As mentioned before, becoming a real estate agent is a great way to make money by helping people find or sell their homes. While there are several ways to get into this business, not all of them are good ideas.
The vast majority of agents start out in sales with no broker license. In fact, it is illegal to represent yourself as an agent without having one!
When you represent yourself as an agent, it can be tough to build up trust from potential home buyers and sellers. You will have to do some marketing, but only professionally done ones that use solid strategies.
Additionally, being licensed gives you access to certain benefits such as lower commission rates, higher income tax deductions, and more protection from liability.
Brokers also receive additional compensation (known as brokerage fees) which include things like listing services, advertising, etc. This article will go over how to become a successful residential real estate agent without a broker’s license.
Buy or rent a property
The next step in becoming a real estate agent is buying your own piece of real estate. This can be done as a private individual, through a brokerage firm, or even through an organization like the National Association of Realtors!
Most individuals start their career as agents by purchasing a house with a lot() of room to grow. By having your own space, you have somewhere to go after work and can develop relationships within the community that may help you in future business ventures.
As such, this article will talk about how to buy a house as a beginner realtor. We will also discuss what types of homes are best for beginners, and some things to consider when picking out a home.
Create a business plan
Creating a business plan is an excellent way to make sure you’re going in the right direction before investing too much money or time into your real estate career. Yours should include all of the following components: mission, leadership philosophy, target market, profit goal, costs, revenue projections, and timing.
Your mission will be to educate people about the importance of being their own boss by becoming licensed brokers. The leadership style you choose can influence how successful you become as a leader (or not). A supportive leadership style helps you grow as a person while motivating others to do the same. As a broker, you will need to motivate other professionals to work with you and support you as you climb the ladder.
The target market defines who your potential customers are. By knowing this, you can effectively position yourself so that they come to you instead of the other way around. Having a clear understanding of the benefits of working as a broker versus those who aren’t will help ensure the success of your business.
Your personal financial goals will determine what kind of profits you want to earn. More wealthy individuals start off as agents because it is more expensive than buying a house directly from a seller. However, the cost per agent depends on the area and the number of agents there! Finding a balance between making enough income and saving some money is important.
Planning out your budget is key since you will have expenses related to running your business.
Fund your business
Starting your real estate career as a broker is very difficult without having adequate funding. You will need to have enough money to pay for some of the needed training, licenses, and subscriptions, as well as living expenses while you are building your team.
It’s important to be able to afford these initial costs before you start looking at loans or other sources of finance. Many people begin their journey into becoming a professional real estate agent by working as an assistant broker, which can help you get started if you are willing to learn how to do it.
You may also want to consider whether or not now is the right time to become a professional real estate agent. The housing market has been experiencing a slow down due to COVID-19, so there could be less opportunities available to earn income than normal.
However, this is only temporary, and many agents survive off of lower revenue during these times. It all depends on what type of real estate agent you want to be and what areas of the industry interest you.
Choose your team
As mentioned before, being able to work with others and understanding how different personalities operate is an integral part of becoming a real estate broker. While having enough confidence in yourself as a professional is important, knowing when to push through boundaries or give up on a task because you are not confident in someone else’s ability is just as significant.
As such, it is very important to have a supportive circle around you that will keep you focused and help you manage your career. This can be done by creating strong relationships with other professionals, investing time into friendships outside of work, and making sure everyone knows what they should be doing so no one feels left out and/or unsupported.
Furthermore, make sure to foster trust between each other – if you don’t believe in somebody’s competence, then chances are high that nobody will feel comfortable working with them. Plus, trust is a valuable commodity in any workplace, and being able to rely on people around you will create a sense of safety and consistency.
Know your market
As mentioned before, being able to identify your ideal client is the first step towards becoming a successful real estate agent. Who are they? What do they want? What services does their current Agent provide that you don’t?
Think about it- when was the last time someone told you that you were doing a bad job? I bet you’re not too familiar with the internal workings of your own business, are you?
You probably have a goal or two, maybe even a mission statement, but what happens next is mostly driven by opportunities that come along and how you respond to them!
As a broker, your success will depend heavily on knowing your market, both locally and beyond. Find out who your competition is, what types of homes they sell and which ones appeal to them.
This way you can work on improving your service offerings to match theirs, or find ways to offer value added services that make you stand out from the crowd.
Be proactive
As mentioned before, being a real estate broker is not like becoming an accountant or lawyer where you can simply start working without any formal training! Becoming a real estate agent takes longer than becoming an architect or dentist, but it is much more affordable.
You will need to take at least six months off after high school to pursue your dreams of becoming a realtor. During this time, you should be actively looking into how to become a real estate agent.
There are many ways to learn about the profession. You can attend college courses, take online courses, visit local real estate offices to ask questions, and read books and brochures to get helpful information.
Being a real estate agent requires both sales and service skills. So, aside from learning how to sell a house, you will also have to know some basics about property maintenance in order to survive as a professional.
Don’t get too greedy
As we mentioned before, being able to run your own real estate business does not mean that you have to become a millionaire or even close to it.
Most people start their career as an agent with dreams of making six-figures per year in income and owning a boat and a house!
But there are many ways to make a living as a real estate agent without having a lot of money up front.
You can be a part time broker (working only a few hours per day) while still earning enough to pay the bills. Or you can choose more lucrative areas of real estate such as investment property or selling high end homes instead of just average ones.
Leverage social media
As we mentioned before, being able to connect with people is one of the most important things to succeed in real estate. Your personal brand will be made or broken depending on your level of engagement across various mediums– this includes Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and whatever else you use to interact with others.
If you are too focused on making money, then you will lose followers and community members that contribute to successful business relationships. People who follow you will want to do business with you if they feel like you invest in them as individuals and help facilitate conversations that are meaningful to both parties.
Your followers will also influence the market value of your property by either talking about it or asking questions related to it that can create interest and promote sales.
By having more engaged accounts, you’ll see an increase in revenue! While some may consider it a waste of time, I believe the opposite is true. It takes time to develop engaging content so don’t shy away from spending time marketing yourself on different platforms.
