Real Estate

What exactly is a real estate agent?

A real estate agent is a person who acts as the third party between sellers and purchasers of a property. Real estate agent makes it easier for people to sell real property or buy a new one. House is usually the kind of real estate being sold or purchased, but it can be also another type of estates like an empty lot, a condominium unit, or a townhouse property.

Being a real estate agent, one must possess the skills to market and advertise. He must have the capability and determination to negotiate a good deal. An agent must be fully aware of the current details especially of the information that is related to the real estate industry. He must keep tracking of the market values of the properties at a given time.

Taking the responsibility of an intermediary between seller and buyer or vice versa, the agent himself must be able to assess the positive and negative features of the properties on the deal. He will be accounted for any wrong information and missed out on details about the real estate. Thus an agent must know by heart all the pieces of details about the property that he’s negotiating. He must be able to answer all the queries of the clients with a strong sense of confidence and must have that convincing power to close a nice deal.

The real estate agent also takes part in the role of assisting the people to get in touch with the financial institutions. The agent performs particular tasks to help people get loans for the purchasing of properties. Real estate agents are working on a commission-basis wherein they earn a certain percentage for each deal completed. Real estate agents work for a real estate agency, but there are also real estate agents who work in-house for a certain Real Estate developer.  Aside from the commission earned from each sale, some agencies and real estate developers do provide incentives, basic salary (as long as the quota are being met for a given period of time), allowances, and other benefits that will encourage the agents to do more deals.

INTERMEDIATION SERVICES

Real estate agents go between the trading parties and offer his service to help complete the deal. In assisting to purchase a property, like for example a house property, the agent must first get the specific criteria of the buyer. Necessary details such as the type of the house, up to what cost the client is willing to spend, the desire location, the preferred environment, through what mode of the payment system, and other else important matters must be discussed first with the client. After acquiring the details, the agent then finds for-sale properties that fit into the client’s criteria. The agent takes the client for a trip to the prospect houses on sales. The agent lets the client inspects and examines closely the features of the houses while explaining the positive and negative aspects of each. The amount for each property is also discussed and if the client makes an offer on the property, the agent helps decide for the best offer price and converses about it with the seller. Upon buying the property, the agent does other necessary works for all the papers needed in the completion of purchase. The agent coordinates with the other professionals in the real estate industry to accomplish all the requirements needed, also to ensure that the buyer has the needed funding, which might involve working with lenders and finance brokers.

On the selling part when the client wants to sell property, the agent helps him decide for the price. The pricing is usually based on the current sales of comparable estates in a similar location. The agent gives advice to the client about how to get ready the house on sale – sharing advice about how to make it more presentable and appealing for any potential buyers who will go and check the property. Before the agent promotes it in public, he must also assure that everything about the house is fixed and in proper order. He has to advise the seller to keep it tidy, add some little ornamentation, check for areas that need repairs, and repaint the walls if necessary.  Make the house simply beautiful and clean with touches of cozy appeal so there will be greater chances that the potential buyers will love it right away when they pay a visit. As soon as the house is prepared, the agent advertises it. When a potential buyer shows an interest, the agent sets up a meeting and trips them (the potential buyer and his real estate agent) around the house property. Agents do also hold open houses – wherein the public is invited to take a closer look at the houses for sale, go around and post their questions to the agents. When someone makes an offer, the agent and the seller discuss it and the agent gives his opinions whether it’s good or not to accept the offer. Once the client accepted the offer, the agent processes it and helps complete the whole deal.

BECOMING A REAL ESTATE AGENT

Becoming a real estate agent requires time, proper education, training, and passion for the profession. A college degree is not necessary, but some jurisdictions require an aspiring agent to be at least of a particular age is able to be licensed. There are special training being held formally for the real estate agents, and in some places, agents are given an examination to be licensed. But the major highlight in the life of a real estate agent is actually more than just getting a license for the job, but establishing a wide network and building a good clientele base. The real estate industry is highly competitive, thus the real estate agents must have the heart and the guts to surf the waves. Real estate agents work on a commission-basis, thus one must also know how to handle his financials properly. Be responsible enough to secure your savings and most importantly, be passionate enough to love and enjoy what you do for a living.