he ways that engineers, engineers, and administrators configuration ventures, draw in occupants, oversee expenses, and measure achievement are each flexing as urban areas change and ages make enormous moves in living propensities.
We've watched a few patterns in the business real estate industry, including multifamily private markets. Notwithstanding our on-the-record point of view on the multifamily investing enhancement war and the progressions that multifamily designers are seeing in LEED, we reviewed our group of customer advancement chiefs, modelers, architects, and building researchers.
Here are a couple of patterns that will affect real estate ventures and maintainability techniques in 2019 and past.
1. Twenty to thirty year olds are moving out of their folks' homes. The pattern of living with the parent topped in 2016, and now Millennials are moving out, regularly to multifamily improvements. This is uplifting news for administrators as homeownership increments, making opening. A solid economy will keep the Millennials in courtesy rich loft networks. Will they move back in with their folks if the market takes a downturn? They probably won't have the option to, and here's the reason:
2. People born after WW2 are scaling back. Gen X-ers are selling their homes, migrating from rural family-accommodating neighborhoods to urban improvements, and grasping thickness and city life. As tenants, this gathering expects their multifamily networks to address health and zen-like open doors for self-awareness. NMHC thinks people born after WW2 will request 4.6 million new condos by 2030. They will need enough space to engage in light of the fact that…
3. Twenty to thirty year olds are having Babies. People born after WW2 - and indeed, even some in Generation X- - are getting to be grandparents as their Millennial children are beginning groups of their own. So while Millennials are moving out of their folks' homes and into multifamily advancements, the improvements that they need are in auxiliary and rural networks where they can manage the cost of bigger, progressively reasonable space. This implies they'll be searching for blended utilize rural areas with a touch of urbanism, just as travel arranged advancements so they can get the chance to work in urban business focuses. Talking about employments…
4. Reasonableness difficulties persevere. Multifamily improvements are being pushed to urban focuses where bigger edifices bode well. Of the 358,000 multifamily units worked in 2017, 187,000 have at least 50 units. Just 27,000 new units have 2-9 units, down from 288,000 of every 1973.
In a supposition piece for Bloomberg, journalist Justin Fox ascribes this move to various variables, as a matter of first importance the ascent of NIMBY legislative issues in property holder commanded rural territories.
We are seeing harder privileges forms in rural zones, however urban areas like Seattle are attempting to boost all the more little condo structures, so we can densify suburbia.
It is safe to say that you are creating workforce lodging? This is "reasonable" lodging for working individuals that objectives basic laborers like police, firemen, educators, medical attendants, and administration laborers. Workforce lodging improvements are in intense interest zones and can be situated close business focuses, which are frequently too costly a business opportunity for these basic laborers to pick. Talking about reasonableness…
5. Auxiliary markets are hot. Designers are moving out of essential markets and expanding improvement in auxiliary markets. There aren't sufficient worth include properties left in essential markets, so financial specialists are looking somewhere else, for example, Austin, Texas, Phoenix, Kansas City, Mo., and Salt Lake City.
6. Multifamily development is easing back. You'll see less new multifamily advancements under development on account of speculator alert from 2017 opening. In any case, while the opportunities are rising, they are lower than recorded midpoints and the multifamily market is still very solid.
7. Server farms and the green cloud. Changes to working environment configuration are well-reported, and work environment innovation is changing alongside it. Distributed computing has changed information the executives for the endeavor, and now distributed computing is getting greener as server farms respond to the call to lessen their carbon impression.
The ascent of distributed computing has finished in enormous scale open cloud server farms, additionally called "hyperscale server farms," which have huge vitality necessities. By 2021, we are relied upon to have 628 hyperscale server farms internationally, contrasted with 338 out of 2016.
To relieve the power prerequisites of these server farms, you can anticipate an expansion in maintainable practices. For instance, Paladino's cloud supplier, Wowrack, utilizes hydro power and siphons in crisp outside air (not A/C treated) to give free cooling to the servers in the server farm, on everything except the most sultry days.
8. The period of net zero carbon is here. This year points a significant move in the jargon of supportability in real estate. Net zero recently referenced net zero vitality, and now it progressively references net zero carbon too.
