I just got my Illinois Brokers license this past Tuesday. I wont actually be doing the business until January since I need to return overseas again from September through January. I may permenantly just stick with referall work. But being tapped out of funds after completing the course, Im trying to figure out whether I should join my local board right away or not. Joining the local board is the only channel to pay the state and NAR dues. So I am not a "Realtor" at the moment. Is becoming a member of the board almost necessary at this point?

The time to join your local board of realtors and MLS is when you start working in real estate. That sounds like January at the soonest for you.

There are a lot of ways to make money as a broker, most of which require money and membership in the local board.

What exactly do you hope to accomplish as a broker?

In an ideal situation when I return to the live in the US full time is to revive the drive and success I enjoyed in the late 80s. I finished the brokers course 18 years at community college in another state and never had the chance to take the test before I moved out of state. I think I am in an excellent position to get referrals and to do that you must be a principal broker. As small as referrals are, I dont think I would be feasiable to split it once again with a sponsoring broker.

I have learned why many principal brokers end up working for another firm, local boards ask for nearly double the MLS app fees and memberships for offices and sole proprietor brokers than they would working under another broker.

I'm pretty sure that's not why.

LOL, and other issues. But my board assumes proprietors actually have more liquid cash than others working under another broker and charge exactly double

I don't know they assume that, they charge what the market will bear given the service received in exchange. Here in Dallas becoming a broker member of the board (as oposed to being an associate under a broker) you get a lot more than you would as just an associate. That is part of the extra cost, and there could be other issues at play such as increased workload and processing for the board to support a broker as opposed to an associate.

It's not some big conspiracy to fleece you of all your money - it's just business.

Anyhow, your business model (just doing referrals for now) doesn't appear to need you being a member. You might be able to get by with just forming an LLC, registering a fictitious name if you want one, and getting an EIN for now. You don't need the EIN for employees because you won't have any, but a bank will probably want you to have one and so will the brokers paying you.

On an unrelated note you might try and stop the negative thinking (i.e. the board charges more because they assume a broker has more money, more people aren't brokers because of this, etc) as it will only keep you down.

You and I are in similar boats.

I went on sabbatical overseas in Aug of last year. I will not be back in the US until July of 2007.

However, I am continuing to get referrals and leads from my website. So, in order to keep everything legal and happy, I have kept my membership in CAR and maintained my access to the MLS, etc. so that folks can do searches on my website and I can do searches for clients and friends looking for a home.

If you want to be able to do referrals effectively, your going to have to stay current as a realtor. However, if you do not care about MLS access, etc. you can just let that part of your membership lapse or cancel it.

In my case, the only fees I am saving are those involved in carrying around my lockbox key. Gave that back since it was not going to do me much good in London!

R

Yes, thats right RB
I did get my website started already and its looking good. I havent signed onto either the MLS or the board yet. Im waiting until Sept 1 when the new quarter begins. I already two listings but one is my own rental house and the other is a hard to sell B and B.

Id like to learn more about referalls and the typical expections on both sides of transaction. Some of my relatives have homes for sale and I have actually driven around to find decent brokers willing to to take the referral and work to get the property sold.

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