New Investor wanted to say Hi!

[Coty Dolan]

Hello, Bigger Pockets Community! 

My name is Coty Dolan, I am a new investor actively looking for my first deal. 

A little bit about me and my background. I am from Pacific Grove, CA, a town located in between Pebble Beach, CA and Monterey, CA. I got out of the Navy in 2017 and became a restaurant manager, I hated that job and even though I had great benefits and a good salary. I decide there must be something more and read the first non-assigned book in my life, Rich Dad Poor Dad. From that point on I was hooked and have been reading 2-4 books a month since blazing through all Kiyosaki's first. I decided Real Estate was the life I was going to pursue and enrolled in classes to get my Real Estate Salesperson License in CA. 

I quit my job in July 2019 to became a leasing assistant at a large property management company on the Monterey Peninsula, C&C Real Estate. In October 2019 I got my Real Estate License. I got promoted to Portfolio Manager, overseeing about 100 units, and getting to sell real estate as well. It is now February 2020 and I am getting ready to buy my first property to either BRRRR or Flip in Mesa, AZ.

My goal is and always has been to become a great real estate investor over becoming the best real estate agent, and being both is an option. My question to the Bigger Pockets Community is; should I stay in my position making $50k/year and selling real estate on the side, or should I pursing being an agent full time?

My plan is to eventually be a full-time agent and investor, however, while I am first starting out and adding the first properties to my portfolio, would it be more helpful having the W2 income from my job in addition to bonus commission checks. Or will I be fine using just commission as my income? 

Thank you for all the input, and glad to be here. 

[Derek Harris]

@Coty Dolan, thank you for your service and welcome to BP! Rich Dad, Poor Dad was instrumental in my real estate journey too. As far as your question is concerned, having a W-2 job is very beneficial when applying for loans. Is your W-2 job prohibiting you or slowing you down in your REI journey? If it was me, I would take advantage of my W-2 job as much as possible and invest in real estate on the side. After replacing all my expenses with cash flow, I would transition to REI full-time. Alternatively, I am not familiar with the real estate market in your area and it may make more sense to transition to a full-time real estate agent. I'll say this and keep in mind this is me stating my opinion, but the vast majority of real estate agents I have worked with are horrible at their job. Being an exceptional agent does not take much effort.