It's true: you really don't need a real estate license to be a successful investor. Most people reading this already know that.
BUT…
There are five main reasons—and valuable ones, at that—for taking the exam and getting a RE license, no matter what your practice or profession. They're the same reasons that doctors and lawyers or any professional practitioner, for that matter, study, get qualified, and then get a license to practice their specialty.
Witness the on-going success of the Deeper Pockets website, in helping newbies get started and experienced investors get connected. It's that success that begs for this question about getting a RE license to be answered.
And it can only be answered properly if you're willing to look at all the tools available to you as an investor. A RE license is one of those tools, just as is Deeper Pockets.
To be, or not to be (licensed), that is the question (forgive my indiscretion, Bill).
Reason #1: Pure and simple—ACCESS to insiders' knowledge. It's important, so let me run that by you again—access to insiders' knowledge. Knowledge that most of us don't understand, much less have access to. Knowledge that is needed to be, not just good, but very good at what the RE investing profession demands, in terms of both education and legal requirements.
In the not so distant past, I worked as a professionally qualified field service engineer in the area of biomedical instrumentation. Not only did I have my engineering degree in electronics, I was technically, legally and professionally certified by every manufacturer of high-end biomedical equipment that I was employed by. Hands-on training, in a very technical field, with very specialized knowledge.
Why, you might ask, did I spend so much time getting degreed and certified?
Reason #2: I wanted—and needed—UNDERSTANDING of the technical aspects of my job, and to be able to conform to the rules and regulations that were applicable when it came to practicing biomedical engineering. And believe me, there were and are beau coup factors, both at the federal and local levels, that affected my ability to function as a professional biomedical engineer.
Same is true in the real estate profession: do you know what the federal and local rules and regulations are for that investment you're about to make? Do you even know where to look for that information? Otherwise, you may spend large amounts of your precious time researching information that is readily available to those who have a RE license, and subsequently have "insiders' knowledge."
Reason #3: EFFECTIVENESS, at using the tools of the trade. One of those tools is prime access to the MLS listings for your state. Access that would put you on the leading edge when it came to, literally, "seeing properties" before they became available to the buying public.
I can hear it already: But, I have a friend who is RE licensed and gives me hot tips on real estate deals. Why would I need to be licensed?
Let me ask you a question in return: Is your friend always available? By that, I mean, can you get them on the phone at a moment's notice, 24/7/365? Are they available to meet you at a property, exactly at the time you need to be there? How many times a day are they consulting the MLS for new deals—just for you—before another professionally licensed RE investor snaps them up?
Another of those tools should be apparent, and is an integral part of the next reason.
Reason #4: Your NETWORKING ability is magnified tenfold or more. Networking with more experienced RE brokers and sales people who are investors like yourself; more RE investor/bankers to help you with your financing; more RE investors to trade with and promote your deals.
Make no mistake. When I say network, I'm not referring to Facebook, Twitter, or even LinkedIn, although social networks should play a part in your marketing and advertising campaigns. If you're spending a lot of time trying to network via the social links, you're not focusing on RE, and you're definitely not focused on your RE investments.
You should be focusing almost exclusively on RE networks, like DP and RE investing groups and associations, RE conventions—anything associated with RE and RE investing.
If you don't eat, drink, sleep, and dream about RE, you're not focused. Great pianists don't get that way by playing Christmas carols or seamen's ditties. They get there by being obsessed, focused.
That's where you need to be. And completely and unremittingly unapologetic about it.
Reason #5: UPDATED information. If you're using any kind of specialty software on your computer, you already know that, occasionally, the authors publish new versions, with "up-to-date information," that typically resolve problems that arose with earlier versions.
The same can be said about RE. The information that might be provided about a property may be days or even weeks old by the time it becomes public knowledge. Is that the kind of information you want to base your investment on? Out dated? Really?
The time spent in a broker's office—even with paying a desk fee—is time well spent, since most brokers have their finger on the pulse of the communities they do business in. Their information, whether demographic, zoning, future neighborhood projects, or whatever, is usually being updated on a daily if not hourly basis.
They have people in the office, or know people outside the office, who have "insiders information" about these topics. And brokers are focused on keeping that information as "up-to-date" as possible. Even if it means having to pay someone to do nothing but keep it updated.
So, there you have it. Five valuable reasons for getting and keeping your RE license in your professional investing toolbox: Gaining Access and Understanding, improving your Effectiveness, magnifying your Networking abilities, and keeping yourself constantly Updated.
It's been said that information is power. How are you powering your business in RE investing? Are you using all the available tools?
