Seven real estate career paths
Although the real estate agent is the most recognizable real estate career, it’s far from the only career path available in the industry.
There are many opportunities to achieve a high profile status within real estate, including development and investing. You also have a breadth of career choices.
If you passed your real estate license exam and have a license in real estate, your opportunities are virtually endless. So if you want a career that has a lot of growth potential that will provide you with an increased amount of stakes, structure, or flexibility, then real estate could be for you.
There are a wide variety of real estate careers to choose from
If you have ever thought about what a real estate license can do for you, then you will be happy to hear that there are many career paths it can lead to.
We’ve gathered a few that you may not be aware of outside the common careers. Not only do these careers provide a challenge, but they also provide great profit potential. This is primarily due to the attractive levels of commission at roughly 5-6%, as this guide explains.
1) Managing broker for real estate
There is a big difference between a real estate agent and broker regardless of both being interchangeable. The biggest difference that sets the two careers apart is the amount of education received.
A broker has obtained more education and is fully capable of managing an office of real estate agents. Becoming a broker is a great career path if you are currently on your real estate agent career path and plan to grow your career in the future.
2) Real estate developer
Having a career in development will allow you to be the backbone of real estate. The role of a real estate developer is to obtain real property that will then be developed by way of several projects.
There are many options that you can take in regards to how to become a real estate developer. Normally, though, it is accomplished through being an entrepreneur and working independently.
3) Real estate agent (commercial)
It is a common idea that a real estate agentwould be thought about as you talk about the industry. But the thing that usually gets forgotten is the fact of how much reward there is and how much you may realize that it could fit your strengths and style in a whole new way.
4) Real estate investor
You have two options when it comes to a real estate investor career: passive or active. A passive investor is where you supply money into a project without being involved in project management. An investor that is active is the type you see “flipping” homes and then making money from the sales.
There are a variety of types of property you could choose to invest in. Previously, it would be common to only see abandoned or run down properties invested into in order to make a profit; however, these days there are a wide range of options with so much property on the market with rental units and AirBNB / vacation rentals a popular choice for investors.
There are services offering short term rental loans to quickly approve finances for these types of purchase. This helps to make this type of property investment more accessible as a conventional loan would require more paperwork and have further restrictions, so this is something you should consider.
5) Property appraiser
When you are a property appraiser, your job is to collect property information that can then be used to make an initial suggestion of what the value of the property should be. Being an appraiser allows you to work as a private appraiser or for a local government to determine how property taxes can be assessed.
It has been determined that an appraiser’s salary is roughly $50,000 per year and right around $25 per hour.
6) Commercial appraiser
As we saw with appraisers of residential property, appraisers of commercial property spend the day in the community and in the office.
The difference between a residential appraiser and commercial appraiser is how they use what they learn from an educational stand-point. A residential appraiser mostly uses what they were taught during their real estate course.
A commercial appraiser, meanwhile, is able to learn from other appraisers who have become established in order to accurately make appraisals.
7) Property manager
Using your real estate license for other purposes other than what we’ve already discussed is a great feeling of freedom. This is why being a property manager is such an attractive alternative to a great career in real estate.
When you become a property manager, you are given control over an entire property whether it is commercial or residential. You are then charged with the overall function of the property to ensure that it smoothly runs the way it was intended.
If you see yourself as a residential property manager, you may need to fill many other roles such as repairman or the leasing agent.
The number of responsibilities may be more or less, but it really depends on the property’s size whether some responsibilities are placed on outside sources and if the role of the property manager is to ensure the upkeep of the property. Although this is commonly seen among property managers of commercial property, you still obtain the same great information regardless.
A career in real estate can be a very financially rewarding career path as long as you know that there’s more to being a simple real estate agent. Not only are there many different paths that you can take, you need to make sure that you also have the strengths that the position requires.
Once you have your real estate license, the sky becomes the limit as far as careers are concerned.
Photo by Francesca Tosolini
