A career in real estate can be a very interesting option for all types of professionals, from those who have just graduated to those who want to transform the industry.
While there is no one way to become an agent, there are certain common guidelines, goals and considerations that all applicants should be aware of.
To help you decide, we’ve put together a guide where you can find information about the time and money you need to invest, as well as strategies and answers to frequently asked questions to give you all the context.
How long does it take to become a real estate agent?
How long it takes to become a real estate agent depends on many factors, such as the region in which you live. Although a license is not required in most Latin American countries and Spain, you should consider the specific requirements of the country and territory in which you intend to operate (e.g. Colombia or in Argentina).
It also depends on your availability, because even if you don’t need to get a license, you should invest the time and resources to find the right education and career guidance.
If you have enough flexibility to attend courses, seminars and professional events, you will progress much faster than if you take your new career only as a part-time job.
In Latin America and Spain, you can find official and private institutions that offer a a large selection of courses of all kindsfrom those lasting only a few hours to those lasting several months.
Once you have the right knowledge of the industry, it’s best to start looking for it real estate agency you can work with in the first two to three years of study, but depending on availability, this process can take a long time.
If you only want to work part-time, finding an agency can be more difficult as many will be reluctant to work with agents who obviously earn less than full-time employees.
In addition, you may need additional training depending on the type of agency you work for, the type of property you sell, and the requirements of the region in which you operate.
For example, national franchises, local agencies and virtual properties have their own preferences and requirements that you must adapt to.
The time it will take you to gain enough experience to work independently will depend on the agency you choose, but will usually range from six months to a year.
How much does it cost to become a real estate agent?
As you can imagine, working in the real estate market requires not only continuous investment in acquiring the necessary experience and knowledge, but also significant financial investments.
We’ve already pointed out that different countries require different levels of education, so this investment may vary depending on where you live and the level of education you want to achieve.
Training courses leading to a professional degree typically cost between $500 and $1,200 (or the equivalent in your local currency), so you may need to tap into your savings early in your run to stay afloat.
If you work for an agency on a commission basis, you may also need to rely on your savings until you close the first few sales.
If you want some safety margin, you need to have enough savings to cover your expenses for six months or a year, or until you can sell enough properties to make a decent income.
You can also join an agency that will pay you a salary instead of working on commission or even find an additional source of income until you can live off your new career in real estate.
Advantages of a real estate agent
Real estate offers a variety of career benefits, including the ability to work flexibly and manage your own schedule.
For Sonja, «the real estate sector is an ideal option for many professional profiles, certainly because of its great flexibility. It allows you to work from home or in the office, alone or in a team, have a contract or start your own business. It also allows you to customize your schedule to suit your lifestyle, your clients and your niche market, and it can be an extremely profitable profession with limitless possibilities.”
However, being able to manage your own schedule doesn’t mean you’ll work less, as you’ll need to be available during busy periods such as late afternoons and weekends.
Despite this, real estate is still a relatively flexible option as you can take a week off in between or use the mornings to take your kids to school.
Santiago Cadenas, president of Grupo Raíces, and insists that the flexibility of this profession does not mean working fewer hours than traditional hours.
According to Santiago, «Real estate can be a very lucrative profession with significant benefits, but now that technology keeps us constantly connected, those who want to be successful must be available to their clients almost 24 hours a day.»
Personal contact is another great advantage of this business as real estate is not bought or sold by email. In order to understand the interests and needs of customers, direct contact with them is necessary, and therefore an ideal area for making personal contacts.
The success of a real estate agent depends largely on the motivation and commitment of each individual, and one of the biggest incentives is undoubtedly the potential economic benefit.
Namely, the salary in this profession is practically unlimited because it depends on the tasks and the effort you want to invest in them.
Other great benefits of working in real estate include the following:
- You have the opportunity to see fantastic properties
- You can work from home instead of being in the office all day
- you can dress however you want
- You can manage your own business
- You don’t need an academic degree
But a career in real estate also has potential downsides that we must consider.
For example, flexibility is not always an advantage as you may work longer hours than normal, especially if you work on a commission basis.
Additionally, much of the work is done outside of traditional business hours, as potential buyers often visit properties late at night or on weekends.
