Do I need a real estate license?

[Amari Turman-roosa]

Do I need a real estate license to do real estate wholesale? Adding on to that question. Would a real estate license help me understand wholesaling better?

[Daren H.]

Not sure about the laws in the state you plan to do business, but in a general sense NO you do not need to be licensed to be a great wholesaler. I am not a fulltime wholesaler, nor traditional agent, nor flipper. But I am licensed and I have done all three with success. I flip a few properties, I wholesale and wholetail a few properties , and I occasionally help someone find a new property (usually a family member or someone I am buying a house from), and I do a few buy and holds. I list my own flips and wholetails and save (or earn) $20-$30K a year for not much work because of my license. I help someone find a property and make $5K-$10K because of my license. I get access to the MLS and all sorts of comp and market data which helps me determine deals and my exit strategy. I can go look at listed properties when I want without waiting on an agent. Point is, the license pays for itself. It will give you some basic real estate knowledge, but nothing about investing, marketing for off market deals, talking to sellers, etc. Whole different skill set. I say it can't hurt but is not necessary.