Newbie here! Would it benefit me to get my real estate license?

[Kayla Wagenmann]

Hello everyone! 

I've spent the last few weeks lurking on the forums and am excited to finally make my first post! My question is... do you think it would be worth it to get my real estate agent license before investing?

Here's a little bit about my situation... I'm 27 years old. My partner and I are moving back to Minnesota from LA in the next few weeks. We're planning on living with my parents for approximately a year (big sigh) to pay down as much debt as possible. Rents seem to have increased a lot in Minneapolis in the past two years that we've been gone. We rented in Minneapolis for 7 years before moving to LA. I'm pretty familiar with the Uptown area, South Minneapolis and parts of Northeast.  

I don't know that I'd feel comfortable carrying the mortgage of a SFH in a year, but I think that investing in a MFH might be a good option for me. I make good money as a registered nurse so while I could afford to carrying the mortgage of a SFH, it is much more appealing to have lower monthly expenses with renters sharing the cost of a mortgage while I continue to pay down the mountain of federal student loan debt I have.

I don't anticipate that I will be able to take the plunge into purchasing for at least another year. I have an unconventional schedule as a nurse (working 2-3 12 hour shifts per week). Do you think that it would be beneficial for me to get my real estate agent license to work part-time on the side over the next year to gain some experience and knowledge in the Minneapolis market? I realize that there is a bit of an investment in getting the license and would like some local advice on whether or not this advisable. I also know that being an agent can be time consuming and that there are different opinions on whether getting a license for part-time work is worth it. 

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom that you have! I look forward to being part of the Bigger Pockets community!