Net zero carbon is characterized as accomplishing net zero carbon outflows by adjusting a deliberate measure of carbon discharged with a comparable sum sequestered or balance, or purchasing enough carbon credits to compensate for any shortfall. This move will change the manner in which organizations and governments measure their ecological effect, and the manner in which that vitality and carbon are tended to in the constructed environment.\
As indicated by Senior Consultant, Nash Emrich, "The discussion is moving from vitality use to carbon impression of structures, prompting an expansion in typified carbon computations of materials and existing structures, just as more interest for structure lifecycle carbon effect examinations".
Paladino's vitality modelers and building researchers are as of now working with customers to address carbon as an extended piece of their net zero objectives.
Related: multifamily investing properties
9. Manageability suggestions ahead. From a maintainability point of view, these patterns indicate an interest for travel arranged improvement and new calculations for stopping; wellbeing and supportability highlights, approved by outsider affirmations; luxuries that contend with homeownership; and expanded strain to incorporate moderate lodging in every advancement. Furthermore, as we've recently anticipated, social network is on the luxury list for Millennials, and wellbeing needs are on the rundown for people born after WW2.
10. Manageability pioneers are respecting another time of humanism. Informing will progress from an emphasis on natural effect, which has not inspired business markets to alleviate environmental change, to an increasingly human-focused story, with accounts of affected individuals and organizations, alongside examples of overcoming adversity of more beneficial, more joyful individuals in reasonable networks. This move ought to motivate another age of manageability pioneers to grow environmentally remedial urban communities.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
How Real Estate Agent can grow his/her Business?
Being a successful real estate agent relies heavily on your marketing strategy. Without a top-notch real estate marketing strategy, you’ll never generate enough qualified leads to grow your business.
There are plenty of great marketing ideas out there, but what are the top strategies that every agent should be using? We’ve put together a list of 6 strategies that have proven to be effective for many top agents in the US housing market. Take a look:
#1 Marketing for Active Listings
Your real estate marketing strategy for active listings should include a two-point approach- visuals and content. One of the most common marketing tips for real estate agents is to use professional photography to advertise and market active listings. Hiring a photographer, investing in virtual/3D tours and even drone photography can really amplify your marketing strategy.
While this is a good tip, something that is so often overlooked is the actual content in the listing. In fact, when NAR looked at profiles of homebuyers on their site, 87% of online property buyers said the images were helpful in their purchase and 85% found the detailed description to be useful. So it’s true that images of a property attract potential buyers and without them, you can lose qualified leads who are ready to buy property this instant. But after looking at the images, a serious property buyer is going to be looking at the content as well and deems it equally important.
While the facts- square footage, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, etc.- need to be listed clearly and plainly in real estate ads, you should also work to create a story within your listing. Don’t just list features but try to be a bit more creative to allow potential clients to envision themselves living in the home. This is, of course, if your target client is a homebuyer. However, even if you’re looking for real estate investors, they too will look to the description to make sure it will attract future tenants and rake in rental income.
It’s not easy to get creative with real estate ads. The first step you can take is to look to other listings. You’ll find most of them follow the same formula, but sifting through enough listings of top real estate agents in your area, you’re likely to find the ones that stand out creatively. Take note of what these agents are doing differently for this aspect of their real estate marketing strategy and try to apply it to your unique listings.
#2 Content Marketing
Did you know that content marketing can generate 3 times the amount of leads that paid promotions can? Take advantage of this fact by producing content. Here are two ways to use this strategy:
Create a Blog on Your Real Estate Agent Website
One of the best real estate marketing strategies revolves around producing content. And your listing’s content is not enough. Having a real estate blog on your website can be a great resource for online lead generation.
It comes back to your pipeline that starts with real estate leads that aren’t ready for buying, selling, or investing in multifamily property just yet. These leads are just starting their journey; they’re only toying with the idea of buying a property. These leads get no value from active listings. Instead, they’re looking to learn about the buying process or the real estate market in general. With valuable content, you nurture them and may even push them into the next stage in your pipeline.
