It has been nearly two years since I got my real estate license, and I have made the decision to move forward and get my Brokers license.  Since leaving the accounting profession on February 15th, 2010, I have been focussed on the side of real estate that deals with property management and leasing services.  I believe the reason why I took this route as opposed to the traditional buyer’s agent and listing agent is because of my passion for investment properties, and the fact that I would like to own many units of real estate myself one day.  Knowing the leasing aspect of real estate is extremely important if you want to have a successful real estate investment, for without a tenant, you are stuck footing the bill.

Through this experience, I decided to contact my friend Tom Jacovino of the Connecticut Professional Business School to train me once again in the ways of the Real Estate Broker so that I can begin to take the next steps in starting a company or an added division within my existing business relationships at Keller Williams Realty and New Era Property Management.  Should you care to get licensed as a Realtor or Broker, please check the following website:  http://www.ctrealestatelicense.com.  There will be classes starting mid July for this exact purpose, and I am looking forward to attending and achieving this essential designation for my business ambitions.

What exactly am I planning to do with this added knowledge and designation?  My goal is to build a regional leasing brokerage centered around New England that takes the stress of the entire leasing process out of the hands of mom and pop owners and big time players alike, and puts the responsibility on my company in order to create value for real estate investments.  Naturally, these relationships that will be built will be based on a level of trust that we can provide the best services possible, and this will naturally take some time.  However, I envision a period in the development of the business where hundreds of rental agents, leasing thousands of units across the New England Area, will be so effective at their positions that there will be no other alternative for prudent property owners to turn when seeking to lease out their units.

What will it take to achieve such a goal?  It is only a matter of time.  It is not a matter of if it will happen, it is a matter of WHEN it will happen.  That is why I am putting the idea out there now to all the business professionals out there who are already in real estate or thinking about getting into real estate.  The leasing agents who will be joining this company are going to be the face of the organization.  Motivated people who believe in the purpose of the company are going to be the backbone of the organization, and our success will lie with people like you.  Currently, there are a lot of vacancies in the market place, and there is a huge opportunity to build a business centered around leasing and consulting services.  Getting clients is not the problem.  The problem is having the ability and capacity to handle multiple clients at one time that is the challenge, and utilizing the most up to date technologies to keep track of the leasing activities.  All of this, as mentioned above, WILL happen in time.

Being a property owner myself, I feel the pain of property owners when they have a vacancy.  My 4 units in New Britain are fully rented, but there was a time when I had two vacancies at the same time.  For a period of about 2 months, only 2 units were generating income, and money was being taken out of my pocket to pay for the investment.  Imagine if someone had several different properties with several vacancies.  The financial pinch they would feel would eventually become unbearable.  It is not because their property is un-rentable, it is most likely because they are either to busy to lease out their apartments effectively, or they are not exposing their property enough to prospective tenants.  THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DEMAND FOR HOUSING.  It is just a matter of finding the right tenants through the right screening procedures that will be the most important aspect of investment properties.

Should anyone be interested in working with me to build a Regional Residential Leasing Operation, I would be happy to speak with you further.  At this point, I have not attained my Broker’s license but wanted to begin envisioning what the future company is going to look like, and how it will operate.  I will be giving speeches at a Real Estate Licensure class in the coming weeks and months, and hope to attract like minded individuals as the founding members of the new leasing operation.  With god willing, everything is possible if you have FAITH!

Be sure to check out my blog at http://mannyinhartford.wordpress.com