One of the popular careers nowadays is becoming a real estate agent.
Why not? With all those successful agents being featured on news and magazines, who would not want to venture in this career? Say it is very enticing, you move freely to your own schedule, you are capable of controlling your income, and lastly, you can have your own business. Sounds pretty good right? But many of those aspirants are not aware of the real picture. That is why over one third of fresh real estate agents stop in the business after three years. Why is this happening? It is because not all of them have the required skills to be successful in this career. Before entering a career path, you have to know what it takes for you to achieve it and assess yourself if you have the necessary requirements. But so much for that, since you are reading this, you are taking an interest to venture in this career. For you to be fully prepared of how this career runs, let us discuss matters which are very vital for you to know about being an estate agent.
Nature of Work
Entering in real estate sales is never synonymous to getting rich fast. For you to achieve that pace you have to be a top producer and this would require you to have an excellent business planning, people skills, patience, flexibility and many more. For you to be aware, you need to prepare yourself financially during the first six to twelve months in the business because you will certainly pay for household, personal expenses, and related marketing costs.
Training Requirements
This career path is welcome to all college graduates. However the degrees preferred are that of business or property – related degree. It is very important that one must have a good background about marketing strategies in the business world so that he or she would be able to expect the hardships that may come along the way and how to deal with it. Apart from that, an aspirant must also have a good personal and working attitude. It is also an advantage that he or she must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills since getting in touch with the client is always done.
As a trainee, you will be joining an estate agent directly from a college and you will function as a trainee negotiator. You can also begin as a receptionist or clerical assistant as you are working your way up. You can also be an apprentice which can also include the National Association of Estate Agents’ (NAEA) Technical Award. After three months of being an apprentice, you can gain student membership of the NAEA. This is open to everyone but government funding is given to those who are 16 to 24 years of age. This system has no formal or technical requirements upon entry.
Annual Salary
The median salary of a starting agent is around £14,000 to £20,000. If you are an excellent agent and can sell properties fast, your salary can reach up to £50,000.
Real estate sales is already influenced by modern technology so as an aspirant you need to have a knowledge about the use of high technology gadgets like digital camera, personal computer or laptop, and e – mail and software programs to be able to carry out effective marketing strategies and efficiency in managing your time. These are some of the tips you have to keep in mind. If you really want to pursue this career, hopefully the information you have read above would help you in your decision.