All Forum Posts by: Marian Huish

Congratulations on getting your license @Dan Carbone!  Have you interviewed with Sotheby’s?  If not, I would do so to assess whether you would be able to achieve your goals as an investor and/or working with investors.  Sotheby’s brand, as I’m sure you know, is Luxury and, like many traditional Brokers, may have restrictions about flipping and selling your own properties.  Just curious why you’re looking at Sotheby’s as there are so many Broker options!?

You’re going to love DC @Bryan Rap. Welcome! Will you be working in DC, MD or VA? Considering your commute is as important as budget...

Thanks for organizing @Russell Brazil! Looking forward to it!

Training, you’ll be assigned a Mentor for your 1st three transactions and Broker review/oversight-

@John Andrews  i’ve been primarily a residential agent since 2003 and decided to get my license as I begin investing in residential real estate. I’ve also had interest and have sold some commercial, by that I mean mixed-use, warehouses, multi-family, nothing too complex.  My perception of the difference is that residential will offer you the opportunity to  handle more transactions and get paid more often because they have a shorter time to close. Commercial  properties generally take much longer to close -can be a year or more Although with a much higher commission.  I also understand that Commercial Broker‘s may put you on a salary and have you do all the grunt work while you are learning, and take a large part of your commission. In the past you either worked commercial or residential however,  so along as you are skilled and experienced, some brokers permit you to do both.   You also want to consider what type of people you want to work with… First time homebuyers? Seniors, investors, developers, etc.  There are pros and cons working with each but your personality may be better suited to ‘hand-holding’ or analyzing properties for investors.  I love both but after 17 years of residential,  i find commercial more interesting. Best of luck! 

As @Russell Brazil pointed out earlier... there are a number of properties currently on the market that should fit with your criteria...  find those that have been on the market awhile and 'motivated' Sellers.  Your Agent should be able to help you with that as well as helping you with expected rehab or 'fix-up' costs.  There are a number of properties that simply need a cosmetic makeover...  Finding off-market can be challenging- even for a Realtor.  Don't dismiss the low-hanging fruit that is right there for all to see.  Just pick one and go with it!

@Jamie Farrah you might want to make sure that your condo association doesn't prohibit STR as many do!

Welcome to real estate investing @Mary K.!  You haven't stated what your criteria, i.e., 'price range' is but I expect you're right there with all new investors!  The DC Metro area is a tough market...and if you're a 'newbie', unless you have deep pockets, NoVA/Montgomery Cty isn't really the place to start!  Not only are prices high but it's tough to compete with all the seasoned investors/developers in this area!  Have you considered looking in PG County? or maybe Baltimore?  Also, having no idea of your background, family situation, skills, etc., you may want to consider partnering with someone who shares the same goals, with either the $$, skills or simply to have someone to lean on...  Best of luck!

Congratulations @Heidi Emmendorfer on wanting to get your license! Unfortunately you do need to affiliate with, or "hang" your license with a Broker... for many reasons but mostly, to protect the public and for liability reasons. The good news is that I got my license 17 years ago for the same reason... I wanted it so that I didn't 'have to rely on a Realtor'... and get access to the MLS, properties... I ended up loving it so much that I left my 'real job' and began selling full-time. You may not decide to do so, however, the more you sell, the more you learn... the more interesting properties you see and the more interesting people you meet. You'll need to interview Brokers, or simply decide on a Broker that won't have minimum production requirements, etc. Training is also important as you start... do it as it will be valuable to have regardless of what you decide to do with it! Marian.

@Heidi Emmendorfer

I have to disagree with @Brad Bellstedt as many Brokers will only take on full-time Realtors and do have minimum production requirements.  Some also require commitment/expectations of you working 'floor-time', 'desk-duty' or other similar requirements for answering calls or addressing walk-in clients.  Many also have the expectation that you attend regular (weekly) sales meetings, attend trainings, etc. (at least the better Brokerages will expect this!) . It's to your advantage to learn how to buy & sell traditional deals before working with investors as it will better protect you and your Broker from potential liability.  That will also better protect your clients you are serving!  Working part-time from home is convenient, however, not sure it's the best 'recipe for success'.  After a 16+ years working full-time with a traditional Broker, I'm now with eXp Realty which offers flexibility in that it's cloud-based, however, as a new Agent, you would be assigned a Mentor to ensure you get started off on the right foot.  Research and interview several Brokerages as there are many different business models out there @Stetson Miller.. and best of luck!