Follow These Tips to Become a Real Estate Agent
You love everything about houses. From current day Craftsman to Urban and Edgy to Mid-Century Modern you just can't get enough of houses. The process of buying and selling homes intrigues you. You love to analyze the comps. You know that homes need to have differing shades of paint on the walls to look good in the photographs of a listing. You think it would make your heart sing to place a young and growing family in the perfect neighborhood. You sound like the perfect candidate to become a real estate agent.
Before you enter any profession you should do some research. What does it take to become qualified to do that job? What are the habits of the most successful people in that industry? How much money are you likely to make? How many days or hours a week will you have to work? Going into real estate is no different. Once you've asked all the questions you will know if becoming a real estate agent is the right career move for you.
If you've answered yes to all the questions and have decided to become a real estate agent these are the things you need to know. Detailed licensing requirements differ from state to state. But there are nine steps to follow to become a real estate agent no matter where you live. Plan on the process taking you four to six months.
Research Your State Requirements
There are variations in what different states require before you can become a real estate agent. The requirements touch on age, citizenship and real estate education. Some states require you to be 18 years to become a real estate agent and other states require you to be 19. Some states require fingerprinting and background checks. You usually also have to be a legal U.S. resident. Different states require different amounts of pre-licensing classwork and in order to become a real estate agent, you have to meet your state's requirements for the final licensing exam.
Find a Real Estate School
The first step to becoming a real estate agent is to enroll in real estate school. Some real estate schools are in local colleges and others are run by realty companies. Thee are also online options for doing the real estate coursework. The learning in real estate school is comparable with college-level work. The curriculum focuses on four major areas.
Real Estate Principals - These classes teach prospective agents about things like evaluating a property for its value. It also explores the best listing practices and the best methods for selling a house. This coursework looks at common real estate terms like escrow and what that means. It also addresses real estate taxes and their impact on both buyers and sellers. Students also learn how to close a sale. Another important thing learned during real estate principles is time management. Real estate agents do everything from their own marketing to listing homes to evaluating current inventory in the market all while providing excellent customer service. That's a lot to juggle.
Real Estate Ethics - Potential real estate agents learn about the Fair Housing Act. This is the law that prohibits discrimination against anyone wanting to buy a house, sell a house, get a mortgage or ask for help with any housing needs. In housing, it is both illegal and unethical to discriminate against anyone based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability.
Real Industry - This part of the instruction focuses on how the real estate business works. This is everything from setting prices on properties to how to market yourself to both buyers and sellers.
Real Estate Law- This coursework tackles the legalities in real estate transactions and contracts - both of which are full of legal terms. It also explores the different obligations real estate agents have to buyers and sellers.
Finish Pre-Licensing Coursework
This is a category that is specific to the individual states. But If you want to become a real estate agent you need to complete the amount of hours required in your state. The work will include reading textbooks, doing exercises in workbooks, quizzes and taking practice final exams. This is the step that varies widely by state. For instance, Florida requires 63 hours of classwork while California requires 135 hours.
Study for Pre-Licensing Exam
Getting ready for the real estate licensing exam in your state is going to take work. Many people studying to become a real estate agent haven't actually sat for a classroom test in years. Some real estate schools and online vendors offer practice tests to get you ready.
Schedule State Licensing Exam
Each state has its own rules for scheduling and taking exams. The time allotted for the exam and the score you need to pass varies.
Choose a Broker to Work With
Some states require you to be sponsored by a broker before you even take your real estate licensing exam. Whether you sign on before or after the exam pick your broker carefully. You want someone who is visible in your market and also offers support and training as you are getting your feet wet in real estate.
Pass State Real Estate Licensing Exam
In order to begin work as a real estate agent, every state requires you to pass a real estate licensing exam.
Join Professional Organizations
Once you have passed your exam and are about to embark on your career as an agent, you should consider joining one or more real estate professional organizations.
MLS
The MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, is an electronic database of properties that are for sale. It is a membership-only site that provides maximum exposure for properties that are for sale.
National Association of Realtors
This trade organization is 1.4 million members strong. The National Association of Realtors is full of resources to help real estate agents become profitable and successful in their businesses.
Complete All Post-Licensing Coursework
Although it varies by state, once you have passed the exam to become a real estate agent, you still have additional coursework to complete in the months or years after you get your license. It's important to stay on top of these deadlines and not put your license in jeopardy.
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Promote Yourself as a Realtor
Congratulations! You have just become a realtor. Now it's time to get out there and build a successful business. In the beginning, you won't find a line of buyers or sellers waiting at your door. You are going to have to grow your business. These are some tips from successful real estate agents.
Social Media
Harness the power of social media to market yourself when you first become a real estate agent. It's not enough to have a personal Facebook or Instagram account. Set up social media accounts that are designed to showcase your expertise, your listings and your satisfied customers. On social media, you can easily share lots of photos of the interiors and exteriors of your listings. You can also share photos of happy clients after their closings. You can also become a trusted source of neighborhood information by sharing community news and updates on your social media channels.
