THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE BECOMING A REAL ESTATE AGENT
Becoming a real estate agent can be very gratifying and you ultimately are the person who helps others realize their dream of becoming a homeowner or help businesses find the real estate that’s right for them and their growth. Whether you want to be focused on more residential and family-oriented properties or want to fully go into commercial real estate, both paths can lead to a very promising and profitable career.
At Continuing Education for Licensing, we can help you achieve your goal of becoming a real estate professional by giving you the right tools and courses to learn more about the industry and go through the mandatory education requirements to be able to take the Texas real estate test and become a licensed real estate agent. Also, we offer a wide variety of courses that can complement your real estate career to be able to grow in the industry.
There are many things that you are not told before becoming a real estate agent. Some of these are excellent pros that can help you take the next step to become a real estate agent while some of the cons can prepare you for some of the things that can happen in your new career.
REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY 101
There’s always a place to start, and at C.E.L.I, we thought these following topics can be a great warm-up to what’s to be expected whenever you start working in the real estate industry.
YOU HAVE A POTENTIAL UNLIMITED INCOME
Yes, this might sound too good to be true, but there’s a caveat to this. While you have the potential to make a lot of money, with some real estate agents making over $200,000 a year, your effort will be the deciding factor of this.
With the real estate industry always moving and growing, it is up to you to learn more about the future moves of the areas you will be working on to know how the market would be changing and what would be the next potential gold mine when it comes to properties.
REAL ESTATE IS NOT YOUR REGULAR SALES JOB
When you work as a real estate professional, you’re not considered a regular salesperson, and, depending on how you play your cards, you could create long-lasting relationships with your clients and make more of a steady career.
When you are selling or buying properties, you are helping your clients to make big decisions — for some people some of the biggest decisions they’ll ever make — and the last thing they want is to have someone pressuring them into buying or selling. Building up trust and a healthy relationship between you and your clients can prove to be more fruitful in the future than being pushy.
TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
Being a real estate agent is often a career path that many take alone, but it does not have to be that way. When you start working in the real estate industry, you’ll most likely require a real estate broker to introduce you to the world of real estate and keep you under their wing before you can do the job solo.
This can be extremely beneficial for you because you’ll be ultimately learning from someone who has many years of experience in real estate and can guide you through some situations that may seem hard to traverse at the beginning of your career. Also, being under a broker can also mean having other people doing exactly the same that you are doing and probably giving you the opportunity to team up with amazing people to close big deals that require a lot more work and finesse.
YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR OWN TIME
When you become a real estate agent, you have to consider that learning how to get new clients is just as important as how you close your deals — as we mentioned before, is not all about the hard sales.
The way you approach potential clients, how you entertain their ideas, your hard work towards looking for what they want, and more, can be your unique spin to your career. Remember that first time you wanted to purchase a vehicle or went to a mom-and-pop store to browse and ended up buying something because you were sold on it without you even noticing. Being able to relate to your clients and approach them candidly can be the difference between a successful sale or not.
REAL ESTATE IS NOT YOUR REGULAR SALES JOB
This is probably one of the most exciting things about being a real estate salesperson. While this can be a double-edged sword, you can see the results of your work when you are focused and working tirelessly to achieve those goals that you set for yourself. This point is directly correlated to being able to potentially make unlimited income.
One thing that being able to work the hours you want provides is the possibility of arranging other activities that you may enjoy without the need to sacrifice too much. If you are an avid golf or tennis player and your Thursday morning is the time you go with friends to play, you can easily enjoy your hobby.
NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK!
The art of networking is going to be your bread and butter when you become a real estate agent. Being able to communicate with people from all walks of life and be fluent in the arts of business can prove to be some of the best tools in your arsenal.
This is the perfect time to study a little about many different businesses, how other industries work, what are some possible future businesses that can see major growth in the future, and so much more! Knowing more about everything can be the conversation starter that you need to meet some amazing people that can be potentially interested in purchasing real estate, giving you an in sometimes without even knowing that you are starting a business relationship.
THINGS TO BE AWARE OF WHEN BECOMING A REAL ESTATE AGENT
It can’t all be sunshine and rainbows in the real estate world. There are many factors that can either throw you a curve and have you in a dry season for a little while before you close your next deal or simply dealing with clients who are not the most easygoing. Whatever it may be, there are some not-so-fun truths about the real estate industry; here are some of them:
Lenders Can Be Hard to Work With
For the majority of people who are looking to purchase real estate, whether it’s for commercial or personal purposes, they most likely will have to go through a lender to receive the money they need to purchase.
Lenders can be annoying sometimes and are very picky about every bit of information that comes their way. As a real estate agent, you are helping your client to be as successful as possible when requesting a loan from any lender. This is in your best interest since this can be the factor that decides whether your client is able to buy or not
Don’t Believe Everything Your Client Says
One of your jobs as a real estate agent is to satisfy your client’s expectations when looking for the right property. That being said, don’t fall for games of people telling you that they’ll buy dozens of properties when they are vague about their interests and may be doing it just to browse the market. It is healthy to set expectations from the beginning and make sure that you know exactly what it is that your client wants, it’ll save you time and stress in the long run.
Commitment is the Name of the Game
While this is not something that we can consider a con, it’s something that you have to keep in mind even before you start working as a real estate agent. You won’t be sitting around waiting for the clients to come to you looking for real estate, you have to go out there and talk to people, create relationships, and learn more about the industry. You become a hunter!
Find a Mentor You Can Trust
Mentorship is probably the most important thing that you’ll find at the beginning of your career as a real estate agent. Make sure you are making the right connections with people that can be truthful and helpful when you need questions answered.
The real estate industry can be a cutthroat industry and it’s important to create alliances from the beginning to make sure that you are growing and building your career where you want it to go!
Becoming a real estate agent can be one of the most gratifying decisions you can make for your future. Being able to help people in the decision-making process of buying and selling a home or starting their own business can be an amazing experience and it can be very profitable as well. At Continuing Education for Licensing, we offer all the courses required by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) to apply for the real estate license exam and become a licensed agent.
Contact our team today to learn more about our courses or click the button below to get started with our comprehensive online and correspondence courses. We look forward to hearing from you soon!