Every year, thousands of people decide that becoming a real estate agent is the kind of career change that could improve their lives. They’re often correct – becoming an agent and finding success can mean increased salaries, more freedom, and flexibility with your life, and even a stronger feeling of satisfaction and pride in what you do. But just what does a real estate agent really do?
Whether you’re working for an agency or becoming your own real estate agent, there are a lot of things that make up a day in the life of the average real estate agent.
VIDEO: Day In The Life Of A Top Producing Realtor
A Routine That’s Anything But
The first thing to understand about the daily activities and responsibilities of a real estate agent is simply that there is no one blueprint that you’ll follow every single day. A real estate agent needs to look at themselves and their career as a kind of business – you aren’t just waking up and punching a time clock as a real estate agent.
Instead, successful agents understand that they will have to view themselves more like they are a business – and often, you’ll end up opening your own agency and literally become a business. But even the entry-level agent will want to consider themselves a business entity – and that means that you’ll need to take a look at what the day is bringing and then base your daily activities upon that. Some examples of what your day could involve include:
- Responding to email and phone calls
- Updating and responding to social media profiles and blogs
- Planning open houses or showings
- Meeting with buyers and sellers
- Completing paperwork
- Researching the market
- Keeping up with local and regional news related to the market
- And more
That’s an incredibly generalized list, of course. As such, it’s worth going a little deeper into some of the key things that great agents do on a regular basis.
Building Your Reputation As A Real Estate Agent
Like any business, you need to stand out. You’ll want to take time setting up a social media profile for yourself and your real estate skills. This includes your own website, an email address, LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Twitter profiles. Each day, you can use those profiles to showcase what you bring to the real estate world.
Find your niche and start building leads. You can connect with those you already know, but remember that everyone you encounter is a potential prospect. And when you build your brand identity through marketing, you’ll start building a name and reputation for yourself that will translate to better success.
Simply put, you’ll want to market yourself however you can – and good agents spend at least a few minutes each day connecting and building their own brand.
Connecting With Sellers Now we’re getting into the heart and soul of what real estate agents really do. A big part of your day will be to interact with those looking to sell their property. Some of what this will involve includes:
- Meet with sellers and understand their goals and needs with each of their listings
- Use your market knowledge and marketing abilities to begin the process of selling their home
- Photograph the property to prepare a listing
- Research local markets and develop a clear picture of what a fair asking price will be
- List the property appropriately
- Stage the home or business and conduct open houses and other showcases to sell the home
You may end up doing this for multiple homes, often handling several responsibilities for multiple properties every day.
Working With Buyers
Not only will you work with sellers, but with those looking to purchase a home as well. This can include things like:
- Meet with buyers, identify their needs and goals, and develop an understanding of what they’re looking for
- Research available listings to find those that fit the needs of the buyers you’re working with
- Plan property showings for buyers and schedule appointments to show them properties
- Show selected properties and provide them with information that can help them determine if it’s the right buy for them
- Use negotiation skills to make offers of purchase on real estate and help your clients buy the home that is right for them
In short, you’ll work with sellers to help them sell their properties and work with buyers to help them find their perfect home. And again – this is just a short list of what you may end up doing on a given day.
Regular Networking
Networking is an integral part of your day as well. Building a network with peers and others in the field as well as with potential clients is important, and whenever an agent has downtime it is often spent either doing research, networking, or working on their brand. Simply put, you’ll always be working and will always be networking to one degree or another. You’re not clocked in or out as an agent, and will likely always be considering new connection opportunities.
Honing Your Skills, Growing Your Knowledge
To be a good real estate agent, continual improvement is a must. While continuing education is required to maintain your license, it’s important to go beyond just the required education. Every day, the best agents will spend some time learning more about their markets, researching properties, looking at new tools and techniques, and improving their overall level of knowledge. Doing so can have a huge impact on your ability to thrive as a real estate agent.
Of course, different days may call for different things, and depending on where you are located and just what you’re focusing your attention on your day could have other factors to consider. Most days, you’ll end up completing dozens of the tasks above – and sometimes several dozens of them. But if you make the change and become a real estate agent, the things above will all have to be common parts of your day. It’s a career change that could reward you in huge ways – but knowing what to expect is important.