How to Become a Realtor or Real Estate Broker
Learn how you can become a real estate agent or broker.
What Do Real Estate Agents and Brokers Do?
Buying or selling a house can be both a nerve-wracking and rewarding experience. As a real estate agent or broker, you must be prepared to facilitate this transaction, and be an expert on the neighborhoods in which you work, helping people navigate the complex and exciting process of acquiring and selling property.
While you may enter the field as a real estate agent or broker, you may choose to go into property management, development, appraisal or real estate agency management. Every agent and broker must have a license to practice, but specialized areas may need certification or licenses.
Market Changes
The world of real estate is exciting, but also volatile. Both agents and brokers must be prepared to weather the vagaries of the market, as sales may take many months of work to complete when the market is soft. During a seller's market when demand is high, on the other hand, there may quickly be multiple offers on a property as soon as it's listed. In both up and down markets, you'll often work well beyond the 40-hour work week, including evenings and weekends to show properties at times that are convenient to buyers and sellers.
- Beyond researching the market, meeting with potential clients, open houses, marketing properties and appraisals, you'll need to know how to close a deal.
- You must know how to advise their clients about what may or may not be reasonable and acceptable offers and counteroffers, and must be able to work with other agents and brokers to shepherd the buyers and sellers through the purchase and sale agreement once both parties have agreed to a negotiated sale price.
- In addition, you must help their clients work with escrow companies to fulfill the different legal, financial and bureaucratic requirements needed to complete the transaction.
Salary Data
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2012-13 Occupational Outlook Handbook, the median national annual salary for real estate brokers and agents is $42,680. Actual salaries may vary greatly based on specialization within the field, location, years of experience and a variety of other factors.
Education and Licensure
Although only a high school diploma is required to take the real estate license exam required in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, a bachelor's degree is becoming more common, and will prepare you for a general career in real estate. There are also graduate programs and certification courses that will help you rise to the next level of this exciting and ever-changing field.
