What Kind Of Earnings Boost
Will You Get From
Real Estate Education Online?
How well will real estate
education online pay off for you? US Department of Labor Statistics
show that real estate salespeople earn an average of about $35,000 per
year, while the top 10% earn over $85,000 per year. That
doesn’t completely tell the story, however. That challenge
most real estate pros face revolves around whether or not they can stay
in the business long enough to start getting listings –
houses being put up for sale – from their clients. If
you’re able to get over that hurdle, it’s quite possible to earn far more than $85,000 per year.
Real estate sales licensure is
done on a state-by state basis. Most states will require you to be at
least 18 years old and have some basic education credits already
completed.
First, A Pre-Licensure Course
The
first step toward becoming a real estate agent is usually finding a
school in your area where you can take a
“principles” or pre-licensure course. This will
teach you the basics of making a sale, along with state rules you may
need to know about in terms of commissions and dealing with customers.
Next, you’ll want to
take your state license exam. There are a wide variety of options in
real estate education online, CD’s and other teaching tools
that can get you ready for the state exam.
You must then register for your
state test. Each state test is different. Some ask over 100 multiple
choice questions, while others tend to lean more on essay type
questions. Assuming you’re able to obtain the minimum score
for passing, you will be given a license, which will allow you to work
as a salesperson trainee in a real estate agency (be aware that some
people like to get this license simply because they want to buy and
sell properties on their own, keeping all sales commissions to
themselves rather than paying an outside agent.
The Top Employers
Many schools that help you prep
for the state licensure exam have services that will try to help you
get your first job in a real estate agency. Alternatively, you can
simply apply directly for a job at some of the major sales agencies,
including Remax, Coldwell Banker and Century 21.
It’s key to become
known as a real estate agent to as many people in your community as
possible. That will encourage them to give you their listings when the
time comes to sell their homes. The more you know about sales and
prices in your local market, the more people will tend to come for you
on advice about real estate purchases.
Although there are definitely
ups and downs in the market, generally speaking there are always people
buying and selling homes. In most cases, as an agent you will be able
to get 2-3% of the total selling price of a house or other type of
building. That means that on a $500,000 home sale, you would earn
$15,000. Given that homes in many metropolitan areas are now selling
for closer to $1 million, the prospect is clearly there to make a good
living.
Promotion, Promotion, Promotion
It’s very important
to think about marketing yourself in order to succeed as a real estate
agent. Because many people who decide to sell a home simply open the
local paper and look for an agent to help them, it can be worthwhile to
invest in some local advertising. Above all, once you do complete some
sales, stay in touch the both the sellers and the buyers you have
worked with. When it comes time for them to move again,
they’ll be very likely to contact you for help, making it
possible for you to get commissions on more sales and purchases.
Ongoing Revenue Stream
Remember
that a happy client will use you over and over, and that when a friend
is thinking of selling a home, they will recommend you as an agent.
Real estate brokers online courses are only the first step toward
building a real career in this area that will provide you with a very
consistent earnings stream.
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