On the other hand, it is not a stable profession with guaranteed constant income, but your salary depends on many factors that you cannot influence, such as: B. the state of the market and other economic circumstances.
Far from being able to rely on a fixed monthly salary, you need to be able to manage a particularly uncertain income, plan ahead and save for when they are lean.
Finally, the emotional aspect of this profession is fundamental, since selling real estate is an extremely stressful process for your clients and you often deal with situations of tension, fear and frustration that have to be faced.
Therefore, you have to ask yourself if you have enough patience and emotional flexibility to offer your clients the necessary support during the most difficult moments of the process.
Reasons to become a real estate agent
Now that we’ve covered some of the pros and cons of the real estate sector, it’s time to ask yourself if this career is right for you.
Of course, only you can answer this question, but if you can’t decide, you can ask someone who already works as an agent to accompany you for a day, or you can talk to various experts who can give you more information about the industry.
As with any other job, there are no guarantees of success, but if you are motivated and creative enough, and if you are good at solving problems, this could be your ideal career.
In addition, although this profession can be very lucrative from an economic and personal point of view, from this point of view it is usually not easy and requires a great deal of independence, motivation and mental agility, since no one dictates what you will do work and achieving your goals depends solely on you.
There are many types of real estate, such as residential, industrial, commercial and vacant lots.
- Residential real estate: All of these are residential buildings, such as apartments, houses and semi-detached houses.
- Commercial real estate: are all properties intended for commercial use, such as B. Hospitals, gas stations and restaurants.
- Industrial characteristics: are all real estate intended for industrial production, production, distribution or storage, such as warehouses, factories and power plants.
- Undeveloped property: These are all those lands that can be used for construction or mining of natural resources.
If you’re wondering if real estate is right for you, you should also consider what type of real estate you want to work with.
Additionally, residential real estate has different niches to focus on, such as: B. Luxury real estate, multi-family homes, new construction, single family homes, beach homes, historic properties, or even specific neighborhoods.
So, in addition to thinking about whether this profession is right for you, you also need to decide which properties you are interested in and which types of properties you want to specialize in.
If you already know that real estate is for you, now is the time to focus on the steps you need to take to launch your career.
Steps to become a real estate agent
- Check your country’s regulatory requirements
- Sign up for training if you think it’s necessary
- Find an agency where you can gain experience
- Apply for an official register of estate agents if your country has one
- Design your own marketing materials such as business cards or brochures
- Start building your professional network
Since regulatory requirements depend on the country you’ll be working in, and educational requirements depend on your current level of education, the level of education you’re aiming for, and the time and money you can invest, we’ll skip the first two steps.
As a third step, in the first stage of your career, you should look for a real estate agent where you can gain professional experience.
As we said before, there are different types of agencies that you can work with, such as: B. National franchises, local agencies and virtual properties that operate exclusively online.
Once you have found the right agency, register with the official register of real estate agents in your country, if one exists. For example, if you live in Peru, you should register with Register of real estate brokers of the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitationor in Register of Real Estate Brokers (RAIN) if you are in Spain and do business in Madrid.
In some countries, registration in the official register is not mandatory, but by registering you could find new business opportunities and additional income. Remember to check the regulations and requirements of your country or region.
Next, you should design marketing materials such as business cards and brochures, as these personalized resources will help you present a more professional image and develop your personal brand to get more leads and grow your client base.
This brings us to the last step, building a professional network, for which it is crucial to develop relationships with the right people in order to gain visibility and establish yourself professionally in the real estate scene in your area.
For any agent, making new connections is a great opportunity to generate leads and grow your client base, so be careful.
Always have a business card ready to give to anyone interested in buying or selling real estate, and don’t hesitate to talk to potential clients or colleagues whenever you get the chance.
Alternatively, you can design a professional website to promote your properties and profile to further boost your career as an online presence is key to proving the value of your services and giving visitors an idea of what it can do Who will you be working with?
Also, potential clients will trust you more if you give them information about your career and what they can expect from working with you. For example, this is Ana Martínez’s profile:
A strong social media presence can also help you get more leads, so we encourage you to post content regularly on multiple platforms and take every opportunity to connect with your followers and potential customers.
