All Forum Posts by: Jim Wilson

@Matt Holmer

This is one of the problems with Zillow, either false or outdated information. If you can find out which agent had it for that short period of time you should talk with them about it. Most likely they are an REO agent and can let you know what's going on. If not you'll just have to wait for the bank to list it with another agent. I have never seen a bank do fsbo. They are in the lending business not real estate sales. Calling the bank directly will be worthless also. If you can even track down the right person to talk with at the bank they will tell you to wait till it's listed.

When people talk about the costs of having a real estate license they are talking about more than just the cost to take the class. Once you have that license to be considered a realtor you have to be in the National, State and local board of realtors. For me that costs $550/year. Then there is the mls access, which is over another $500 year then if you use electronic key boxes that is another monthly charge. Then, there is continuing education to renew your license every couple years depending on your state. The costs add up but it's definitely worth it if you use it.

@Chris Eschbach

Welcome to BP Chris.

Keller Wiliams, like Ronald said. Not only do they offer the best training for new agents, they also teach you how to build a business that you can eventually leverage yourself out of and hire others to run.

@Tim GriffithsWelcome to Biggerpockets.

I am a realtor in Syracuse. You can still get good deals that cash flow in Eastwood and some of the pockets of the Northside aren't bad. Eastside is a decent area also. If you are looking at the university area inventory is almost nonexistent, The multi families that come on the market in that area are usually priced around 190K-230K for a 2 family.

The suburbs are always a great option cause the schools are much better. The biggest difference in expenses for properties in the suburbs are the property taxes. Usually higher in the suburbs. Feel free to contact me if you need anything.

@Devin Mann I'm with Keller Williams in Syracuse, NY. This October will be my second year selling real estate. Funny that they told you not to interview anywhere else. My team leader told me the opposite. He said interview other brokerages and you will come back to us. Which I did. The training like every else says is incredible. But outside the training KW seems to attract certain agents that don't mind telling you their tricks to getting new business. Always willing to help a new agent with questions, go on a listing presentation with them to see how they do it or having them come along on one of your presentations to critique you. In other words KW is winning in the Culture department. 

As for training, ask them when they will be running the Ignite class. That is KW's beginner course in real estate designed to put the newbie on course to do 16 transactions in their first year. As a new agent most offices also have mentoring every week with another agent that is one of the top producers. Getting started in real estate is an uphill battle no matter where you go. No one ever wants to work with the guy that is handling their first deal.

Don't worry about the profit share right now. It is an awesome opportunity to take advantage of but right now your top priority is training which I assure you KW is not slacking on. I also assure you that KW is not hiding anything. Their company is open book. Everything from the finances to how the office is run goes through the ALC.

Good luck. 

@Account Closed

It really depends on how much business you want to do.  There are some agents out there that treat it like a part time job. They have a part time income from it and part time hours. Then there are agents that treat it like a full time business so they naturally have to dedicate more time to it. One of the good things about selling real estate is you get to be in control of your time. If you are out of town and have buyers that want to look at a house arrange a head of time with another agent to show properties to your buyers while you are out of town. Same thing if you have a family function and a buyer wants to see property. If they want to put in an offer you can do that anywhere in the world with a computer and the  internet.

@Precious Thompson 

Being a real estate agent is what you make of it. If you only want to sell a few homes a year it probably won't be too profitable depending on what the prices are. Or you can go out and sell as much as you can and really have no limit to what you can make. I would suggest going and buying the book "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent." It's basically a blue print for a successful realtor.

@Wes Eaves 

It's not necessary to have a realtor to contact the bank. If the bank wants to see that the house was listed before accepting an offer as a short sale then you would need a realtor to get involved. 

@Mike Kelley 

It could be that the bank has recently taken possession of the house and it will soon be listed with a realtor who handles REO's for the bank/lender. Usually the conservation company will winterize the house as well as do some repairs before they list it. Depending on the repairs they do it can be a few months before they finally do list it.

About the taxes. You can bet that the bank will pay them off before any tax sale will happen.