Do you have what it takes to be a real estate agent?
Being an agent requires more than just a love of people and properties. It takes market knowledge, lead-generation skills, and determination. Among other things…
In this article, we’re doing a deep dive to answer the question “What does it take to be a real estate agent?” By the end of this post, you’ll know if real estate is the right fit for you.
What Does a Real Estate Agent Do?
Before we jump into the details of what it takes to be a real estate agent, let’s quickly look at what an agent does on a day-to-day basis.
1. Generates New Leads
As an agent, you will likely be paid “on commission.” This means you get a percentage of the property’s sale price when the deal closes. And this means you need to keep filling your pipeline with new clients to keep your income flowing.
2. Helps Buyers Find Homes
This is the task most of us think of when we imagine real estate agents at work. Showing homes, touring buyers around town, and helping buyers draft offers to purchase a home. Agents get to do plenty of this kind of work. And most agents find this task extremely gratifying.
3. Lists Properties for Sale
Listings are often the bread and butter for agents. Listing a home typically takes less time than working with buyers, so finding ways to get new listing leads is a smart way to boost your income. You’ll help sellers get their homes market-ready, make sure professional-quality listing photos are taken, write a compelling listing description, and put your marketing plan to work to help find a buyer.
4. Navigate the Contract-to-Close Period
Getting an accepted offer is one thing. Getting through the home inspection, appraisal, title search, financing, and other closing tasks is another thing. Agents are the glue that holds these deals together during this transitional phase.
5. Manage Your Business
As a real estate agent, you’re not an employee; you’re an independent contractor. This means you’re essentially a small business owner. You’re responsible for managing income and expenses, marketing yourself, and making decisions on vendors and business contracts.
Does this sound like a strong career option for you?
Then let’s move on to what it takes to be a real estate agent.
What Does It Take to Be a Real Estate Agent?
To be a real estate agent, you need five things:
- A real estate education,
- Your license to practice real estate,
- A set of relevant skills,
- A few personal qualities, and
- Some additional resources.
Here’s more info on each of these necessities.
Real Estate Education
Yes, you can be a real estate agent without a college degree. But you’ll still need to complete a real estate course (or, in some states, multiple real estate courses) before you can apply for your real estate license.
You can take your real estate course(s) from any state-approved real estate educator. Here are my personal recommendations (please note, I do earn a small commission at no expense to you if you use this link to purchase your real estate course – these links are how I make enough money to provide the information on this site for free):
- If you’re lucky enough to live in a state that AceableAgent serves, I highly recommend going with them. Their online courses are fun, engaging, and convenient. And their course prices are usually lower than comparable providers.
- If you don’t live in an AceableAgent state (or you have any concerns about AceableAgent for any reason), Real Estate Express is a strong runner-up.
Depending on your state requirements and your dedication to study time, you could complete your coursework in as little as a few weeks.
A Real Estate License
To represent buyers and sellers, you must be licensed in your state. The process of getting your real estate license varies a bit by location, but it always requires the following:
- Completing the real estate course as we just discussed.
- Passing your real estate exam.
- Completing an application for a license with your state’s real estate board.
- Finding a real estate broker to supervise your work as a sales associate.
The good news is that the process doesn’t usually take more than a few weeks once you pass your real estate exam.
Skills
When people ask “What does it take to be a real estate agent?” they often mean “What skills do I need to be a real estate agent?” Here are the skills you need:
- Communication. You’ll be educating clients, working with other professionals, and coordinating lots of tasks. You need to know how to communicate clearly.
- Sales. Real estate agents are salespeople.
- Negotiation. You’re responsible for getting your clients the best terms and the best price possible under current market conditions. You need to negotiate with the other party’s agent to get a good deal for your clients.
- Market analysis. You need to know how to read the market. Some of this will come with time and experience. But the ability to understand supply and demand in the real estate market is critical.
- Networking. The stronger your personal network, the more potential buyers and sellers you have access to.
- Time management. Unless you enjoy working around the clock, working efficiently is important for real estate agents.
- Organization. You’ll be working with multiple clients on multiple deals. All of which have lots of moving parts. You need to be able to keep everything organized so that you don’t miss something important.
- Attention to detail. When one check box on a contract can completely change the terms of the deal, attention to detail is a must.
- Problem-solving. Issues will come up in deals. If you can solve them, you can potentially save your deal (and your commission!).
Qualities
There’s no one correct way to be a real estate agent. People with different traits and personalities can be successful in real estate. But there are a few qualities that nearly all successful agents share:
- Resilience. You will inevitably hit rough periods in your career as an agent. Successful agents have the resilience to keep moving forward.
- Adaptability. Market conditions are constantly changing. Being able to adapt to market fluctuations will help you be successful over the long term.
- Patience. Working with people always requires some level of patience. Try to meet people where they are and give them time to get where you need them to be.
- Confidence. Carrying yourself with confidence attracts clients who want to be assured that you know what you’re doing.
- Self-motivation. Being a self-starter and seeing things through will dramatically improve your prospects as a real estate agent.
Resources
It takes more than just education, a license, skills, and qualities to be a real estate agent. You also need access to a few resources early in your new real estate career:
- A network. If you’ve lived in your area for long, you already have a network started. Every family member, friend, former colleague, and general acquaintance is a potential client or professional contact. If you’re new to your area, you can start building your network. Join clubs, volunteer, frequent local businesses, and form relationships with as many people in your community as possible.
- A CRM. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Manager. This is the tool that keeps your contacts organized and helps you follow up effectively with everyone in your network. You can find lots of affordable, even free, CRM solutions.
- Marketing materials. You don’t need a lot of marketing materials at the beginning since you don’t have any listings to promote. But you do need to start marketing yourself as a real estate professional so buyers and sellers can find you and trust you. The good news is that these can be super affordable thanks to online templates for digital marketing. A good starter pack includes:
- A social media presence. It takes time to build a social media presence. But you can start on day one. Regularly publishing social media posts, reels, and stories will get you in front of more eyeballs while demonstrating your new market knowledge! For affordable social media posts, delivered fresh every month, check out DRIP by Key Real Estate Resources.
- Cash. Let’s be real: becoming a real estate agent effectively means you’re starting your own business. And it takes time for new businesses to bring in enough cash to live on. Many new agents live on savings for a few months while they wait for their first commission check. Some new agents are able to lean on the household income from a partner or parent. And some agents start part-time, earning some cash from their day job while they launch their new real estate business. You will also have some start-up expenses to account for, including a real estate agent website and the marketing materials we just covered.
Ongoing Requirements of Real Estate Agents
The requirements of being a real estate agent don’t necessarily ease up once your business is established. To be a successful agent, you’ll need to:
- Stay up-to-date on industry trends and regulations.
- Complete “continuing education courses” as required by your state.
- Renew your real estate license as needed.
- Continually improve your skills and knowledge.
- Keep finding new leads and nurturing established relationships.
Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Real Estate Agent?
Now that you know what it takes to be a real estate agent, are you ready to take the leap?
Start by enrolling in a real estate course. In no time you’ll be ready to take your real estate exam and apply for your real estate license. Just a few months from now, you could be living the life of a professional real estate agent!
Don’t forget to join the Key Real Estate Resources Community to be notified as new articles are published and new resources for real estate agents are released…
