New to St. Petersburg / Seminole, looking to get into Real Estate

[Nick McArthur]

Hello everyone!

My name is Nick and me and my wife moved here from Utah back in May. My wife was born and raised in this area so she is familiar with it, but I am just getting use it. I have always had a passion for real estate. I always find myself on Zillow looking at properties, trying to find deals and auctions etc.

I have been looking into getting my real estate license here in Florida but I'm not sure I just want to be an agent working for a brokerage. One of the reasons for that is because I'm still new to the area, so my network is small and will take some time to build up and I need an income while I'm doing that. I come from a computer programming / web design field but I'm ready to get into something I'm more passionate about.

That being said.... a few questions I have....

Opinions on best place to get real estate license? I was looking at Tampa School of Real Estate. Right now I think the self guided class is $197.00

If I do decide to go the sales agent route, how do you pick a broker to work for?

Honestly any information and help would be greatly appreciated. I had a lot of contacts & family back in Utah in the real estate industry and always had someone to reach out to, but Florida not so much. Just looking to find a place in this industry that I wake up and love doing every day. I look forward to connecting!

[Jorge Vazquez]

Before you look for a broker...

I've been in real estate for 20 years, manage 50 agents, and I've done more than 3,000 transactions, and I still wish that I would've picked a niche early on, and I would've killed it even more than I'm killing it now. So, reverse engineer this answer by finding out what you like about real estate and finding a brokerage specializing in your niche long-term! Examples PM, Retail, high-end, investors, etc... It's such a competitive market that it can become challenging in real estate without a niche. Nowadays, you also have to compete against technology and websites trying to take the job of the "realtor" away, but as long as it feels like a hobby and it is a passion, you won't ever stop until you make it.