Not only do you help your real estate lead generation with this marketing strategy, but you also market your expertise. Sharing blogs with helpful tips or important updates on the market with your insider knowledge will imprint you in the reader’s mind as a local expert and that’s exactly what you need. When this reader is finally ready to make a move and work with a real estate agent, you’re more likely to be on their mind.
While valuable content is key to this real estate marketing strategy, you’ll also have to learn a little about SEO and how to optimize your content for Google. However, taking this step, even if it’s complicated at first, will surely boost your real estate agent career.
Send Out a Newsletter
Another key form of content is a newsletter. While blog posts can reach out to leads in that first stage of the pipeline, a newsletter can have even further reach. Maintaining relationships with past clients in hopes they’ll bring repeat business or real estate referrals can be done through this marketing strategy. Sending listings, sharing content unique to the newsletter, informing your email list about local market trends and updates, and even sharing the content of others (while crediting sources) can help nurture these relationships. Don’t forget to use images and make your newsletter visually appealing to invite leads to read and reach out for further engagement.
#3 Automated Email Marketing
Creating valuable content in its different forms and posting it to your website is one element of real estate marketing. As mentioned with your newsletter, you need to be sending this content out to your email list to ensure it reaches the greatest audience and is effective in generating leads.
Need more leads? Mashvisor’s lead generation program is the answer. Schedule a demo to learn more.
Not only should you be sharing content through email, but with an organized email list, you can send all sorts of updates and information automatically. For example, when someone first registers on your real estate agent website, they should receive a short and friendly welcome email. Next in the email campaign can come a kind of “get to know you” email with a few basic questions to learn about this real estate lead. Eventually, things will move from automation to actual conversations with the lead. This is an effective tactic for your lead generation strategy that saves a lot of time thanks to templates and automation.
#4 Social Media Marketing
We’re not too far off from 2019 so if you haven’t incorporated social media as one of your key real estate marketing strategies, get on it. It’s not enough to set up profiles on the different platforms and just post listings from time to time. For invaluable online lead generation through social media marketing, you need to use these platforms effectively. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your social media marketing:
Tip #1: Use videos often. In a study done for video marketing, it was found that product videos help 90% of consumers with their purchasing decisions. An easy, go-to “product” video idea is real estate client testimonials. Have clients talk about the success they found with your services. Instead of waiting for real estate referrals, this will be a different way to get “referrals” from a much larger audience on social media websites. Be sure to have the client highlight how you were able to match them with the best property for them. Not only will videos help generate more leads, but they were found to get 1200% more social shares than just text and images!
Looking for the best way to match properties to real estate clients? Mashvisor’s agent dashboard and property finder can help you achieve this. To learn more, schedule a demo.
Tip #2: Join local real estate groups on Facebook. This can be a great real estate marketing strategy if you’re active within the group. Answer questions of curious homeowners about the market, share listings when prompted, and provide value when the opportunity comes up. You will be generating leads and referrals in no time.
Tip #3: Don’t forget to share your content to be sure that leads who don’t land on your site organically find it through social media. Respond to any comments and inquiries on your posts. Sharing the content of others can also be useful as well. Even engaging on posts from other pages can help with real estate lead generation. The bottom line- be active.
Tip #4: Consider paying for Facebook Ads or Instagram Promotions. These will help you reach a wider audience on social media beyond your followers and typically can have a good ROI if done right.
Of course, your social media marketing strategy won’t end there. Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn- be sure you’re hitting all the sites and using their unique features to market your real estate agent services.
Related: Multifamily market data analyzed
#5 PR Marketing Strategy
It’s one thing to post your own content and claim to be a real estate expert. It’s another when an external media outlet is quoting you as one. When you work on your PR marketing strategy by reaching out to different blogs and real estate websites, it’s much more effective in building your reputation as an expert to boost lead generation.
A lot of websites cater to homebuyers and real estate investors looking to buy/sell property. While they typically have their own experts on hand, most won’t turn away a quote from a real estate agent on the subject. Not only does it make their information look more reliable, but it markets you to a wider audience. When they share it on their social media, you get even more exposure. And when you share it on yours, you look better and better in the eyes of potential real estate clients and prospects.
