Benefits for becoming licensed in RE and/or as Home Inspector

[Derek Stewart]

Hello all, 

I have zero experience in the RE market or investing but I will be leaving Active Duty soon and plan to make flipping an immediate part of my portfolio with a partner who has minimal experience but 100% more than I have. With little capital to add initially from myself, he will be putting up the majority of the cash and we will be buying properties in the central Michigan area (likely in and/or around Lansing) cash deals/cash rehab and then sell. Overall goal is strictly to grow capital as quickly as possible for a move into the apartment/multi-family buy and hold world elsewhere (near a coast and near military bases). I certainly want to contribute as much as possible to become a 50/50 partnership sooner than later and one way, while we both work day jobs, is to get a real estate license and/or certified as a home inspector. We will both be pouring in sweat equity into the properties and dedicating 100% of our available time into achieving the larger goal quickly. 

My question to anyone willing to provide insight is basically what are the benefits of choosing one or doing both? Is it a waste of time with plans to move away as quickly as possible to do either? While there is cost associated with both, I have money available and the training/schooling would be at no cost to me. With that in mind, does anybody have both and would they recommend that at any point for an individual who plans to buy and hold properties for a long time to come? I appreciate anybody willing to share their perspective on this and if anyone is in the general area in or around Lansing who may want to chat further, I would appreciate that too. 

[Bob Okenwa]

An RE license will give you the ability to view homes on your own, submit your own offers, and earn commissions. You don't need to get a license to learn how to inspect homes, but it would certainly help overall although getting an inspector license just to flip homes isn't something you see people doing. You'd probably be better off getting a GC license before getting an inspector license.