opportunistic realtor license?

October 13, 2007 4:59 PM

Over the next 3-4 years, several people I work with may be moving to the area where I live. Naturally I'm wondering how I can somehow profit from this.

I'm thinking about getting a real estate broker's license and offering my services to them as someone who knows the area and can help them out. All I know about real estate is what I've observed having purchased three homes and sold two as a homeowner.

What do you think? Homes in my area sell in the mid six figures so I'm guessing if only one of these transactions worked out it would be worth the trouble for me.

What complications/problems do you see with my musings here? Is this worth pursuing?

posted by luser to work & money (8 comments total)

Research the law in your state. Educational requirements vary wildly. Do you have 60-180 hours to spend in a "classroom", and more time to take an exam? Do qualify for a license in the first place? What are the fees? These all vary by state, so time for googling.
posted by ilsa at 5:11 PM on October 13, 2007

First off, you wouldn't get a broker's license to conduct such a scheme. You'd just need a standard agent's license.

With that out of the way, this is a terrible idea for a shitload of reasons. Let's say you act as an agent for one of your coworkers, they buy a house through you, and something, somewhere along the line, goes horribly wrong and they end up suing you. It can and often does happen. Do you really want to be sued by a coworker? It'd be an ethical mess that no real estate lawyer would want to touch with a ten foot pole.

note: I am a real estate agent. I also think the line "Naturally I'm wondering how I can somehow profit from this" is kinda sleazy.
posted by item at 5:28 PM on October 13, 2007 [2 favorites]

Help them move. Maybe you'll get a six pack of beer for each person you help.
posted by corpse at 5:33 PM on October 13, 2007 [2 favorites]

Hey! You can carpool and save on gas!

Seriously, ever been in a real estate deal gone bad? No? Well it's bad enough going through one with strangers let alone with people you know and work with who have trusted and believed in you. Maybe you just should try profiting by developing actual friendships with people who have so much in common with you instead of focusing on how you can take their money easily. As my grandma used to say, there is no free lunch.
posted by miss lynnster at 6:14 PM on October 13, 2007

Buy extra homes and then rent or sell them to your "friends" as they move out your way.
posted by pracowity at 6:18 PM on October 13, 2007

Over the next 3-4 years, several people I work with may be moving to the area where I live. Naturally I'm wondering how I can somehow profit from this.

1. As previously mentioned, this is an extraordinarily unappealing way of looking at the situation.

2. Note that, taken literally, they "may" be moving there. Plus, there's scarcely any guarantee they would use your services. If I were approached by someone I worked with who extolled the area he lived in, then disclosed that he might work as my agent, I wouldn't employ them, might think twice about moving to the area to avoid the obvious potential clash, and would think less of them as a co-worker and friend. Add to that the fact that you would have less track record than most agents, and would do it only on a part-time basis without any desirable affiliation, and you have a recipe for zero market share.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 7:19 PM on October 13, 2007

Are you interested in changing careers? Being a working real estate agent isn't something you pick up in your free time, like knitting; it's a profession, with educational requirements, licensing fees, and regular examinations.

Realtors and agents don't exist just to show houses and facilitate transactions; most of what they do is concerned with protecting their clients' interests and their own liabilities in terms of their obligations to their professional relationship. A good agent makes this part of their job invisible to their client but it takes a lot of knowledge: of the local law, of the local business climate and real estate market, of local builders and contractors and inspectors, and of wider real estate trends. You can't pick this stuff up overnight.

So no, unless you're trying to change careers, I don't see this as a particularly good idea. I think it makes about as much sense as "I work with a couple of hundred people and the statistics say one or two of them will have appendicitis next year. Should I learn how to perform appendectomies?"
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:19 PM on October 13, 2007

item is correct about the broker vs salesperson thing, but i didn't think it was worth mentioning, figured you'd discover that whilst googling your state's regs. i just passed the exam yesterday, and i am changing careers. it's gonna be a lot of work. bet a quarter your buddies are also gonna want some kinda discounted commission since you are a "friend", so there goes half your commission. it might be worthwhile if you are planning on going into the rent-house business, just from a fee-saving standpoint, but otherwise really weigh whether you want a new career.
posted by ilsa at 9:17 PM on October 13, 2007