The real estate market is a channel for fulfilling diverse dreams and goals, such as funding a child’s education, securing one’s retirement, or achieving business targets. Real Estate Agents bring property buyers and sellers or landlords and tenants together to seal the deal. Since the real estate market... Continue Reading
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Explore Career The real estate market is a channel for fulfilling diverse dreams and goals, such as funding a child’s education, securing one’s retirement, or achieving business targets. Real Estate Agents bring property buyers and sellers or landlords and tenants together to seal the deal. Since the real estate market is complex, competitive and dynamic, you must keep developing new skills to stand out in the crowd. The bonus above financial returns is networking with people from various walks of life.
What are the typical responsibilities of a Real Estate Agent?
A Real Estate Agent would typically need to:
Some Real Estate Agents work out of their homes, while others work in traditional offices. The size of a Real Estate Agent’s employer can vary from a small brokerage to a large corporation with several branch locations and may determine the office facilities available.
Real Estate Agents spend considerable time away from their desks meeting prospective clients and travelling to see and value properties for sale or conduct viewings for potential buyers. They also participate in industry conferences and seminars to network and stay current with market trends. Attending open houses helps them update their information about available properties in their area and the competitive prices.
Many Real Estate Agents work more than 40 hours a week. They often work evenings, weekends, or holidays to fit clients’ schedules. They spend considerable time obtaining listings via phone calls, visiting properties, networking and attending community events to meet prospective customers.
Commercial Real Estate Agents may need to put in longer hours on each deal than residential Real Estate Agents as their work entails extensive research on market trends and a detailed study of the buyer’s needs. The outcome may be fewer deals within the same time but higher commissions.
Some Real Estate Agents work part-time and may have other jobs besides real estate work.
Research suggests that flexible hours and generous telework policies appeal more than salary to the younger generation. There has been an incremental increase in employers willing to give promising employees the chance to adjust their schedules per the job demands.
Finding a new job might seem challenging. Real Estate Agents can boost their job search by asking their network for referrals, contacting companies directly, using job search platforms, going to job fairs, leveraging social media, and inquiring at staffing agencies. Keep in mind that agents may not be able to work independently without the appropriate license.
Real Estate Agents are generally employed by:
Professional associations and organisations, such as the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), are crucial for Real Estate Agents interested in pursuing professional development or connecting with like-minded professionals in their industry or occupation. Membership in one or more adds value to your resume while bolstering your credentials and qualifications.
An academic program in estate or property development or management or related fields undertaken by a potential Real Estate Agent may require a period of supervised experience, such as an internship.
New Real Estate Agents may land entry-level jobs as trainees or assistant sales or letting negotiators in some estate agencies that require no prior experience but fully train you on the job. However, others may hire previously trained candidates.
Find short-term paid or voluntary work to improve your prospects of getting a job while gaining valuable insight into how a company or institution operates. It may also help you determine whether the public, private or voluntary sector is best suited to realise your ambitions. You may find that a summer internship or part-time work at an entry-level position offers you a taste of the work and helps you build useful contacts.
Your educational provider’s career service department can provide information about viable opportunities for work placements, internships and voluntary work in diverse sectors.
IT skills and sales, customer service or administrative experience can make your application competitive. Since property transactions are typically governed by legislation, experience in the legal field may also be helpful.
Read about the profession and interview or job shadow experts working in real estate agencies to prove your commitment to course providers and prospective employers.
While a bachelor’s degree is typically not essential to becoming a Real Estate Agent, college coursework in real estate may waive the requirement for pre-licensing courses. Additionally, a college degree in estate/property development or management, surveying, civil & structural engineering, urban & land studies or other relevant fields helps job seekers remain competitive. A sound base in the fundamentals of buying and selling real estate enables Real Estate Agents to make more educated decisions about assets, mortgages, and interest rates and stay current with industry trends.
An associate or bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration, marketing or a related field familiarises you with the financial and business implications of real estate.
Remember that completing a particular academic course does not guarantee your entry into the profession. Be that as it may, your professional qualifications and transferable skills may open up more than one door.
Do your homework and look into all available options for education and employment before enrolling in a specific programme. Reliable sources that help you make an educated decision include associations and employers in your field.
Prospective Real Estate Agents must take the requisite and accredited pre-licensing courses in real estate law and principles, either online or in the classroom, to qualify for their compulsory licence to work.