Requirements to become a real estate agent
As we have already mentioned, the requirements for working in this sector vary from country to country. Depending on the region you operate in, you may need to consider the following:
- You have a professional degree or a certain level of training
- Get an official license
- Find a cooperation agency
- Register in the official register of brokers
- Register with other professional organizations
The key to success in real estate
Not everyone who embarks on this career succeeds in making a name for himself in the market. In order to stand out as a real estate broker and to be successful in buying and selling real estate, you need to take a number of additional steps.
To identify the most effective strategies, we asked agents from different countries for their advice, and they told us this.
1. Prepare each visit well in advance
Santiago Cadenas told us that he believes it’s important to take your time and research as much information as possible about a property before showing it to potential buyers.
According to Santiago, “knowing as much as possible about the history of the property and showing it during the visit is what gives a truly professional touch. As we agency clients say, our real job is not to sell houses, but to sell stories.»
In addition to finding as many With as much information as possible about the value of the property you’re selling, the neighborhood it’s in, or nearby amenities, you should think about what makes each home truly unique and be able to convince buyers. potential buyers that it will be the perfect home for them.
Santiago explains it this way: “A real estate agency is like a marriage agency because you have to know which properties are right for your clients, don’t waste your time sending them mass emails, and plan your strategy carefully to only advertise properties that suit your needs .»
2. Develop your communication skills
The most important thing in the real estate business is contact with people. Those who thrive in this sector also have excellent communication skills, says Santiago, as knowing how to inspire trust and build strong relationships is key.
Julia Navarro of Alianza Inmobiliaria Sureña confirms that “outstanding communication skills are one of the most important keys to success. You have to meet customers in person and talk to them about everything, not just business.”
«You have to listen carefully to your customers and show them that you not only know the market you’re working in, but also care about their interests.»
Listening to customers is also a skill that develops over time. To really listen to someone, you need to avoid distractions, turn off your phone, and give your full attention instead of constantly thinking about what you’re going to react to.
In addition, your customers should feel heard. Show them you’re paying attention by asking short affirmative phrases or relevant questions about what they just told you.
After all, the most important thing to succeed in the real estate market is to sell as many properties as possible, so practicing your communication skills is absolutely necessary.
3. Remember what you are passionate about in this job
In this field, the only thing you can be sure of is that there will be months or even years when you won’t make as much as you’d like. That’s why most people I’ve talked to insist that it’s important to have enough savings to get by maintained until you have a large enough client base to weather periods of market volatility or even become self-employed and open an agency. own.
Real estate is a particularly volatile industry, so one of the keys to success and survival when the going gets tough is to remember what you’re really passionate about in this business, besides the money.
Santiago told us: “To excel in this sector, you need to be very clear about why you chose this career in the first place. It will motivate you to deliver exceptional service in good times and bad and help you develop a strong business case for the future.”
4. Work with the right agency
Early in your career, it’s best to work with an agency that can offer you the experience, connections and guidance you need.
To find the ideal agency, you should ask each candidate if they are willing to offer you training, pay you a fixed salary, or share their commissions with you.
According to Santiago, «Working with the right agency is crucial in the first 18 months of your career because a quality real estate company will offer you training and guidance so you can develop your own portfolio of clients.»
However, you shouldn’t make a hasty decision as finding the ideal estate agency takes time and you should talk to at least three or five agencies before settling on one.
5. Stay up to date with the latest technology
Today, some clients prefer to receive notifications about properties they are interested in via SMS, while others prefer to receive them via email, see notifications on your website or receive a personal call.
In this regard, Santiago tells us: «To be successful, you have to be up to date with the different technologies that users use to communicate, because that’s the only way they can get in touch with you quickly and in the best way for them.»
To avoid falling behind, ask your colleagues what methods they use, enroll in classes on new technologies, or directly ask your clients which method they prefer.
To avoid losing details about the clients or properties you manage, you can also invest in a CRM platform to organize your contacts, optimize your email and social media strategy, and improve your SEO ranking.
You can also use the SMS messaging service to manage the automatic delivery of messages to users, eg B. Notifications about the time and place of visits to different properties.
That’s all you need to know to start a successful career as a realtor.
Whether you’re just starting out or have been in the industry for decades, you must remember that in this profession, continuous learning is key to helping clients find or sell their dream home.