Facebook Paid Ads
When it comes to advertising, Facebook is a relatively inexpensive tool. You can control the target audience of the advertisements and their frequency and even what time they are shown. Facebook paid ads are also very easy to set up from a Facebook account. Many times the options to promote a post through advertising pop right up on the screen. Through Facebook, you can target ads to a custom audience that is already saved in your contacts or to an audience that Facebook algorithms can find.
Website
You will want to have a website. Partly to have a place to document listings and sales, but also to position yourself as legitimate when you become a real estate agent. It is a habit now to "Google someone" you encounter in the world. Potential clients who "Google you" need to land somewhere professional. Your website should explain who you are and why you are so passionate about real estate. It should provide information about all of your current listings. It can also serve as a community resource. Make your website a one-stop-shop for people moving to your area who need to get in contact with the cable tv company, the water company, the electric company and other services they might need. Consider partnering with other service providers for mentions on their websites. Maybe you have found a great handyman or a terrific painter or a landscaping service that you are comfortable and recommending and they can do the same. Sometimes the broker you partner with will already have a website in place that you can join with your own page. Other times you will have to independently set up your own website.
Business Cards
We live in a very digital world but an old-fashioned paper business card is still an item you need to promote your business. Outside of dropping them into restaurant fishbowls with the hope of earning a free lunch, if you had someone a business card they are likely to hang onto it and very likely to refer to it again in the future. Some real estate agents order business cards with a magnetic backing so that future customers can hang the card on a refrigerator and refer to it when they need it in the future. You never know when you hand out a business card who will pass it along.
E-Mail List
As soon as you become a real estate agent you will want to cultivate an email list. This list should include current customers, future customers and anyone who lives in a neighborhood where you want to buy or sell houses. Your email blasts should certainly include information and pictures about listings but also information about market trends. Whether or not the email recipients have plans to buy or sell in the future, they are probably interested in statistics like how long homes in their area are listed before they sell. Other interesting facts to include are on average how close is selling price to asking price in the area and the current average interest rate for mortgages.
Join a Nationwide Listing Service-To achieve maximum exposure for your listings you will want to consider joining a listing service with a nationwide presence like Zillow or Trulia. Prospective customers are very likely to begin their home search by browsing through online listings. Even casual lookers browse through available properties online or check out neighboring homes that are for sale. Zillow and Trulia property listings rank very high in searches.
Testimonials
It is important to spread the word about your business and one of the best ways to do that is through good reviews or testimonials. Ask clients to review you through your social media and then copy those reviews over to your website. If you have just become a real estate agent and you don't have any satisfied customers yet to leave reviews or testimonials, ask co-workers to rate your performance. A fellow agent can speak to your attention to detail or your passion for real estate.
Direct Mail-Even though we receive more email messages than messages through our mailbox on the street, direct mail can be a powerful marketing tool for real estate agents. Many agents send postcards or letters to a neighborhood announcing a nearby listing and giving all the details from square footage to asking price. The neighbors can pass all that information along to anyone they know who would like to live in that area. Some agents send mailing to the neighborhood after a home is sold including information about number of days on the market and selling price versus asking price. Other agents will send a mailing to a neighborhood to introduce themselves and promote themselves as a specialist who knows how to get houses sold. Some agents partner with local businesses, especially restaurants, to do a coordinated direct mail. The mailing may offer a buy one get one free dinner entree offer if the recipient brings the direct mail postcard with them to dine.
Advice from Successful Real Estate Agents
These are some words of wisdom from very successful real estate agents.
- Be Tenacious - In order to build a real estate business, you have to attack it each and every day.
- Build a Timeline - Give yourself a reasonable window to get your new career up and running.
- Manage Customers - Be detailed and organized with your customer base and consider using a customer management tool.
- Budget Well - Real estate paydays do not come on a set schedule. There will be times of feast and famine.
- Embrace the Nontraditional - Realtors rarely have weekends off from work. That is the prime time for customers to visit properties.
- Check Your Online Reputation - Keep an eye on what clients are saying about you.
- Daily Growth - Set aside time every single day to do something to grow your business.
- Be a Neighborhood Expert - Be the real estate agent that "owns" a neighborhood and its listings because of expertise.
- Always Keep Learning - Don't ever sit back and believe you know everything there is to know about real estate.
Conclusion
Deciding to become a real estate agent is a big career decision. If you have the passion and the drive to succeed at buying and selling houses there are some steps to follow to become a licensed agent. You'll need to attend a real estate school and learn everything from real estate lingo to the ethical obligations of working with buyers and sellers. You have to check your state requirements for the hours you need to put in on pre-licensing work.
In order to become licensed with your state to sell real estate, you have to pass a test. It's important to study for the exam not only to learn everything you can about selling real estate but also to achieve at least the minimum score your state requires for a passing grade. You'll have to choose an existing broker to work with. Some states require the sponsorship of a broker before you even take the real estate exam.
Your broker and the entire realty group you choose will be able to help you through the first stages of setting up your business. They will be able to guide you through the steps of marketing yourself, finding customers and eventually working through your first closing transactions. It would be a daunting task to become a real estate agent and choose to work independently from the very beginning. Rely on the experts around you as you take your first real estate steps.