If you’ve heard that real estate is booming and you want a piece of the profits, now is as good a time as ever to join this thriving, stable industry.
Contrary to the expectations of analysts, the real estate market surged during the pandemic, with the average price of homeownership increasing by 23.4% amid a sudden influx of customers. The pandemic forced the world at large to adapt to a new lifestyle, making room for remote workspaces necessary and devastating the already questionable utility of smaller living spaces. Moreover, as consumer needs have continued to evolve, experts project that the real estate market will continue to thrive for some time, that this is not a bubble but a boom, and that real estate agents don’t need to fear the market suddenly crashing.
Making This A Long-Term Career
Some are choosing to take a short-term approach to the new market, flipping homes and then putting them back on the market for minimal profit. Others, however, see this unique time in American history as an opportunity for them to carve out their own niche, setting the stage for a long-term career in real estate. If the latter is you, you’re in the right place.
In this guide, we’ll briefly go over some of the steps you’ll need to take to get started as a real estate agent before launching into strategies that will guarantee you long-term success in the field. Let’s get you on the road to real estate.
Getting Started
In order to get in on this stable, profitable market, you’ll need to knock out a few essentials before proceeding to the list below. Consider this your starter guide to the world of real estate, steps that every single successful agent must take before they can expand their real estate empire.
Obtain Your Real Estate License
The requirements for this vary from state to state, but most states will require you to take hybridized courses and pass the requisite exam to earn your license. You’ll also likely be required to connect with a state-licensed broker, who will supervise all of your deals and award you a cut of each transaction you conduct; This is mainly done for the state to make sure you’re doing everything as you should be, not to take profits from you.
Invest in Your First Property
A safe field to start with is rentals, so you’ll want to keep an eye out for properties you can flip with minimal effort, listing them to get them occupied as quickly as possible. However, you’ll likely need a large amount of capital to acquire your first property… capital that you don’t just have lying around.
You might want to speak with a provider of rental property loans, as that is one industry-standard means of acquiring enough capital to invest in property. Lenders like Visio Lending specialize in offering affordable property loans and work with you to hammer out a payment schedule that will suit your needs without putting stress on you.
Start Listing, Get to Selling
After that, the devil is in the details. You’ll want to post listings for your newly renovated property on every site that will have you, having each room professionally photographed to enhance its features while minimizing its flaws.
Once you’ve done that, it’s a matter of bringing people inside. You can do this in-person by scheduling an open house, or you can get more creative, using technology to allow viewers to take remote tours of your home. The latter has especially become popular with the pandemic, which has changed how real estate agents function.
Strategies for Long-Term Success
Once you’ve got the essentials out of the way, it’s a matter of setting yourself up to be successful in the space long-term. The below strategies separate those just dipping into the space (flippers) from career real-estate agents.
Diversify Your Portfolio
You should consistently be looking for opportunities to grow into other spaces, as staying in a small market niche limits your chances to profit long-term, causing your career to stagnate. If you started out working with apartment complexes or dealing in rental properties, maybe you look at expanding to straight sales; if you started selling properties in your home state, maybe you look up states that your license also applies to and invest in property there.
Think Beyond COVID
However much it may seem like it will be with us forever, the pandemic is a temporary state of affairs. That being said, customer preferences are changing, and many will be looking for the kind of convenience and accessibility offered by current COVID-safe measures in the future. Take a look at how you can incorporate new tech into your strategies, as there’s lots of untapped potential in how we can use modern tech for real estate.
Brand Consistency
Across all channels, you should be as aggressive in building and maintaining your professional ethos. You want consumers to trust you, to be the one they come to when they’re finally ready to sell their property or when they’re looking for something suited to their changing needs. You’ll also want to be aggressive with your digital marketing, meeting customers where they are and spreading your brand messaging far and wide.
On a final note, the most important thing you can do to help yourself succeed is to maintain your drive. Much like other industries, your earning potential and ability to make a long-term career out of real estate depends on the effort you put into it, your passion for your business, and your dogged tenacity when you get ahold of an opportunity. Follow the above steps, and your competition will know: you’re here, and you’re here to stay.
