Real Estate Agent Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a real estate agent. Feel free to use our real estate agent job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a real estate agent.
Who is a Real Estate Agent?
Real Estate Agents assist clients in the purchase, rental, and sale of residential, commercial, and industrial properties. They handle everything, from finding the right property for clients and preparing contracts to listing properties and organizing viewings.
A real estate agent sells and markets the property to a variety of clients. Although he specializes in selling private homes, he may also sell commercial properties such as office buildings, retail businesses, factories, and apartment complexes. Many real estate agents work as self-employed while others work for real estate agencies.
A real estate agent’s success often hinges on the ability to accurately assess the needs of their clients and offer viable options. It requires excellent listening skills and the ability to discern between the lines. The agent’s job is to be friendly and maintain a professional relationship with his customers.
This is often one of the most significant and financial-significant events in people’s life. People are often anxious and reluctant to share what they want in a home. A successful real estate agent will be able to quickly gain the trust of clients and motivate them to share their goals and hopes with him. A real estate agent should be able to appeal to the emotional side and make a purchase that is important for their family’s safety and happiness a priority.
This agent usually takes detailed notes about the needs of the potential buyers during the initial meeting. He/she usually takes notes on the size and ages of family members, as well as what their daily needs are. They ensure that they understand buyer preferences regarding square footage, lot size, and nearby amenities. An agent can then research the best options for his clients based on this information.
To become a real estate agent, there are usually no formal education requirements. Agents are required to have a license to sell real property in most areas. The process involves testing applicants on their knowledge of lending laws and real estate practices. Different licenses are required in some regions to sell commercial and residential properties.
Real Estate Agent Job Description
Below are the real estate agent job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a real estate agent job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a real estate agent include the following:
- Answering emails and phone calls
- Making appointments for showings and scheduling appointments
- Updating property listings
- Preparing and delivering documents
- Getting supplies
- Performing real estate market analysis
- Keeping up-to-date with the latest trends in real estate and best practices
- Finding properties by searching open listings
- Making and distributing promotional materials
- Managing your online and social media presence
- Networking with local clients and potential customers
- Running advertising campaigns
- Creating a blog or website
- Getting client leads for the purchase, sale, or rental of a property.
- Assisting clients with market conditions, mortgages, and prices.
- Comparing properties can help you establish a market price.
- Creating lists of real estate properties for sale, including information about location, features, square footage, and other details.
- Facilitating negotiations between sellers and buyers
- Advertising, listing, and hosting open houses to promote properties.
- Keeping your real estate license current.
The following are other important tasks:
- Creating a client list
Real estate agents are actively seeking out potential clients to build a client base. Potential clients are often met at community events, by word of mouth, or through posting ads.
- Review and publish real estate listings
Listings are published by agents that provide information about the property, including its location, features, benefits, and price. Agents who help clients buy or rent a property should review published listings to identify the best options. Agents also make use of published real estate listings to compare prices and determine market values for similar properties.
- Arrange views of the property and be there
Agents schedule, manage and supervise real estate viewings when they sell property to clients. Agents are often present at open houses to meet potential buyers and answer their questions. Agents are often involved in the planning and attendance of property viewings for clients when they assist with real estate transactions.
- Negotiating purchase offers
Real estate agents help clients write or respond to purchase offers and negotiate with buyers and sellers. Agents for buyers and sellers can communicate with one another while acting as mediators between clients.
- Making and executing contracts
After negotiations are completed, real estate agents will create deeds, contracts and other legal documents to transfer ownership. Agents can also help with filing documents with appropriate local agencies.
- Listing of Properties
Agents help buyers find properties by promoting them through paid advertisements or word-of-mouth. Many of them have websites that buyers can easily find.
- Assist with clients to the property site
Agents who are hired by clients to assist them in purchasing properties often accompany their clients on-site for inspection. To ensure that their clients receive the best possible deal, they use their expertise and experience to determine the property’s value.
- Helping clients to rent, buy or sell property
This is the most common job for a real estate agent. They help clients buy, rent or sell a property. A real estate agent can help you buy properties. This is the best choice for real estate investors.
- Drawing up contracts
A professional real estate agent also has to draft a real estate contract between buyers and sellers for the sale, purchase, exchange, or any other conveyance of real property. This is done to ensure that the transaction conforms to the laws and practices in the jurisdiction where the land is located.
Qualifications
Education
A high school diploma is usually required for real estate agents. Ambitious real estate professionals looking to move up in the management ranks later in their careers often earn an associate’s, or a bachelor’s degree. Many real estate agents hold degrees in finance, business administration, or economics. These degrees help future professionals learn the fundamentals of sales and business.
Training
The coursework required to obtain a license is the foundation of most real estate agents’ knowledge. On-the-job training will be provided, which will allow them to master everything from listing and showing properties to contract negotiation and paperwork drafting.
