All Forum Posts by: Lyall Storandt

Jeffrey Butler Hey Jeffrey! Welcome to the site. Let us know if there's ever anything we can do to help you along your investing journey.

I'll be there!

Binh Nguyen Hey Binh, welcome to BP! Great to see another Houston investor on the site. Let us know if we can ever be of assistance!

Kenny Wilborn Hey Kenny, welcome to BP! Always good to see a new Houston-area investor on the site. Let us know if there's ever anything we can help with.

Laura Hafer Hey Laura, sounds like having your license would be an asset for you as you move forward in your investments. In addition to helping friends and family find homes (and earning a commission for doing so), you would be able to collect a commission as a buyer's agent on most of the properties you buy for investment purposes. You would also be able to list them either free of charge or take a commission on the listings for your rehabbed houses as well. Not to mention you'd have full access to the best sales data around through the MLS, allowing you to run accurate comps. as well.

Let us know if you have any more questions in regards to getting your license.

Maurice Brantley Hey Maurice, welcome to BP! Definitely let us know if there's anything we can help you with. Houston is a great place to get started investing.

Thomas Hendrix Hey Tom, welcome to Houston and BP! Great to see another active member in our area. Joking of course, but be sure who you mention BP to down here, it means British Petroleum to most is this neck of the woods...

Donald McCullough Hey Donald, welcome to BP! I think you'll find that your work schedule is conducive to real estate investing. Let us know if we can ever be of assistance.

Paul Zofsak Hey Paul, welcome to BP! It's really is great to see more and more Houstonians joining the site. Now is an excellent time to buy in our market. A property purchased in April or May should be rehabbed and ready to rent or sell during the Summer moving season.

Congrats on the new addition to your family as well!

Al Bunch Hey Al, I think the answer to your question really depends on what type of investing you're planning to do. Regardless of the type of transaction, licensees are required to disclose their license status, whereas a non-licensee obviously wouldn't.

The one major advantage would be the ability to access and utilize the best real estate transaction data available through the MLS. You wouldn't need to rely on another agent to pull comps. for you. There are obviously costs involved with obtaining and maintaining a license to consider as well, but one successful transaction could easily cover your expenses for the year.

Your upfront costs would be:

- Classes / materials to cover the education requirement
- Testing and finger-printing fees (for the actual licensing exam and background check)

**You will need to be sponsored by a broker in order to have an active salesperson license, so you'll need to figure out this piece as well

Your ongoing costs will include:

- NAR (National Association of Realtors) dues
- TAR (Texas Association of Realtors) dues
- HAR (Houston Association of Realtors) dues
- MLS access fees (assessed quarterly)

Again, most of the answer(s) to your question really depend on what type of investing you're looking to do.