Making a career change if something that can have a huge impact on your life and your future, and for many people, the decision to start taking steps to becoming a real estate agent is the right call. Real estate agents can earn a great salary and enjoy a lot of other professional and personal perks. But, it’s important to remember that the process will take time.
It’s not an easy field to thrive in, and many who become an agent will end up failing – often due to their own misunderstandings about how to succeed. The first step to success, however, is knowing just what you need to do in order to become an agent. There are numerous steps to becoming a real estate agent, and understanding them will help you mentally prepare yourself for the process and ensure that you don’t give up before you earn your license and enter the field.
Why Take Steps To Becoming A Real Estate Agent?
Before you start looking into the steps to becoming a real estate agent, it’s well worth understanding more about just why the process is so worthwhile. After all, there are numerous steps to becoming a real estate agent and the process takes time and effort. But, for many, the outcome is well worth it. Consider some of the benefits of making this career change:
- Better salary potential – top agents can earn far over national average
- More flexibility and freedom with your schedule and life
- More personal satisfaction and pride in what you do
While it’s true that not everyone is able to find success at being a real estate agent, the key is putting in hard work and effort. For those who can master the skills needed to thrive as an agent, it’s a path that could hold huge rewards. As such, taking the steps to becoming a real estate agent is something that everyone wanting a brighter future should consider.
The Main Steps To Becoming A Real Estate Agent
So, with all of this in mind, just what are the main steps to becoming a real estate agent? Luckily, there really aren’t that many – and only one takes a tremendous amount of time – the education phase. Still, knowing what to expect from the process will be the key to success since you can mentally and physically prepare yourself for earning your license and becoming a real estate agent. Here’s a rundown of the main steps to becoming a real estate agent.
1. Understand The Requirements – Before you take any additional steps, learn your state’s particular requirements. Every state is different in some ways, and it’s worth understanding any particular differences where you live. Take a few minutes to review the basics – things like your age being 18 or 19 and having residency in your state for a certain period of time.
2. Enroll in and Complete Your Prelicensing Course– This step is the most important as it lays the foundation for your success or failure at getting your license and at succeeding in your career. The pre-licensing training is, quite literally, real estate school. It is here that you’ll learn all of the fundamentals to working in the field – things like real estate principles and practices, ethics, state laws and other legal aspects of buying and selling real estate, and more. These courses give you the skills to not only pass your licensure exam but to work in the field and handle all of your job duties. Each state has its own requirements as to how long the training takes, ranging from 60 hours up to 150 or more hours.
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3. Take The Exam – Once that you complete your prelicensure course, the next step is to sign up for the license in state-specific usually have federal and state specific laws and will be multiple choice in nature. You may take the test as frequently as you want over a 2-year period, so if you don’t pass at first it’s important not to give up.
4. Activate Your License And Join A Brokerage– You may have to activate your license through the real estate commission’s website for your state. Activation fees will vary depending on where you live. Once you do this, you’ll want to join a brokerage. Brokers are experienced real estate agents who are licensed to own their own business and to oversee real estate agents and their activities. This is the entry point into the field.
It’s also worth noting that you can almost always enroll in a real estate prelicensure course online. Today’s schools offer virtually the entire program over the internet, making it easier than ever for those who want to take steps to becoming a real estate agent to do just that without having to struggle to fit the education into their daily schedule.
It’s an easy, straightforward way for busy people to start changing their lives and working towards a better future.
Different Everywhere, But Still The Same
Additionally, those considering taking the steps to becoming a real estate agent should also note that every state has its own unique requirements in place. However, while certain specifics are different, the main steps will remain the same. The biggest difference is that certain states will have different educational requirements – some may require 90 hours of education, others may require 130 or even 150.
The process after you sit for your exam may differ slightly from state to state, as well. Some may require that real estate agents have a sponsoring broker or that they work in a brokerage for a set number of months before becoming a realtor, for example. As mentioned above, learning all of the specific requirements that your state has in place will be the key to determining just what steps to becoming a real estate agent you’ll need to plan on taking. There are small differences from location to location, but the general process remains the same throughout the country.