While not mandatory, Real Estate Agents may seek specialised certification in appraisals, mortgages, residential or commercial property, or property management to increase their marketability and earnings. A combination of education, experience, and testing is generally required to gain certification, though requirements differ from region to region.
Certification from an objective and reputed organisation can help you stand out in a competitive job market, carry a significant salary premium of up to 18 per cent, increase your chances of advancement, and allow you to become an independent consultant. Successful certification programs protect public welfare by incorporating a Code of Ethics.
Licensure is mandatory to work as a Real Estate Agent in some countries. Given the spectrum of licensing requirements worldwide, from highly strict to none, it is advisable to check with local or national real estate organisations to determine if and how you need to acquire a licence.
You may need a broker to sponsor you for your licence. Individual government entities conduct the licensing process. It typically requires the passage of an examination in addition to the fulfilment of eligibility requirements, such as a minimum level of education, work experience, training, or the completion of an internship or apprenticeship. Continuing education is often a prerequisite for periodic license renewal.
Licensure enhances your flexibility and career opportunities. Clients seek the services of licensed Real Estate Agents on the assumption that they are current with the latest real estate legislation and aware of how any changes may impact the industry and the property under consideration. You may access government departments and regulatory bodies as a licence holder and association member.
A driving license is useful and sometimes mandatory, given the need for Real Estate Agents to commute to properties. An employment background check can include but is not limited to a person’s work history, education, credit history, motor vehicle reports (MVRs), criminal record, medical history, use of social media, and drug screening.
Performance, experience, and the acquisition of professional qualifications drive career progression.
You may begin by working for smaller estate & property agencies with just one branch and progressively change to larger ones with several offices. Larger agencies may also have specialised functions or divisions catering to different aspects of real estate, such as commercial property, residential property, and surveying, in which you may specialise.
Starting as a trainee or assistant sales or lettings negotiator, you can work your way up to Senior Sales or Lettings Negotiator. This traditional career path upward allows you to expand on your previous experience selling and letting various types of properties and land and dealing with higher-value properties. Then, with more experience, you may become the Branch Manager of a small office, overseeing branch staff, conducting senior-level sales or letting negotiations, and mentoring junior sales negotiators.
Although there may be a backlog in promotion opportunities after Branch Manager, with enough experience, you may advance to an Area Manager, a role in which you would be in charge of more than one branch.
You may even consider going into business for yourself, as a partner or the sole proprietor of your company, acquiring any further licences you may need.
Mobility is advantageous for career advancement since you may need to switch divisions, branches or companies to advance to a senior position.
The emergence of low-cost online estate agents threatens to disrupt the work of conventional agents, who charge significantly higher fees. Even so, DIY alternatives, due to the amount of work involved, may not be ideal for clients who prefer to work with traditional Real Estate Agents.
The desire to accelerate career growth and personal development has an increasing number of millennials choosing to job hop and build a scattershot resume that showcases ambition, motivation, and the desire to learn a broad range of skills.
Studies prove that job hopping, earlier dismissed as “flaky” behaviour, can lead to greater job fulfilment. Employees searching for a positive culture and interesting work are willing to try out various roles and workplaces and learn valuable, transferable skills along the way.
Candidates with sales experience and extensive social and business contacts in their communities should have the best job prospects.
Continuing professional development (CPD) will help an active Real Estate Agent build personal skills and proficiency through work-based learning, a professional activity, formal education, or self-directed learning. It allows you to upskill continually, regardless of your age, job, or level of knowledge.
Training and repetition help Real Estate Agents develop their skills. Observing and working closely with senior agents can help new Real Estate Agents learn the complexities of real estate deals.
Larger real estate companies may offer a formal and structured training program to help new agents acquire expertise and experience. Some firms allow newly licensed agents to work while others prepare them for their licensing exams.
On-the-job and in-house training are also typically available at brokerage firms. You may undergo an in-house induction for a week or two and receive an overview of the company's operations as well as the laws that govern estate agency work. Training will cover areas such as conveyancing procedures, coping with challenging clients, effective estate agency, effective leadership, residential estate agency legislation, and customer service.
Employers encourage CPD, and there are opportunities to pursue relevant technical certifications through short courses online or in person.
How Do Real Estate Agents Get Paid?
A common way for Real Estate Agents to earn remuneration is through a commission based on a percentage of a property’s selling price. To put it another way, agents who generate more leads and close more deals earn more money.
