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What Do Real Estate Agents and Brokers Do?

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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 real estate agents work for an agency, brokers are licensed to manage their own real estate businesses. An agent must work with a broker, who pays the agent commission on the sale price of the property.

Most real estate brokers and sales agents sell residential property, but some deal in commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other types of real estate. While you may enter the field as a real estate agent, you may choose to gain further training in one of these areas, or go into property management, development, appraisal or real estate agency management. Every agent and broker must have a license to practice, but these specialized areas may require additional certification and licenses.

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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 your clients about what may or may not be reasonable and acceptable offers and counteroffers, and you 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 your clients work with escrow companies to fulfill the different legal, financial and bureaucratic requirements needed to complete the transaction.

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.

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Real Estate Broker or Realtor Career Path

Entry Level Mid Level Senior Level

Types of Roles

Real estate agent

Real estate broker

Brokerage firm manager, independent realtor

Experience

0 – 4 years

5 – 10 years

10+ years

Getting There

  • High school diploma
  • Course work should tie in to specialty: real estate, finance, business administration, statistics, economics, law and English
  • License examination
  • All entry-level requirements
  • Continued education in field
  • Excellent people and communications skills
  • All mid-level requirements
  • General business master's or MBA, with associated post-graduate specialty training
  • Post-graduate specialty course work
  • Multi-faceted, creative problem solving skills

Median Salary*

$46,208

$59,392

$72,950+

*Depends on company size, specific job, and location
Source: Payscale.com; Bureau of Labor Statistics

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