All Forum Posts by: Jessica Martin

Cant wait

Thank you @Jim Wilson. 

I did just move to Houston in hopes of the higher commissions. Where I'm from however is a somewhat rural area and home averages are probably 80k-180k for typical buyers with the exception of the lake houses Im sure the more experienced agents already have a good hold on. I guess that rural area is where my mind was set when typing that. I've only been in Houston since Monday, so I do hope Houston will provide more opportunity as well as higher homes sales(Im sure). My husband was already down here working as an Industrial Electrician. I just worry about the amount of competitions I have and the fact I'm new to the area so I don't know anything about the neighborhoods yet. I hope to have my courses done in 3 months so not much time to learn either.

Zach, I have done a little looking into KW. I have heard many good things about them. I'm interested in possible working for the East Houston/Clear Lake KW?

If I may ask, what is an average # of homes per month y'all sell? How long have ya'll been in the business to get that number of deals... 

Hi and thanks for taking them time to read and hopefully comment.

I'm taking my real estate license course for Texas. After reading about how the typical 6% commission is split(Between co-brokerages 50/50 and then the 50/50 split I hear new agents do with their sponsoring brokerages) and given the expenses involved for gas, marketing, exc... the profit left seems very low. Especially considering I read the typical agent sells about 12 homes a year? 

So the scenario playing in my head is this:

I am an agent in a transaction for the purchase of a home for 100k. Commission is 6k. The co-brokers split this 50/50 so my broker is now left with 3k. My sponsoring brokerage and I now split that 3k 50/50. I now have $1,500 for the 100k transaction I was involved in... now expenses to obtain this deal through self-promoting and marketing(if seller side) and gas when commuting and trips to the property for various reasons, rent, yearly memberships and such associated with being an agent, and even daycare($400 month) for me to go back to work vs staying at home like I am now... this almost seems like very little money if any would be made... and this is assuming I had 1 sale a month... which I dont expect to have right off the bat as a new agent... 

Please tell me I'm missing something here? This is all from an IC scenario. 

Maybe I'm not correct about how expenses are split between an agent and a brokerage in an IC situation?

Would anyone recommend if a new agent should do IC vs salary/hourly?

I think some personal stories from agents about their experience and how things worked starting out would really help clarify some things for me.

Any information or personal experiences would be VERY appreciated. 

Thank You

Once again, I am personally new to REI and thought I can't be the only newbie here BP interested in learning HOW successful REI got started and WHERE they learned from?

Did you learn from a "Guru", have a mentor, or teach yourself through books and anything else you could get your hands on? 

Tell us a little about how you started your REI journey.

Thank You

I appreciate all the responses and perspective on this subject. Thank you all 

Yeah. I haven't done a wholesale deal yet but good to know about HUD-1 papers will state that... From the training we've gone through we were under the impression you do not tell the seller... That's what made me feel uncomfortable about it and like it was somewhat "sketchy"..

Experienced investors... Do you tell your seller up front? 

I have yet to get to the part of the course that teaches ethical rules, exc. I will base the way I conduct business from those guidelines of course. If need be, and if considered ethical in this business, my husband may just have the responsibility of carrying out those transactions instead so that there is not confusion. I'm def a "by the book" kind of person. I just have to learn all rules, laws, and ethics to decide how to conduct my real estate agent career as well as the investor side. 

Before I started studying, wholesaling did seem possibly unprofessional and a bit sketchy, but after reading the laws I have so far, everything checks out to be completely legal. So as long as it is legal according to the state, I don't see a problem with it now.

Yes, I was very surprised to see that you could work within an LLC with a broker or salesperson to avoid needing your own license. When it says this, is it talking about any transaction or only certain types of transactions allowed through this?

I am getting my license just so I do not have to worry about doing anything illegal. The lines are too fine for me... In my opinion it sounds like one heck of a definition battle if things were to ever get taken to court...

As I'm studying for me RE license, I'm paying close attention to the definitions/reasons for needing a RE license (Or not needing one). Wholesaling does seem to check out so far because, technically, you are not selling real estate. You are selling your rights to purchase that home. (Your contract/A piece of paper) You have a separate contract (Assignment contract) stating that. Bird dogging however, (If I am understanding the process correctly) may be illegal because you do not have a contract to purchase this house yourself and are bringing it to another purchaser and asking for a fee for connecting the two of you? 

I bring this up because I considered bird dogging as an entry point. It was mentioned at a weekend RE traiing I went to. However, I felt it was too close to wholesaling, just much smaller profit. The only additional work needed between the two was the paperwork from what I understand. The paperwork does seem intimidating to learn, but at the same time, this is the difference between making hundreds of dollars(Bird dogging) or making thousands(Wholesaling) 

The answer has my curiosity... 

Other input?

I'm new so maybe I'm just missing something here...