Depending on your employer, business model and country of work, another pay model is to receive a base salary supplemented with bonuses that depend on the number of completed sales and lettings/rentals and the customer satisfaction ratings.
Real Estate Agents vs Realtors
Equipped with a valid licence and a clean professional conduct record, active Real Estate Agents may become realtors in the US by joining the National Association of Realtors (NAR), founded in 1908. Its good reputation and the fact that it holds members accountable to its Code of Ethics may help draw clients to the business, giving them greater confidence to work with you. Joining the NAR is an attractive proposition for Real Estate Agents because the association protects its members’ interests, using its bargaining power to interact with the government and obtain enhanced legal protections and benefits for Realtors nationwide.
The real estate industry functions differently worldwide, although many countries have associations and codes of ethics that parallel the NAR. The NAR also works with certain groups overseas and has international members who must also hold membership in any of NAR’s partner associations and are thereby bound by the Code of Ethics.
Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
An MLS (multiple listing service) is an electronic or paper database set up and updated by affiliated real estate brokers in cooperation with each other to share data about properties for sale. The purpose of an MLS is to connect property buyers and sellers. Typically, hundreds of databases are created on a regional basis. To access an MLS, agents and brokers must hold a valid licence and pay the dues or membership fees.
Types of Real Estate Professionals
Knowing about the various roles in real estate and the differences or similarities in their responsibilities may help you choose your career path and fulfil its requirements.
Brokers vs Agents
Real estate brokers have a broker’s license and may have more training and knowledge than Real Estate Agents. They can work independently and hire Real Estate Agents to work under them or even carry out an agent’s work themselves. If not self-employed, they may opt to work as broker’s associates for other brokers or larger real estate networks. Brokers may also enter into franchise agreements, paying a fee for affiliation with a well-known real estate organisation.
Real Estate Agents, on the other hand, may not be eligible to work independently. They work as buying or selling agents for brokers but typically cannot carry out a broker’s work themselves without a broker’s license. Brokers are accountable for their agents’ work.
Seller’s vs Buyer’s Agents
Seller’s agents, also known as listing agents, may be agents or brokers who work under a listing agreement to represent the seller’s interests. Buyer’s agents represent the buyer, with exclusive buyer’s agents working solely for buyers.
Where allowed, agents may take up dual agency by representing the seller and buyer. Dual agency can also occur via a seller’s agent and buyer’s agent involvement in a deal if the same brokers employ both. Where not allowed, you may choose to become a transaction agent who represents neither the buyer nor the seller but only facilitates the deal.
Residential vs Commercial Real Estate Agents
Residential Real Estate Agents assist sellers and buyers in the home-buying process or work with residential lettings. You can narrow the scope of your work by concentrating on single-family homes, rentals, luxury homes, holiday homes, or foreclosures. To work as a residential Real Estate Agent, you need a licence, but your success is determined by how well you fulfil your client’s requirements.
Commercial Real Estate Agents operate in the commercial field of the real estate industry. As a result, commercial Real Estate Agents help sell, buy or rent properties to companies for commercial purposes. This form of real estate profession necessitates theoretical business and finance skills because commercial Real Estate Agents deal with diverse business-related and mathematical data such as gross rent multipliers.
Current Scenario
The employment outlook of a particular profession may be impacted by diverse factors, such as the time of year (for seasonal jobs), location, employment turnover (when people leave current jobs), occupational growth (when new roles are created), size of the occupation, and industry-specific trends and events that affect overall employment. While online listing services and technology continue to have a transformational effect on the real estate industry, Real Estate Agents are adapting to the changes to hold their place.
A Real Estate Agent’s career is one of a kind. At different times of the day, at varying stages of sealing a deal, and depending on the clients you deal with, you may play the role of a salesperson and marketer, buyer’s advocate and negotiator, consultant and business manager, accountant and appraiser, or even interior designer. You deal with large, costly transactions for diverse property deals while balancing your clients’ perceptions, emotions, financial situations and objectives, both short- and long-term.
Learn how to communicate effectively. People buy from other people, not from businesses. They invest in properties from people they like and in whom they have faith. It would be best if you first learned to listen to your clients.
Real Estate Agents can use drone technology to capture unique images and videos of homes that are not possible from the ground and also include footage of the surrounding yard and neighbourhood.
What do Real Estate Agents do?
A Real Estate Agent would typically need to:
Accredited