Certificates
Sales agents must meet certain requirements to be licensed to work in the real estate industry. Every state has its licensing requirements. As such, aspiring agents should verify the requirements before applying. A majority of states require that agents complete a basic course in real estate licensing. This includes business basics and the foundations for real estate transactions. Prospective agents can then take the licensing exam to apply for a real estate license. Agents who coordinate sales or purchases in multiple locations may need multiple licenses because real estate licenses don’t transfer across states.
Essential Skills
- Communication skills
Real estate agents must communicate with clients and potential clients. Agents who work in a team need to communicate with each other. As you build relationships with potential clients and network, marketing your real estate business will require excellent communication skills. If you are interested in becoming a real estate agent and listing homes for purchase, you must be able to write clear property listings that will appeal to buyers.
- Problem-solving skills
Agents often have to find solutions for clients’ problems. A client might tell a realtor that they need a house by a certain date or that they have specific needs that will make it difficult to find. These problems must be solved by the real estate agent to make their clients happy and sell their homes. Creative thinking is required to solve some problems that real estate agents face.
- Technology skills
Technology is often used by real estate agents to share home listings with their clients. The real estate industry has seen many technological advances, such as the availability of a wide range of apps that can be used to search for homes, 3D tours of home listings, and the ease with which listings are shared. If a client is not able to travel to the agent’s location, they may need to view houses via video conference. Real estate agents can also use technology for communication and marketing.
- Know your industry
Real estate is competitive and can be subject to rapid changes. There might be too many homes for sale, but not enough buyers, or there may be a hot market that has not enough inventory to satisfy all the buyers. These are all things real estate agents should be aware of.
- Negotiation skills
Agents are often involved with negotiations, particularly as representatives for clients. They must be able to negotiate effectively while adhering to the rules and regulations of their local reality industry. Real estate agents may need to submit a written offer to a broker to represent a property for sale. This can complicate the negotiation process. Agents need to be able to communicate with their clients to represent them during negotiations.
- Local knowledge of their field
Agents in real estate need to have a deep understanding of the area they are working in. This includes knowing the local housing trends, as well as where the best schools are, the types of neighborhoods, and the average housing price in the area. These types of information are often provided by real estate agents who clients hire to help them in their search for a home.
- Organizational skills
Agents are responsible for many tasks, including the service of multiple clients at once. It is therefore important to stay organized. There might be a lot of files and documents that real estate agents need to keep track of, digitally or physically. Keeping them organized makes it easier for them to locate the right document whenever they are needed. A schedule is essential for real estate agents to ensure that they meet clients and colleagues at the time they have agreed on.
- Integrity and ethics
Because real estate transactions are the most costly in a person’s life, agents are subject to strict regulation. Agents must be able to understand the business and work ethically. Because of their ethical conduct, these types of agents will have a long career.
- Networking skills
Even when they’re not working, real estate agents often network with other agents. Real estate agents need to network to find new clients, as many people will prefer to work with someone they know or recommend. This could mean going to local events or asking your friends and family to pass on your information to anyone who is looking for a real estate agent.
- Understanding of architecture
Real estate agents need to be familiar with architectural terms as clients might ask for specific styles or features. If a client requests a Colonial-style home, but the agent isn’t familiar with the style, they might show the client a Craftsman-style bungalow.
- Marketing skills
Agents who are independent or work for a company that does not offer marketing services need to promote their services. Advertising for real estate agents could include billboards and signs, digital ads in various places, or other marketing efforts such as public relations interviews. Marketing a real-estate business can help bring in more clients which will increase the agent’s revenue.
How to Become a Real Estate Agent
- Get your high school diploma.
You will need to take a real estate course. Next, you will need to complete a prelicensing course to learn the basics of the real estate industry.
- Pass the real estate exam
After completing the pre-licensing program, you can take the real estate exam given by your state.
- Apply for a real estate license
You will need to pay the licensing fee for your state, which usually costs between $100-$350.
- Update your resume
Create your resume and add all your qualifications and skills which will propel clients to hire you.
- You can work as a real estate broker
As a licensed agent, you can apply for a job where you will be working with a broker that oversees real estate transactions.
- Build your network
can build your network by talking to your neighbors, networking in your local community, and advertising your real-estate services online.
Where to work as a Real Estate Agent
Real estate agents work in different environments. Agents often work from home or in offices. They conduct research, publish listings, and communicate with clients. They also organize open houses and accompany clients to property viewings in residential, commercial, and industrial locations.
Real Estate Agent Salary Scale
Real Estate Agents usually work full-time. Agents generally earn an annual salary that includes commissions on rentals and sales. The average salary that a real estate agent in the United States earns is $85,793 annually
