All Forum Posts by: Sanford Collins

Hello Dzonic,

It really depends on what you want to do with your license.

If you want to do traditional residential sales, I recommend that you interview with 5 - 6 reputable brokerages in your area. As a new agent, you should select the brokerage that offers you the best training and support. Do not be overly concerned with commission splits for your first brokerage. The training is most important! If you don't learn to list homes and find buyers you'll be out of the business quickly.

If you only want to use your license as an investor then I suggest you create a post on bigger pockets "Looking for an Investor Friendly Broker" and go to your local REIA clubs and tell people you're looking for a broker that allows their agents to invest, wholesale and write their own offers. Most big name brokerages will not allow you to do a lot of the things investors generally do, so it is critical that your broker is on board with the strategies you pursue.

Good luck!
Sanford

Christopher - you're thinking the same way I am. Let me know if you find that article.

Ralph - you make some great points and that is exactly what I'm wrestling with. I would like to work with investors because I am one, but working with retail sellers and buyers is fine too. First and foremost I want to be an investor myself. Staying in real estate as an agent (as opposed to picking up accounting work, which is my background) will give me more flexibility to continue and be closer to my personal investing. It seems that the market is good for building a niche and representing investors as a buyers agent. One concern is that the homes investors buy homes at a much lower price point. In my county investors purchases would be at ~100k versus the ~250k median price of homes sold to retail buyers. So I'd have to sell more than twice as many investor homes than retail homes to get comparable commissions.

The other thing I'm bouncing around is whether I should stay with my discount broker that offers 100% commission with no day to day support, or join a traditional broker (with a strong brand name) that will take a big chunk of my commission, but will provide significant training on traditional real estate listings and buyer representation and will also allow me to focus on investors and/or retail buyers.

I've only been a Realtor for 3 months and I don't have any traditional training, I'm kind of learning as I go.

It seems that going to the full service brokerage would be my best option only if it's realistic that I can do both 1) build a niche working with investors and 2) also develop a more traditional book of business focused on maximizing listings so when the market turns I'm positioned to benefit from the pick up in retail sales.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Sanford

Hello All,

I got my real estate license earlier this year, but have not yet practiced as a real estate agent representing sellers and buyers. I've just been making offers on my own behalf as a buyer/wholesaler. The market seems to be turning and I'm thinking that now could be a good time to focus on building a business as an agent.

What are your thoughts on jumping in as a full time real estate agent now?

I live in Maryland in a suburb just outside of D.C. and would focus my efforts here.

I appreciate your input!
Sanford

Jon/Kevin - Thanks for the input. At this point we are in fact discussing how we might structure this as a JV.

Steve - Good question. I guess my reluctance to doing that is that I may want this HML to fund my deals in the future. I'm going to try to work with everyone involved in the transaction by being upfront and honest. I would think that building the relationship is more important than one transaction. Is that fair? Or, do investors typically see HMLs as necessary evils with which a strong relationship is not important?

Thanks All!
Sanford

All - Thanks for your input!

As it turns out, the HML is not willing to let me take a second on the property. That is, if I put a lien on the property they will back out of the deal. So I'm not going to provide the loan. In talking to a few local investors, it sounds like HMLs typically will not allow a subordinate lien to be placed on the properties they fund. Have you heard similar in your geographic areas?

Sanford

Hello,

I'm considering providing private money for a rehab deal that is primarily funded by a hard money lender. My contribution will cover closing costs and financing costs and be approximately 15% of the total investment. My plan is to only do the deal if I can put a second lien on the property subordinate to the HML lien. My questions are:

1) Once the first and second leins are in place, can the amount of the first lein increase? Can the HML increase their lien amount for penalties, unpaid interest, anything else? My fear is that in the event the HML forecloses, they may increase their lien to an amount that squeezes me out of any profits when the property ultimately sells and I won't recoup my principle.

2) How difficult and expensive is it to file a second lien? Do I need an attorney to do this?

I appreciate any responses!

I just bought an iPhone today. The 3G internet surfing is far better than my Blackberry, but the keyboard seems like it will take some getting used to, and as mentioned I used up a full battery charge in half a day.

It is very easy to set up and manage multiple email accounts. There are thousands of apps, so likely there is one that you can use to track your workouts.

I also like that I can add audio files from iTunes very easily, so now I don't have to carry my iPod to listen to real estate pod casts in my car.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the quick response. I'm launching into wholesaling in April. I'll probably check out Scott's course after I've done a few transactions with a real estate buyers agents and I'm ready to connect with motivated sellers directly.

Thanks,
Sanford

Hi,

I heard of a guru named Scott Riser who has a training program called "How to Find Motivated Sellers". I can't find anything online, but I may have his name wrong. Is this familiar to anyone? Can you lead me to his course/correct name?

Thanks for the help,
Sanford