This real estate marketing strategy will take some work as you will have to figure out which sites want your help and reach out to them. Your networking skills will come in handy, no doubt. But an easy way is to sign up to a site like HARO, which allows you to submit answers to different questions. When you’re quotes are selected, the media source will link back to your site as well. This is also great for helping with Google ranks for your site, a key part of real estate marketing for agents.
Bonus Strategy: #6 Free Online Marketing
If you work on your PR or social media marketing strategy, it can essentially be free online marketing. But there are other free options to explore as well that you may have missed. Mashvisor offers agents free profiles to use as one of their real estate market strategies. When you visit Mashvisor and claim your free agent profile, you have a place to post valuable content, and an SEO-friendly page that will be found easily by leads when they are searching for agents online. This is crucial to your marketing strategy when your website doesn’t hold any weight with Google if it’s too new or you aren’t versed in SEO.
The Best Tip for Your Real Estate Marketing Strategies
Track your different real estate marketing strategies. You want to know what is working and effective in generating more leads and what is not, especially for those that you are paying for. While tracking might not always be easy when it comes to using different tools like Google Analytics and the like, it is a must for a real estate agent.
It will require testing, but incorporating variations of the 5 real estate marketing strategies listed above are a sure-fire way to always have incoming leads for your business. If you’re still wondering how to grow your business, and you’re not using one of them, then you now know what to do.
Investing In Multifamily Real Estate: The Ultimate Guide
Doubtlessly when beginning with real estate contributing, that solitary family homes will speak to an a lot of your core interest. Figuring out how to gain, revamp, sell — even set up a repetitive investment property salary — is a phenomenal method to become familiar with the nuts and bolts of the real estate contributing exchange.
Be that as it may, eventually, on the off chance that you need to add genuine lift to your income, you'll need to investigate adding multifamily contributing to your portfolio. The reason is straightforward: putting resources into multi family properties gives you a chance to support your salary while decreasing opportunity rates.
Putting resources into multifamily real estate will demonstrate to be an exceptional encounter when contrasted with structure an arrangement of single-family properties. Audit the tips underneath to increase a superior feeling of how to put resources into multifamily real estate, and what to remember while you begin:
Locate Your half
The most ideal approach to look over potential arrangements is to do the math and decide (around) how much a particular multifamily property can make you as a proprietor. You do this by computing the distinction between anticipated salary (lease installments, stockpiling charges, stopping charges) and costs (fixes, support, and so on.)
When you don't approach some data, for example, an unmistakable neighborhood comp, you can utilize the half rule. Just take the normal salary and HALVE it, this at that point turns into your evaluated cost number. The contrast between your assessed month to month pay and evaluated month to month cost is your net working salary (NOI).
Compute Your Cash Flow
The evaluated home loan installments are brought into the condition in this subsequent stage, by ascertaining your assessed month to month income. To discover how a lot of cash you'll really be placing into your wallet on a progressing premise, you need to subtract the month to month contract installment from the NOI of your planned multi family property. This computation will furnish you with your income gauge, helping you decide if the investment will be beneficial.
Make sense of Your Cap Rate
A third basic count to retain is the capitalization rate, or top rate for short, which shows how rapidly you will get an arrival on your investment. It's critical to recall two things: one, the top rate for a "protected" investment, for example, an authentication of store (CD), is normally in the low 1-2% territory. Two, this top rate you're going to ascertain doesn't consider calculates, for example, builds property estimation, supports in month to month NOI, or the many tax reductions stood to proprietors of multi family properties.
To figure top rate, everything you do is take your month to month NOI, duplicate it by 12 (to get the yearly number), and after that separation that number by the complete home loan sum. The key thing to comprehend about top rate is that higher isn't in every case better. A higher top rate for the most part indicates higher hazard and higher return. While a lower top rate, on the other hand, shows a lower hazard and lower return.
A decent dependable guideline is to go for a top rate in the 5%-10% territory. Anything lower and the investment might not have enough yield, anything higher and you need to make certain you see every one of the dangers related with the investment.
Easygoing window looking for real estate is pleasant to do on a Sunday evening, yet multifamily investing requires substantially more than perusing your neighborhood open house. For speculators, it requires a sensible measure of due perseverance that won't just incorporate finding a property underneath market esteem, yet additionally initiating endeavors to investigate and evaluate its budgetary reasonableness.
