The most visible real estate jobs are those of real estate agents or brokers. They are the salespeople of real estate, who list property for sale and convince buyers to purchase the property. Though real estate brokers and agents are used interchangeably with realtors, realtors are agents who are members of the National Association of Realtors. In addition, brokers are sales agents who have achieved certification to manage their own real estate business. Likewise, agents must attain state certification to sell property.
Real estate sales agents work with both residential property and commercial property, and are aware of zoning laws and building codes. Residential agents’ primary activity consists of consulting with clients on their ideal home, and introducing properties to them that best fit that description. Once they sell a residence, they earn a commission that makes up a considerable part of their salaries. The same process holds true for commercial real-estate agents, except that they are more knowledgeable about office buildings, shopping centers, apartments, retail stores, and other commercial property. All agents constantly renew their knowledge of market data and economics for local areas in order to inform clients of a property’s investment value.
Though the minimum educational requirement for gaining entry level jobs in real estate is a high school diploma, the de facto requirement is a bachelor’s degree in real estate and practical job-training. In college, many students take courses in finance, property law, business, and real estate. They also round out their education with sales internships, especially those at real estate firms. Depending on their state requirements, they accumulate about 30-60 of classroom hours in order to obtain agent certification, or 60-90 hours to obtain broker certification.
Associate-level real estate agents earn about $61,000 per year. Those who work for larger firms may top $100,000 if they are high performing. Agents’ salaries depend greatly on their commissions. Those who both list a property for sale and make a new sale for that property will earn the highest commissions.
Though real estate job outlook in sales is generally good, these sales jobs may dwindle in economic recessions when fewer people are purchasing homes or office space. Moreover, many people can now purchase real estate software or go on the Internet to make purchasing decisions without an agent’s mediation.
Other real estate jobs focus more on property analysis. These include real estate appraisal jobs, which calculate monetary estimates of properties for sales agents to list as market prices. They estimate these values by referring to the values of surrounding buildings, average income levels in the surrounding area, and recent economic activities. Furthermore, they make on-site visits to obtain the three-dimensional view of the property. They then draft a standardized report explaining the estimate, and the reasons for arriving at that value.
Appraisers often work for banks, mortgage-broker offices, or appraisal firms, though many are also self-employed. As with real estate agents, they specialize in either residential property or commercial property. Also like agents, they typically earn a bachelor’s degree in real estate, business, or finance and go through practical training prior to landing entry-level jobs. Furthermore, they must be certified or licensed before beginning their professional practice.
Appraisers earn an average of $44,000 per year. Yearly salaries are generally lower for entry-level workers and higher for seasoned workers, especially if they work for larger firms in metropolitan areas. Though their salaries rarely reach six figures, this may change as these jobs grow dynamically in the next decade.
Another category of real estate jobs are real estate executive jobs. These jobs principally belong to real estate directors of both real estate firms and property-management firms. Property management firms vary by type: some are residential property management, commercial property management, retail property management, and so forth. At real estate firms, directors oversee property acquisitions, sales transactions, budgets, staffing, and other administrative duties. At property-management firms, such as residential property management, they oversee tenant satisfaction, building maintenance, staffing, budgets, and construction projects.
All real estate directors have extensive past experience and education. Most of them have bachelor’s degrees, past real-estate jobs, and certification or licensure. Some may even have master’s degrees in business administration, public administration, real estate, or accounting. They are familiar with all facets of real estate work and are able to counsel staff in their various activities. They should have solid knowledge of finances, especially investment principles, in order to provide the soundest business decisions for their firm.
Job growth for these directors will continue to rise, especially in assisted-living property-management as more baby-boomers retire. These jobs will also grow in step with the general rise of residential, commercial, and other property throughout the nation.
