A real estate agent career is usually driven by one thing- money. And if you want to climb up to the top of the industry, you need the skills to make more money and get that recognition. As a real estate agent, you’re in the business of acquiring attractive listings, convincing buyers, and making the final sale. This can be an extremely lucrative career in real estate, but you need to do it right. You want to grow your business and be a successful real estate agent right? So check out these best tips for real estate agents looking to make money.
How to Make Money as a Real Estate Agent
The first thing you need to know is what you’re going up against in the US housing market. The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) estimated that there are currently about 2 million active real estate licenses throughout the country. It’s a busy industry and there are a lot of people trying to get a piece of this lucrative field. The high number of real estate agents active in the market shouldn’t scare you off- there’s plenty of sales to go around. A total of 5.67 million housing units are expected to be sold this year, so being a real estate agent is definitely a smart career choice in 2019. This is true not only for a residential real estate agent but commercial agents can also make money. Last year, commercial properties on the market valued at $74.24 billion in sales.
The fact remains, not everyone in this business is making money in real estate- or they’re not making as much as they’d like. That’s because some real estate agents rely on traditional methods of sales and aren’t developing their skills to meet the new market standards. It’s especially important for a new real estate agent to go into this business with a clear strategy on how to make enough money to obtain that glorified real estate agent salary. So here are a couple of tips to help you figure out how to make money as a real estate agent.
1) Consider Being a Buyer’s Agent
There are different things you can specialize in as a real estate agent, and some make more money than others. As a buyer’s agent, your real estate clients will be people planning on buying a house in your market. You’ll be responsible for all real estate transactions until the sale is complete so it is a time-consuming job. However, the commission made on these sales makes the time spent on the job worth it. Once you’ve found some prospective properties for sale, you take your clients and show them around. Typically, the more buyers on your list, the better your chances of making a sale.
2) Choose the Right Market
Location isn’t just an important factor for rental property investors. While there are sales to be made in every real estate market, some are more profitable than others. When wondering how to make money as a real estate agent, you need to consider the median number of home sales in your market as well as the median sales price. Because a real estate agent salary depends on factors like the number of real estate transactions and commission fees, agents can make more in certain markets. The average salary a real estate sales agent makes in the US housing market is $41,672. If that’s true, why are we hearing about agents making 6-digit salaries? That’s because some markets naturally have more home sales than others. According to an analysis conducted by Forbes, these are the five top states with the highest annual earnings for real estate agents in 2019:
- New York: $102,310
- Texas: $72,480
- Hawaii: $72,470
- Alaska: $71,030
- Rhode Island: $70,450
Here is a list of the states with the lowest annual earning for real estate agents in 2019:
- Ohio: $41,650
- Arkansas: $41,660
- Montana: $42,010
- Indiana: $43,230
- West Virginia: $45,220
Related: 5 Biggest Challenges Real Estate Agents Face Today
3) Try Selling Short Sales
You can also work on the other side of the spectrum and try being a listing agent. In this case, you’re working with the sellers of residential property in the real estate market. You help sellers by determining a profitable price for their property, then listing it for sale.
A new popular strategy among real estate agents and investors is short sales. A short sale is when a homeowner is so behind on mortgage payments, their only way out is to sell the property for an amount less than what’s owed. The lender takes all the proceeds from the sale and can choose to forgive the difference. The real estate listing agents can take on this strategy if they can handle the negotiations with banks. Commission fees will be covered by the bank/lender.
Related: The 12 Steps of a Successful Short Sale Process
4) Focus on Lead Generation
Actively seeking new leads is the key to making money as a real estate agent. You need to get new clients in real estate as this is what your salary depends on, and this is the way to increase your earnings year-over-year. When done effectively, you can generate a promising database of qualified leads which will keep your business flowing.
You want to market yourself online and make it clear to others that you’re the one to get in business with. New prospects won’t just walk in the door, you need to work hard to get real estate deals. As basically everyone conducts their business online today, it’s important for you to invest in a quality user-friendly website that draws in new clients and is informative. You should also take advantage of any real estate networking opportunities and get to know other people in your local real estate market.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Qualifying Real Estate Leads
5) Use Mashvisor’s Tools
Mashvisor has got some tools to help real estate agents in the most important aspect of their job- the leads. We just covered how important staying on top of this is. If you’re looking for something to put you over the bar, Mashboard helps real estate agents qualify leads and serve clients. What can this tool do for you?
Even if you generate enough new leads on your own, are they really ready to buy now? The Mashboard uses an algorithm that will save you time on finding qualified real estate leads. All the data you’d need on a lead is presented before you and each lead will be given a score to help you determine if they will buy. And our Property Recommender now makes it easier and faster than ever to close on the best investment property for your clients. Our algorithm provides 90% accuracy so you’ll be sure to find the perfect property for your client, close more deals, and make more money.
Want to learn more about what Mashboard can do for you? Click here.