Do you want to earn sustainably and help others invest and find their dream homes?
Why not be a real estate agent?
A real estate agent is a person who is in charge of representing sellers or buyers for the real estate transactions and processes. He or she is paid in commission once they help sell, buy or lease a real estate property. And earn money through referrals from other agents nationwide.
If you want to earn a consistent income, build fruitful connections and help your community thrive, you’ll love this guide on how to become a real estate agent.
Let’s get down to business.
Get a license
The first step to becoming a real estate agent is making sure that you have a valid license. Take note, each state has different licensing laws and requirements, and they get revised every so often. Each state also has different names for licensees. In Illinois, if you want to help clients sell, buy or lease you will need what is called a Broker License.
To be eligible to apply, you must be at least 18 years of age, have a social security number, and have a high school diploma or G.E.D.
Complete A Course
Next, you need to complete a 75-hour licensing course that is recognized by the National Association of Realtors. That course is broken down into 2 parts - 60 hours pre-licensing topics such as contracts, real estate math, brokerage, and real property and the 15-hour course that applies real-life scenarios.
The courses go for as little as $300 to over $1,000 depending on what format of education works best for you. The courses vary from online - self-study, an accelerated program that is a mix of self-study and live classes that can be online or in-person, webinars, or traditional classroom course
After you pass your exam on both portions of your education you will be instructed to take the state exam, which is going to be multiple-choice, with a mix of questions on a national level and on a state level. You will have to pass both portions or you will have to retake the portion you have failed. YOU are allowed for up to 2 retakes before you need to retake the education. The fee for taking the exam is around $50 each time you take it.
Review Materials
The exam can be contrasted to the SAT or ACT in high school; questions are being asked in a very particular manner and are seldom tricky to answer. To help you with this, I recommend you to check if Exam Smart (not sponsored) is available in your state and use this essential review tool. Exam smart gets you familiar with the way they form questions and from the experience of some, accordingly few of them are even the same.
Pass the exam
Once you have passed the exam you will need to apply for the license with the department of financial and professional regulation in your state. You will receive a 45-day sponsor card and with that, you will need to find a brokerage that you want to keep your license under. As you are signing up, you will also have to join the local association of realtors. (Which is what gives you access to the MLS)
Expect a sign-up fee at the brokerage for them to hang your license. They’re around a few hundred dollars, and the local association start-up fee and dues are to be around $1,000 and that includes payments for the entire future year.
DISCLAIMER: The course you take will give you a great understanding of laws and regulations which are very important. Unfortunately, the education will not teach you anything about marketing, networking, using MLS, how to represent buyers, sellers, not even how to prepare comparable market analysis. You will need to rely on your research and support from other agents.
Research local brokerages to extend knowledge
That is why you want to make sure that whatever brokerage you choose will have a supportive environment that will help you grow as an agent. There are hundreds of brokerages and different franchises you can choose from. They vary widely from how much support they give you to how much they take out of your commission. I suggest that while you are studying for the exam you also start interviewing different local brokerages. Pay attention to everything, from the reputation, to support, commission splits, and office environment.
Be a solo agent or team agent
There are also two different paths that I see agents take. Some of them are confident to start on their own as a solo agent and others join an already existing team that may or may not feed them leads and in exchange requirements the agent to give up a little more of their commission for the support.
Either way, you pick - you will need to bring in your own business as well. That is why another important thing that I encourage you to do while you are getting ready to pass your license is to work on your contacts and have a strategic market plan on how you are going to broadcast to the world that you can help people buy, sell or lease their properties.
Conclusion
Having a job like being a real estate agent gives you and makes you a great deal. Real estate agents are treated as subcontractors and receive a 1099 tax form at the end of the year. As long as you comply with the licensing law and your brokerage rules and regulations - you can be your own boss.
This is because you are mainly in charge of your schedule, how much you choose to work, and how much you invest in yourself and your marketing strategies to multiply your business.
The beauty of this industry is that indeed, the sky's the limit for how much money you can make and how many great people you meet along the way and you will love it!
You will grow a sustainable livelihood in property management.
