I am an active CA real estate Broker who just passed the CA insurance test and am awaiting my license.?

Question

I want to start selling various types of insurance (auto, home, commercial, worker's comp. etc) as a broker. I don't want to do the 9-5 with say State Farm or such, but want to start selling as an independant Broker. I have already sent in my bond. Where can I go to learn the business? I am active in real estate, which is why I don't want to be locked into a 9-5 with anyone. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Hands on is really the best.  If you don't want to do that, I would suggest taking as many continuing ed/ training classes as possible.  Also, it is probably best to focus on one type of policy.  If you are selling homes, focus on homeowners.  The field is very vast and there are so many laws and rules.  You don't want to put yourself in a situation of being uninformed and getting and Errors & Omissions claim against you.

Answer 2

Find an independent insurance agency in your area and work with them on a commission only basis.  It will take a long time to get to a comfortable income, but if you don't want to have set hours, it is really the only way to get what you want.

You can't just sell insurance.  You must represent companies.  In order to do that, you need to get appointed by those companies.  As a newly licensed agent, there aren't many companies that will consider appointing you and if they do, they are going to place production and other requirements that you wouldn't have any way of meeting.  Then there are the regulations, E&O insurance, etc. that you will need meet.  The best is to work for and train under an experienced agency.  I'm sure that is what you did in RE so it shouldn't be too unfamiliar to you.