What Real Estate Agents Do

Real estate agents have to meet the requirements for licensing and have an understanding of all relevant real law. When they are licensed to begin their careers, they have many duties. The agents usually perform what follows:

• Help clients with mortgages and market conditions and pricing
• Provide sellers with suggestions on how to improve their home’s appeal to potential buyers.
• Check properties to find an appropriate prices and competive price of the market
• Make lists of properties that are suitable for prospective buyers according to their budget and requirements
• Help buyers and sellers navigate the entire transaction
• Keep track of contact lists
• Mediate discussions between sellers and buyers
• Complete and submit all necessary documentation, including various contracts
• Send all purchase offers to sellers to be considered
• Advertise properties and listing service (such such as the MLS) and open houses
• Show homes to potential buyers
• Engage potential buyers to purchase or sell properties
• Stay up to date in real estate law and the latest trends
• Nights and weekends are available to accommodate the demands of clients

Let’s take a look at few tips to aid you in completing your duties while developing your career as an agent for real estate.

Expand Your Sphere of Influence

One way to establish relationships and lead generation is to use the real estate spheres of influence (SOI) business model. This strategy of networking focuses on generating leads for real estate through people that you already know. This includes your friends, family members students, colleagues, business acquaintances as well as members of sports teams or even the service provider (e.g. your doctor as well as your hairstylist).

The most effective method to track all names and contact details is to keep them in one location. It might be in a spreadsheet software (say, Excel), your email contacts database or a commercial program.

Once you’ve established an SOI database, it’s easy to add contacts when you meet people in community-related events via contacts with mutual acquaintances, or by other methods. The more people you include in your database, the greater your SOI, and more likely you are to receive an introduction. You should plan to send an “new agent” announcement–via mail via email, phone or text message or any combination that’s specific to each type of person you contact as you begin your career, and also regular updates and shout-outs to keep your SOI focused on them and the realtor’s expertise.

Develop a Professional Image

Maintaining an image of professionalism is essential in your performance as an agent for real estate. You project your image to others through your appearance:

• Look: Maintain a professional appearance with neat and professional clothes hair, accessories, and makeup. A lot of real estate agents choose to dress in business casual attire however, regardless of which you pick you wear, it must be appropriate for your workplace as well as the local market. Beware of perfumes or colognes and clothes that are revealing or not professional.
• Meetings with people face-to-face: Use good eye contact and positive body language. Be engaged, attentive and polite.
• Advertising and marketing material: Create promotional materials using high-quality photos and precise persuasive text, that must be free of spelling and grammatical errors.
• Telephone calls: Whenever contact with your clients, or prospective clients, you must be able to communicate clearly, effectively and polite.
• Website presence: Make sure you have a designed website that is well thought out and a user-friendly online social networks. The website should not contain grammatical mistakes and typos.
• written communications: Make the most of professionally written letters, emails and text messages to keep in contact with your contacts.

It is vital to keep in mind that any presence you establish on the internet, whether personal or professional–will last for a long time and will eventually reach potential customers. It is therefore important to create an image of professionalism both in and outside of your real estate profession.

Use Tools and Technology

Making use of tools and technology can be a part of creating an image of professionalism. Today’s agents have access to various tools to manage and market their real estate business.

Contact Management

Maintaining track of your clients is an essential. You can start by using spreadsheet software or an email database software like the one found in Outlook or buy a database software that is specially designed for professionals in real estate. Commercial programs offer a range of beneficial features, such as automatic synchronization of contacts using your mobile. However you manage your contacts, make sure to keep the list updated: add, Update, add, and then delete them as needed.

Agent Websites

You should think about creating the domain you own and a website. While it might seem overwhelming but creating a professional-looking website is easier than ever. Large companies can spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to develop or maintaining their sites, however you can create a site for an extremely affordable price.

A website gives you a landing page for your clients who are already there to your professional, searchable website. You can also create websites for specific properties to advertise your properties and ensure your sellers are happy. You can also make use of social media by linking the profiles of your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles (and any other social media platforms).

Marketing

Marketing software designed for realtors can assist you to manage your marketing campaigns. The majority of these packages include templates for door hangers, business cards postcards, property flyers brochures, emails, brochures and animated home tours to assist you in reaching out to your existing and potential customers.

Apps

Many programs (apps to shorten) for iOS as well as Android-based devices are available to help keep connected when away from the office. Open Home Pro, for instance, is a great example. Open Home Pro application, for instance, lets you to conduct an open home using your iPad and follow up with leads, design listing pages and export data collected to Excel or another software.

How Long Does It Take To Become a Real Estate Agent?

The time you need to be an agent in real estate will vary based on the state where you reside. Each state has its own regulations for licensing. In Virginia for instance, you need to be able to complete 60 hours approved courses (or 180 hours in order to become an agent in real estate). 1 It is also possible to complete additional training with the agency or brokerage you work for.

How Much Do Real Estate Agents Make?

The average salary for real estate agents is $48,340 a year. The most successful agents earn more than 100,000 dollars per year. 2

How Are Real Estate Commissions Paid?

How much a real-estate agent earns depends on the value of the property it is sold for. In the majority of cases the real estate agent is paid by a listing contract. The listing agreement is signed by both the listing agent as well as the seller of the property. When the sale is concluded the agent who listed the property shares part of the commission with the buyer’s representative.

The Bottom Line

Being an agent for real estate comes with its own challenges as you aren’t paid until you sell your property and you are able to work all day and have no income and must be able to adapt to the changing market conditions. But it’s a rewarding profession professionally and financially. Utilizing your sphere of influence, creating an image of professionalism and utilizing today’s modern technology and tools for real estate will help you to build an enviable career in the field of real estate.