Enlist your kids in the local reserve forces while you wave your
flag. I don't want to see Canada involved in weird wars, I prefer
heath care. I lived through a civil war in South Africa and had family in Rhodesia during the "Bush War".

I attend a christmas party for officers at the local armory every year and I can assure you the officers with young families don't want to go abroad, the 18 year idiots are a different story.

Keep waving your flag and keep us on the world stage with all that that entails.

Don't forget that population wise we are a "Mickey Mouse" country and the New York City Police department is larger than our armed forces, they alone could kick our door in.

I believe it doesn't matter where you hang your real estate license, as long as you are able to provide the best service to your clients. People are choosing you because of you, not the company you work for; a NAR stat says that less than 2% of people will choose an agent just because they works with a particular company.

Think about it; if you were working with a buyer while with XYZ Realty and decided to switch brokers to ABC Realty, do you really think that buyer would say, 'Oh, thank you for your help finding homes, but since you are no longer with XYZ Realty, we can't work with you...we have to have an XYZ associate." Not gonna happen!

Overall, as long as you are educated, provide great service and can get the job done, hang your license anywhere you want.

Of course it matters what broker you start out with and work with.

I personally like the tools I have seen with Wiechert & KW, especially for new agents.

Keep in mind the costs involved, the average sales price of homes and the current business activity. This business isn't cheap for newbies, but being cheap won't get you ahead.

But the most important thing for the newbie is a willing spirit, tenacity, being very friendly, learn to listen well and speak rarely, and have a broker or experienced agent to mentor you. These qualities are more difficult to find then a franchise.