Posted by Lee on August 25, 1999 at 22:14:49:
Hi Rick
In my state, if you have been licensed at any time in the past, you are required to disclose that fact… so I keep my license.
Lee
Seeking wisdom of the pros - Posted by Rick S - PA
Posted by Rick S - PA on August 25, 1999 at 19:39:39:
Hi all! I’ve been lurking around here for about a month or so now fueling my fire to get my investing on the ball. I’m ready to get rolling now and I have a question for those of you who are reading this. I have had bad luck with 3 of the 4 agents I have contacted about prospective property. The one who has done what I have asked took 2-3 days to do it. At least he did it. Now I have a RE license here in PA and am thinking it may be more advantageous for me to re-activate it and do my own work. I’ve found an agency who is more than willing to let me work for them from investor aspect since I will be buying and selling those that I haven’t found via FSBO or my own efforts to sell my own property. Whats my point? It’s this: If I activate my license, I have complete access to West Penn Multi-list, my portion of my commission to myself, access to vacant houses without having to work around another agents schedules, contracts, closing companies, advice from their RE attorney, PMB’s and of course discounts on the management fee (Just give me the check!). The only disadvantage I can come up with is the fact that there is that pesky “Full disclosure” where I have to state that I am in fact a licensed real estate agent. Do the advantages outweigh the single disadvantage I’ve come up with?
Thanks in advance,
Rick
Disclosure does not equal the death of dealing! - Posted by Carmen
Posted by Carmen on August 26, 1999 at 12:26:59:
All disclosure means is that you must tell the seller/buyer that you are a real estate agent. As long as you are not representing the buyer or seller, you do not have a direct fiduciary responsibility to them. You do have to act in good faith, though, and it’s possible that someone could win a case against you if you bought a house for $10K KNOWING that a strip mall was being built there and then reselling for $100K in a month. I’m not sure how far the disclosure laws go in these cases.
Having a license does not mean that you cannot purchase and sell homes at deep discounts, though. The people you are going to be dealing with should be so motivated that they don’t care if you’re a gorrilla, as long as you solve their problems. The only people who care, or who might make a big deal out of it, are the ones who don’t want you to make any money BECAUSE you are licensed. I have found these to be few and very far between.
The Board of Realtor attorneys I spoke to in Florida said that disclosure does not necessarily need to be in writing - you may want to speak to your Board of Realtor attorneys and see what their requirements are. What I do is, I mention it when it looks like things are moving forward - “I am a realtor, but I am purchasing/selling this property for myself…”. No one has even blinked - and I’ve not lost any deals because of it. Still, I try to add a clause in my contracts, saying that I am a realtor, and working on my own behalf, so there are no questions later.
I can also get commission on homes I buy - except for a few bank foreclosures where they state “no commission to realtors purchasing for their own use” - although I have yet to figure out why THEY would care, either, if you make an extra buck or two as long as their property is sold!