over the past year I have toyed with the idea of getting into real estate myself, and this year I want to make the jump. I am coming to the forums for advice from realtors and brokers! 

I am looking to secure a full-time position as a real estate assistant while I take the pre-licensing course work in the evenings. In my mind I feel like working in the real estate world before becoming a realtor will only help me - what are your thoughts? Any Charlotte area realtors need an assistant? lol

The main advice I have been given is to get the book before the course begins and study as much as possible. Realtors what are your top 2 suggestions to succeed through pre-licensing?

[Nicolas Lovely]

Hey Jonathan, I think the most important thing is listening to what the instructors emphasize. The textbook is helpful, but fairly long as well. Definitely work through the practice exams and chapter review questions in the textbook, but I hand-wrote my notes during class to highlight the essential information. If you take your class with Superior School, they usually give you guided notes to fill in during their lectures. I did my prelicensing in Raleigh with HPW while I was finishing my degree, but went with mostly Superior School for my postlicensing around Charlotte. 

Working in the industry before licensure is probably a solid idea, but that's not the route I took. I'm not too sure how many agents/agencies are looking for unlicensed assistants these days - most folks will want to keep costs low and avoid extra payroll expenses. If you can find that sort of opening, it does seem like a good idea. It would give you a nice introduction into the workflow and process of a transaction. The classes teach you how to stay out of legal trouble, as well as useful concepts and vocabulary, but you have to learn about marketing your services and building relationships outside of class.

So for the prelicensing, I would recommend handwriting your notes in-class and/or focusing on the guided notes. The textbook is helpful for clarification on specifics and practice questions, but can be overwhelming if it's your main study resource. You won't want to be reading through the textbook the night before the exam - you'll want some curated notes with essential testable items. Some people like to record the lectures for later if you're into that. Second, make sure to review during your off-days. I took weekend 9-5 classes, but you could also do the weekday evenings if that works better for you. Either way, make sure you're reviewing during your no-class days. I would hesitate to recommend reading the textbook ahead of time, and instead, I might advise saving some steam for reading during the class session. It's more manageable when broken up into sections, and you might get more out of it when you do the reading right before or after the lecture. That's all I have for you - good luck with the class and exam!