subject: Get A Job In Real Estate [print this page] Though the real estate market has been challenging for the past few years for agents as well as buyers and sellers, real estate still presents interesting and lucrative opportunities to the right people. If you like the type of job that depends on a mix of interpersonal, research, negotiation, and marketing skills, real estate could be the career for you.
Exercise your people skills
As an agent, you will deal with buyers, sellers, or both as they make some of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. Your clients may be hyper, frustrated, or demanding, but you must be able to handle them in a friendly and professional manner. They may come to you with unrealistic expectations of what their house is worth or what they can get for their money, but you must be able to give them some reality therapy along the way. Given that many clients these days are struggling, you must be sensitive as to why they might be selling and direct them toward foreclosure or short sale help when needed.
Research the neighborhood
There is some knowledge you will need as an agent that you will gain through coursework and continuing professional education, but to be competitive, you will need an ongoing knowledge of your local market. When you recommend a listing price to a seller, you research and present comparative data on other homes that have sold in the neighborhood. When you deal with a buyer, you must show yourself as a neighborhood expert, who can paint an intriguing picture of the area. You might specialize in certain neighborhoods, but the more you know about the area, the better you can match that knowledge with your client.
Negotiate and follow through
When you have matched your client with a home to buy or a buyer for their current home, you will need good negotiation skills to bring things together. Then, you will need good follow-up skills to make sure that all things leading up to the closing are done and done on time. As an agent, you might choose to work for a large franchise like Keller-Williams or ReMax or a small local firm that may take care of some details, but the client depends on you to move things along.
The field offers room for specialization in areas such as short sale, investing, or homebuying. If you are searching for a career that uses many of your best skills, real estate could be for you.
