7 Skills Real Estate Agents Will Learn and Master Through Their Work

When you choose real estate as a career path, you’re choosing to work in an industry where a wide range of skills is vital for success. As a result, new real estate agents quickly learn how to transfer existing skills to their new line of work, as well as expand on their skillset to ensure they can complete every aspect of their job.

If you’ve ever considered what you need to know and do to succeed in real estate, now is the perfect time to evaluate your own skillset. Which of the following skills do you already have, and which ones would you need to study up on?

Expert Communication Skills

Communication is key to satisfying every agent’s clients – that is, home sellers and buyers. Real estate agents must all have the ability to master different channels of communication, to deliver important information as soon as possible, and to ensure clients understand where they stand at all times.

Different channels of communication must be mastered because everyone prefers different methods for staying in touch. Real estate agents must regularly check their voicemail, email, texts, and so forth to ensure no incoming messages are missed. Agents must also respond in a timely manner to ensure no deadlines are missed and that questions are answered promptly.

Teaching and Mentoring Skills

An agent may not work in a classroom, but as an expert in their field, it will be up to them to answer questions and prepare clients for the process of buying or selling a home. What feels mundane to an agent is likely to be completely foreign to a client, especially if it’s their first time selling or buying. So someone working in real estate must be prepared to slowly educate clients about the process, answering questions and providing information that clearly lays out what to expect and do.

Adapting to New and Different Tools and Technologies

Real estate is an ever-evolving industry, and the tools and technology used to navigate it are constantly changing. That means real estate agents must always be ready to adapt to new things, too. The good news is that changes in tech-based tools are there to make life easier. So while agents may need to invest time and energy initially to learn how to use something new, that information will benefit them in the long run!

Personalization and People Skills

In real estate, clients are always the main focus. It’s especially helpful to remember that clients are individuals who deserve a personal touch. Examples of this sort of skill include the ability to remember birthdays and special milestones in a client’s life, making a note to point out something in an area of interest that matches up with a client’s hobby, and even sending pizza to a client’s house on their move-in day. These are just three ways agents can connect with clients, helping them through the real estate process now and potentially opening the door to repeat business at a future date.

In addition to connecting with clients, agents should be sure to network and connect with other professionals during their week. Networking will help agents connect both with a community of people and with resources, allowing agents to learn and improve professionally.

Time Management Skills

It may sound obvious, but it’s critical for a real estate agent to consider where their time is spent each day and week. Because agents set their own schedules, it’s entirely their responsibility to determine how long to spend doing what, as well as to arrive on time for meetings with clients. Only through time management will tasks be completed and clients kept happy!

Negotiation Skills

Negotiation is a critical part of any real estate deal, as it’s up to an agent to negotiate the best price possible for their clients. Negotiations are also likely to cover everything from closing costs to closing dates, so agents need to be able to see the “big picture” just as well as the small details of a transaction. Only by properly negotiating both will a client receive the best deal.

Additionally, agents must be prepared to help clients improve their own negotiation skills! This is likely to occur when an agent begins reviewing all of the different aspects of a pending deal. By helping clients feel more confident in their own negotiating power, agents can help them prepare for every possible outcome in a negotiation.

Marketing Skills

Marketing their real estate services is an essential part of an agent’s day. While company support and resources are often made available to individual agents, it’s still an agent’s job to market themselves locally. All real estate agents should expect to spend time learning the basics about social media, email, and brand marketing. They should also expect to learn about new marketing strategies over time, as this industry – much like real estate – is always changing!

These are some of the most crucial skills a real estate agent will need to master as they break into the profession. From communication and marketing to negotiation to time management, the types of skills required for real estate work are varied. Perhaps the most important skill of all will be the ability to learn how to do new things, as well as how to address changes that will inevitably occur in the industry. It’s this variety and change that make real estate so exciting and a great fit for those who live to learn!

Want to learn more about the work real estate agents do?

• Read this blog about a day in the life of a real estate agent
• Learn about how real estate agents choose the company they work with

Still trying to decide if this career is a good fit for you? You can:

• Answer these questions and see if you would enjoy being an agent
• Take our 10-minute assessment to find out if real estate is right for you!

At Howard Hanna, we’re dedicated to fostering the success of each individual agent. In addition to powerful brand recognition, we offer some of the real estate industry’s most advanced tools and technologies specifically to benefit our real estate agents and their clients. If you want to be the best real estate agent you can, then we invite you to make Howard Hanna your new home!