A real estate consultant or real estate agent is a person who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate.
A real estate agent or a consultant may be operating individually or may be an organization whose business is to market real estate on behalf of clients.
Agents tend to work alone or in small groups. Scaling up from being self employed to creating systems for sales is one of the challenges in real estate agency business.
Like any professional calling, real estate is not for everyone. Although being successful in real estate might not be rocket science, but it isn’t easy to make money either. The competition is fierce since entry barriers are low. Also new agents start with unrealistic expectations like being good with people and have many friends and family who would give business. Most of these expectations fall flat in the first year itself. To be a successful real estate broker or agent, you got to set up realistic expectations.
Since real estate agents represent the interest of their clients, while doing any deal they should
- Define the client’s objective: Clear understanding of client’s investment objectives would help in sorting out the right property for the client.
- Delivery sound and frank advice which is for the interest of the client
- Suggest alternatives to client’s problems: The client might not be clear on the purchase sometimes, and may be thinking of many options. It is the job of the real estate consultant to help the client make his decisions.
- Troubleshooting and deal making: At times, the real estate agent has to be bearer of bad news, and if the market is moving against the client, if he has to pay more, it is the duty of the real estate consultant to make him aware of the correct choices. In these times, the agent’s calm attitude, client relationships would save the day.
- Guiding on financial decisions: In most cases, the equity in the house is the single biggest investment of an individual. Under these circumstances, it is important for the real estate agent or property dealer to guide the client on best properties that fit into their budget and give them maximum long term gain.
Most real estate agents begin their day by tracking market activity. If the agent is in the middle of the deals, then it involves spending time each day getting paperwork organized, explaining contract details to clients, coordinating inspections, reviewing documents and more. Working with buyers involves not only showing them properties but understanding their needs, finding suitable properties for them and gathering information to help your buyer clients to make decisions.