Five practical ways to become a real estate agent
Interested in the idea of working in the property industry but don’t know how to get started? Here are five practical ways to become a real estate agent.
Real estate has been a profitable and exciting career for many people, so it’s easy to see why people want to become a real estate agent. You get to meet quite a few people from different backgrounds, help them solve their problems, and more. All while making a decent bit of money.
That doesn’t mean everyone who wants to, knows how to become a real estate agent. As complicated as it might seem, it doesn’t need to be. While it takes a bit of effort, following five particular steps will be enough to get you there.
Once you follow them, you’ll be helping buy, sell, and lease houses in no time.
Why become a real estate agent?
If you’re on the fence about whether or not you want to become a real estate agent, that’s understandable. It could be a job you want to do, but you mightn’t be sure it’s enough to justify the effort you’ll need to put into it.
There are more than a few reasons to become a real estate agent that might persuade you to take the plunge. Some of the more notable include:
- You can dress how you want – It’s not uncommon for jobs to have dress codes, which means restricting what you can wear. As a real estate agents, however, that shouldn’t be the case. You’ll be your agency’s main asset, so you can base it around you and your personality. Your clothes will affect that.
- You get to meet new people – If you’re a people person, you might want to meet people from a range of backgrounds while getting to know them. Real estate agents do exactly that. You’ll interact with multiple property owners and countless renters, letting you meet more people than you’d think.
- You control your income – In most jobs, you’re paid a certain amount of money no matter how much work you put in. If you overwork, that makes you feel undervalued. That isn’t the case as a real estate agent. You’ll have more control over how much you earn every month based on how much work you put in.
With how appealing the job is, it’s understandable to see why quite a few people are tempted. Before you can start, however, you’ll need to know how to become a real estate agent. You’ll only need to take a few specific steps to get there.
How to become a real estate agent in five practical steps
Want to be a real estate agent? Here are five steps you can take.
1) Research state requirements
Each state has specific requirements for you to become a real estate agent. You’ll need to make sure you know these in-depth before you start on your career. According to Bargara agent Ethan Hyde, doing a lot of research before you start is vital for this.
As you do, you’ll find out which specific steps you’ll need to take to get fully-licensed. At the same time, you’ll know which permits, licenses, and other documentation you’ll need when making your applications.
If you decide to skip this, you could find the process much more complicated. There should be a lot of back and forth with regulatory agencies as you try to become a real estate agent. Since there’s a lot of stress involved in that, it’s worth avoiding.
2) Take a course
Nobody just walks into a career as a real estate agent. You’ll need to be licensed before you do so. Taking a real estate course makes this much easier for you, as it’ll help you learn everything you need to take and pass the relevant exams. It also lets you lay the foundation for your future success.
There are more than a few real estate training courses that you can choose from, so it’s worth spending time researching each of them. It could be better worth going for the most comprehensive options, as these are sure to give you everything you need to succeed in the profession.
Once you’ve taken the course, you’ll need to take and pass a specific exam, with this varying depending on which state you’re in. To ensure you’re in with a better chance of passing your exam, you can take a free help pass test online, this will double check that you have all the knowledge you need before taking the real thing! You’ll be much better prepared to become a real estate agent when you do.
3) Activate your license
Before you can call yourself a real estate agent, you’ll need to pass an exam. That’s one of the main reasons you’ll need to do a few courses, as mentioned above. Passing your exam will be vital, but it’s not the last step you’ll need to take before you become a real estate agent.
Instead, you’ll also need to activate your license. Doing so is pretty quick, but you’ll need to follow a few specific steps when you’re doing so. You’ll need to submit your test results, any other relevant documentation, and the appropriate fees to the relevant authorities.
Once you’ve sent these out, you’ll have to wait until regulatory authorities approve and send out your license. While this takes a little bit of time, it shouldn’t be complicated. It’ll be simpler than you’d think, once you’ve gotten the above done first.
If there are any issues with your application, you’ll be notified about these and shown how to rectify it. It shouldn’t be as stressful as you’d think.
4) Consider becoming a realtor
While many people use the terms ‘real estate agent’ and ‘realtor’ interchangeably, there’s a large difference between the two. Both help people buy, sell, and rent houses, but only Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors.
By being a member of this, Realtors subscribe to a strict set of standards when doing business. Since this membership comes at a cost, you might wonder why it’s worth it. Outside of giving you more credibility with clients, it gives you:
- Educational opportunities
- Access to real estate tools, market data, and research
- Business tools
- More networking opportunities
Once you’ve become a real estate agent, these benefits make it increasingly more appealing to become a Realtor. The low cost you’ll have to pay for membership will be more than worth it.
5) Join a brokerage
Real estate agents work under brokers. These will be state licensed professionals that typically have an extensive amount of skills and experience. They’ll also know the ins-and-outs of the profession. Learning from these people is recommended.
Joining a brokerage when you first start out gives you the ability to learn and grow in your profession faster than you otherwise would have. That’ll be the case even if you decide to become a Realtor.
With this approach, you’ll kickstart your career by being shown the ins and outs of the profession by a qualified and experienced broker. You will likely also be able to make use of their realtor sponsorship platform, a cloud-based tool that allows you to use (and integrate into your own business) the already tried-and-tested brokerage infrastructure and capabilities of an established brokerage company.
It can take you much longer to find your feet in the real estate industry if you choose not to partner with a broker, though this does not mean that self-learning, or building your own brokerage infrastructure from scratch, is impossible.
You mightn’t get an hourly salary with this, but instead be paid a percentage of each sale. This will provide you with the motivation you need to succeed.
Tips to become a successful real estate agent
It’s one thing to know how to become a real estate agent, but it’s quite another to become a successful one. You’ll need to put a lot of work into this, but it’s not something you should do blindly. Using a few particular real estate tips can help you get there.
While this means putting a bit of work in, you shouldn’t have a problem getting there. Some of the more notable tips include:
- Know how to communicate – Communication is vital to being successful as a real estate agent, as you’ll need to speak with homeowners and potential renters regularly. You should work on this to make sure your communication skills are as effective as possible.
- Use email marketing – Over time, you’ll have quite a few people contact you about renting or buying particular properties. Many of these would happily sign up for a newsletter focused on houses they could be interested in. Take advantage of that with email marketing.
- Qualify clients – When you first become a real estate agent, you’ll likely want to get as many clients as possible. That mightn’t be the best approach, as you should go with clients you actually want to work with. By qualifying your clients, you’ll know the difference between serious buyers, sellers, and renters and those who are simply checking things out.
By keeping these tips in mind, you shouldn’t have a problem becoming a successful real estate agent. It takes some hard work, but this reaps dividends in time. You’ll grow a profitable agency that attracts owners and renters alike in no time.
How to become a real estate agent
If you don’t know how to become a real estate agent, but want to become one, it can seem like a long and complicated process. It doesn’t need to be. While it’ll take some work, it’s quite straightforward.
It shouldn’t even involve much effort, once you know what you’re doing. Researching your state’s requirements, doing a course, and following a few other steps will be all you need. With the benefits that becoming a real estate agent offers, there’s no reason not to consider it.
You’ll be launching your new career before you know it.
Photo by Ronnie George