Alongside the genuine hustle of finding alleged property, it takes a mix of things to guarantee a quality real estate bargain. As a rule, the hunt will start by finding a potential property and after that contrasting buy costs, short-and-long haul expenses, and rental assessments. While this will by and large conjecture a rough approximation of what financial specialists can anticipate, it's dependent upon them to proceed with their due steadiness and refine those numbers to guarantee achievement. Since putting resources into multifamily properties requires somewhat more consideration than other real estate bargains, a financial specialist's first concern ought to consistently be on the numbers. These money related figures won't just uncover the genuine estimation of an investment property, yet uncover its primary concern. Notwithstanding the numbers, there is a choice of fundamental factors that can, and will, impact multifamily investing.
For those hoping to put resources into a multifamily investment bargain, the pursuit starts with the accompanying agenda:
The Location
It's been said ordinarily previously, yet area is absolutely critical for real estate financial specialists, and significantly more so when putting resources into multifamily properties. With progressively occupants, every single unit should speak to leaseholders; area is commonly the most wanted criteria. When putting resources into multifamily properties, speculators should focus on high-development, high return regions where properties are in intense interest, well-looked after neighborhoods.
The Total Number of Units
The subsequent stage is to assess the property in general. Financial specialists should think about the measure of units on the property, including the quantity of rooms in every unit. Amateur speculators should start their real estate search concentrated on three sorts of multifamily properties: the duplex (two units), triplex (three units), and four-plex (four units). These kinds of properties not just offer the most upside with minimal measure of hazard for novice speculators, yet they are commonly increasingly moderate.
Related: best guide for real estate agent vs brokers
The Potential Income
The following stage is deciding the pay a property can accumulate. Locales like Rentometer.com or Craigslist are useful hotspots at confirming rental costs and pay, yet financial specialists should rehearse due industriousness, mulling over everything.
For those hoping to stay traditionalist, the 50 percent guideline is a general proposal: 50 percent of a real estate investment's pay ought to be spent on costs — not the home loan. While excessively gentle of a methodology for a few, it's a decent general guideline for fledgling financial specialists.
The Costs
Each circumstance will contrast when financing real estate, particularly multifamily properties. For instance, the speculator may live in one of the units while leasing the other, which would enable them to meet all requirements for proprietor involved financing. This implies the salary from the subsequent unit will be calculated into the loan specialist's passing proportion. Speculators need to likewise consider their FICO assessment when thinking about financing alternatives, as this significant number will enormously impact the passing procedure. As a rule, moneylenders will take a gander at three parts: credit, obligation to-pay proportion, and initial installment.
The Seller
There would one say one is more question when assessing potential multifamily properties is: who's selling the spot? Since the price tag can fluctuate incredibly relying upon the vender and their inspiration, it's basic for financial specialists to increase a comprehension of who they're managing. A bank-possessed property is managed much uniquely in contrast to an available to be purchased by-proprietor property, which means there's potential for cost investment funds.
Putting resources into single family versus multi family properties keeps on being one of the extraordinary discussions in the realm of real estate contributing. While every offer a few convincing favorable circumstances, each side speaks to an altogether different leave technique for financial specialists, including the board style and pay earned. Since these properties are seen distinctively by speculators, safety net providers and banks, fathoming the intricate details of multifamily and single-family properties is basic for progress.
For those considering diving in and putting resources into multifamily properties or single-family properties, it's essential to comprehend which investment vehicles do what. Choosing single-family or multifamily properties is to a great extent about close to home inclination and objectives, and the accompanying will clarify the significant contrasts between the two investments, including the different favorable circumstances and impediments of every system. On the off chance that you are searching for a response for the single-family versus multi family banter, I urge you to continue perusing.
Related article: Multifamily market analyzed
A multifamily property, once in a while alluded to as a multidwelling unit (MDU), is a sort of private lodging with at least two units under one rooftop or a few structures inside one complex. They are for the most part contained numerous designs, with the most well-known models being duplexes, townhouses, and a few kinds of apartment suites. Every unit will in general have its very own living space, a different kitchen and restroom. Despite the fact that the definition contrasts from circumstance to circumstance, a multi family property will for the most part comprise of owning a blend of the property and the arrive on one recorded deed. Now and again, it very well may be possessed by at least one gatherings.
