Working as an Agent From Another Area

[Ben Morand]

Hello,

My name is Ben Morand. I am currently a student at the University of Florida and I am very close to finishing my pre-licensing work and taking my Sales Associate exam.

My question is: is it possible to work as a real estate agent from another city?

To give context, the University of Florida is in Gainesville, FL which is about 2 hours from my hometown, Orlando. As of now, I am at home in Orlando for the next few months in quarantine from the virus. However, when school starts back up August 31, I will reside in Gainesville.

Ultimately, I plan on living in Orlando after college due to my family being here, as well as the amazing real estate investing market of the city.

Does anyone have any advice as to whether I should pursue a brokerage in Gainesville vs Orlando (I have decided on KW as my brokerage due to their amazing training)? Like I said before, after college, I will reside in Orlando, so it would be great for me to be able to start building my business here. However, if it would be very improbable for that to work, I would not be opposed to at least getting my feet wet with the market in Gainesville. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!

Ben

[Shawn K Hicks]

@Ben Morand Hi Ben, I've been a full time agent in Gainesville for the last 17 years. I actually discontinued college once I realized this was the career for me. (Not saying you should not pursue your degree by any means. A degree from UF is a piece of paper that will open up future networking opportunities no matter where you go or what you do in life.)

Over the years I've worked for several different companies. KW is one of them. I would actually still be with KW if not for the fact a close personal friend of mine started up a brokerage and gave me terms too good to pass up.

Here are my thoughts on your situation: Ray Lopez is the broker of one of the Orlando KW franchises as well as the local Gainesville KW. Since you have your foot in both markets, I think he could probably give you some good advice. Since you are going to be a full time student, I could see you getting some experience just by helping out your friends/fellow students find housing here in Gainesville that are attending UF. For the time being, anyone you know through your sphere of influence down in Orlando that is looking to purchase, you could refer them to one of your KW teammates down in Orlando and receive a 25% referral fee. 

Ideally, by the time you graduate, you will have some Real Estate sales experience you can build on. Since a lot can happen in 4/5 years, by the time you graduate, you may still want to return to Orlando, but there's a chance you could end up elsewhere. Either way, it'd be great for you to earn some supplemental income and get some experience during your time at UF.

I have the contact information for Ray Lopez the broker in Orlando and also Wickie Ariet the office manager up here in Gainesville if you would like to have conversations with them.