How to Start a Career for Yourself in Real Estate

Real estate can be an exciting – and lucrative – career. Beginning a career in real estate means a lot of hard work, but it’s also an exciting way to meet new people and help families find their forever home. Inside of the real estate industry, there are several different levels in which you can start a career for yourself. You could look to become an agent, an appraiser, or even a real estate investor to name a few.

Becoming a Real Estate Agent

To begin a career in real estate, you’ll take a licensing examination after specialized education. The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials has more information on licensing requirements, as each state has different requirements.

Most people begin their careers in real estate as part of a brokerage house. Working with an established company, you’ll be able to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and advice from your fellow agents and the affiliation with the large company’s marketing campaigns. Working as a real estate agent you will be able to assist homeowners in selling a house or even buying a new home. As your knowledge progresses, you may decide to start your own firm or progress your career in a different direction.

Becoming a Real Estate Appraiser

Real estate appraisers are vitally necessary for the industry. Their job is to evaluate properties and assign a dollar value to them. It’s a technical field, including valuing for properties to assess taxes, determine investment value, and potential rental value for real estate investors. Appraisers may work for a bank, as part of a real estate investment company, or as part of a larger real estate brokerage.

Successful people in this field have strong knowledge about principles of appraisal, precise attention to detail, and a thorough knowledge of both the local and national real estate markets, to forecast trends in property values and demand of certain types of properties, both residential and commercial. Most states require a special license for a real estate appraiser.

Becoming a Real Estate Investor

Investing in real estate can be a chance to use the skills you learn as a real estate agent or an appraiser. Real estate investors are “active” or “passive.” Active investors are ones who do a lot of the heavy lifting for the tenants, including managing their own properties or who actively renovate their purchases and sell them for a profit – think a house flipper. A passive investor simply invests their money into the income properties, allowing a property management company or their partners to make the properties profitable.

Getting started requires a thorough knowledge of your market, to determine a good investment, and capital to invest, although not as much as you might think. Crowd-funded real estate investment may be a good opportunity for you to explore this career without risking much of your own money. There are definitely plenty of opportunities to make money investing in real estate.

Starting a Real Estate Brokerage

A real estate brokerage firm is the culmination of many real estate careers. A real estate broker is different than a real estate agent; brokers have education and training beyond an agent and are licensed to manage an office of many real estate agents. These brokerages may be large or small and can be commercial, residential, or a mixture of each. As a real estate broker, you are required to have a real estate license, although you may not be actively selling as much as an agent. Instead, your brokerage receives a part of each commission that your agents receive. You may choose to work with a national company as a franchise brokerage owner, or to start your own company. Each requires some investment on your part.

In Conclusion

The real estate market can be a lucrative career with flexible hours and almost unlimited earning potential. If you’re willing to work hard, you can make a very successful career in many positions within the field.