While they are the least regular sort of private structures, putting resources into multifamily properties are an enormously good procedure among speculators because of their extra wellspring of month to month pay, alongside moderate yet enduring appreciation. As a financial specialist, the benefits of owning a multifamily property include:
Greater Cash Flow: If a solitary family property creates a solitary month to month salary, why not put resources into a multifamily property delivering numerous types of month to month pay? While the charm of putting resources into multifamily properties is anything but difficult to see, these investments speak to an imaginative chance to produce extra pay from one investment. What's more, speculators may choose to live in one unit, and lease th
Be that as it may, eventually, on the off chance that you need to add genuine lift to your income, you'll need to investigate adding multifamily contributing to your portfolio. The reason is straightforward: putting resources into multi family properties gives you a chance to support your salary while decreasing opportunity rates.
Tips For Investing In Multifamily Real Estate
Putting resources into multifamily real estate will demonstrate to be an exceptional encounter when contrasted with structure an arrangement of single-family properties. Audit the tips underneath to increase a superior feeling of how to put resources into multifamily real estate, and what to remember while you begin:
Locate Your half
The most ideal approach to look over potential arrangements is to do the math and decide (around) how much a particular multifamily property can make you as a proprietor. You do this by computing the distinction between anticipated salary (lease installments, stockpiling charges, stopping charges) and costs (fixes, support, and so on.)
When you don't approach some data, for example, an unmistakable neighborhood comp, you can utilize the half rule. Just take the normal salary and HALVE it, this at that point turns into your evaluated cost number. The contrast between your assessed month to month pay and evaluated month to month cost is your net working salary (NOI).
Compute Your Cash Flow
The evaluated home loan installments are brought into the condition in this subsequent stage, by ascertaining your assessed month to month income. To discover how a lot of cash you'll really be placing into your wallet on a progressing premise, you need to subtract the month to month contract installment from the NOI of your planned multi family property. This computation will furnish you with your income gauge, helping you decide if the investment will be beneficial.
Make sense of Your Cap Rate
A third basic count to retain is the capitalization rate, or top rate for short, which shows how rapidly you will get an arrival on your investment. It's critical to recall two things: one, the top rate for a "protected" investment, for example, an authentication of store (CD), is normally in the low 1-2% territory. Two, this top rate you're going to ascertain doesn't consider calculates, for example, builds property estimation, supports in month to month NOI, or the many tax reductions stood to proprietors of multi family properties.
To figure top rate, everything you do is take your month to month NOI, duplicate it by 12 (to get the yearly number), and after that separation that number by the complete home loan sum. The key thing to comprehend about top rate is that higher isn't in every case better. A higher top rate for the most part indicates higher hazard and higher return. While a lower top rate, on the other hand, shows a lower hazard and lower return.
A decent dependable guideline is to go for a top rate in the 5%-10% territory. Anything lower and the investment might not have enough yield, anything higher and you need to make certain you see every one of the dangers related with the investment.
What To Look For When Investing In Multifamily Properties
Easygoing window looking for real estate is pleasant to do on a Sunday evening, yet multifamily investing requires substantially more than perusing your neighborhood open house. For speculators, it requires a sensible measure of due perseverance that won't just incorporate finding a property underneath market esteem, yet additionally initiating endeavors to investigate and evaluate its budgetary reasonableness.
Alongside the genuine hustle of finding alleged property, it takes a mix of things to guarantee a quality real estate bargain. As a rule, the hunt will start by finding a potential property and after that contrasting buy costs, short-and-long haul expenses, and rental assessments. While this will by and large conjecture a rough approximation of what financial specialists can anticipate, it's dependent upon them to proceed with their due steadiness and refine those numbers to guarantee achievement. Since putting resources into multifamily properties requires somewhat more consideration than other real estate bargains, a financial specialist's first concern ought to consistently be on the numbers. These money related figures won't just uncover the genuine estimation of an investment property, yet uncover its primary concern. Notwithstanding the numbers, there is a choice of fundamental factors that can, and will, impact multifamily investing.
For those hoping to put resources into a multifamily investment bargain, the pursuit starts with the accompanying agenda:
The Location
It's been said ordinarily previously, yet area is absolutely critical for real estate financial specialists, and significantly more so when putting resources into multifamily properties. With progressively occupants, every single unit should speak to leaseholders; area is commonly the most wanted criteria. When putting resources into multifamily properties, speculators should focus on high-development, high return regions where properties are in intense interest, well-looked after neighborhoods.
The Total Number of Units
The subsequent stage is to assess the property in general. Financial specialists should think about the measure of units on the property, including the quantity of rooms in every unit. Amateur speculators should start their real estate search concentrated on three sorts of multifamily properties: the duplex (two units), triplex (three units), and four-plex (four units). These kinds of properties not just offer the most upside with minimal measure of hazard for novice speculators, yet they are commonly increasingly moderate.
Related: best guide for real estate agent vs brokers
The Potential Income
The following stage is deciding the pay a property can accumulate. Locales like Rentometer.com or Craigslist are useful hotspots at confirming rental costs and pay, yet financial specialists should rehearse due industriousness, mulling over everything.
For those hoping to stay traditionalist, the 50 percent guideline is a general proposal: 50 percent of a real estate investment's pay ought to be spent on costs — not the home loan. While excessively gentle of a methodology for a few, it's a decent general guideline for fledgling financial specialists.
The Costs
Each circumstance will contrast when financing real estate, particularly multifamily properties. For instance, the speculator may live in one of the units while leasing the other, which would enable them to meet all requirements for proprietor involved financing. This implies the salary from the subsequent unit will be calculated into the loan specialist's passing proportion. Speculators need to likewise consider their FICO assessment when thinking about financing alternatives, as this significant number will enormously impact the passing procedure. As a rule, moneylenders will take a gander at three parts: credit, obligation to-pay proportion, and initial installment.
The Seller
There would one say one is more question when assessing potential multifamily properties is: who's selling the spot? Since the price tag can fluctuate incredibly relying upon the vender and their inspiration, it's basic for financial specialists to increase a comprehension of who they're managing. A bank-possessed property is managed much uniquely in contrast to an available to be purchased by-proprietor property, which means there's potential for cost investment funds.
Single Family versus Multi Family Investing
Putting resources into single family versus multi family properties keeps on being one of the extraordinary discussions in the realm of real estate contributing. While every offer a few convincing favorable circumstances, each side speaks to an altogether different leave technique for financial specialists, including the board style and pay earned. Since these properties are seen distinctively by speculators, safety net providers and banks, fathoming the intricate details of multifamily and single-family properties is basic for progress.
For those considering diving in and putting resources into multifamily properties or single-family properties, it's essential to comprehend which investment vehicles do what. Choosing single-family or multifamily properties is to a great extent about close to home inclination and objectives, and the accompanying will clarify the significant contrasts between the two investments, including the different favorable circumstances and impediments of every system. On the off chance that you are searching for a response for the single-family versus multi family banter, I urge you to continue perusing.
Related article: Multifamily market analyzed
Multifamily Investing Benefits
A multifamily property, once in a while alluded to as a multidwelling unit (MDU), is a sort of private lodging with at least two units under one rooftop or a few structures inside one complex. They are for the most part contained numerous designs, with the most well-known models being duplexes, townhouses, and a few kinds of apartment suites. Every unit will in general have its very own living space, a different kitchen and restroom. Despite the fact that the definition contrasts from circumstance to circumstance, a multi family property will for the most part comprise of owning a blend of the property and the arrive on one recorded deed. Now and again, it very well may be possessed by at least one gatherings.
While they are the least regular sort of private structures, putting resources into multifamily properties are an enormously good procedure among speculators because of their extra wellspring of month to month pay, alongside moderate yet enduring appreciation. As a financial specialist, the benefits of owning a multifamily property include:
Greater Cash Flow: If a solitary family property creates a solitary month to month salary, why not put resources into a multifamily property delivering numerous types of month to month pay? While the charm of putting resources into multifamily properties is anything but difficult to see, these investments speak to an imaginative chance to produce extra pay from one investment. What's more, speculators may choose to live in one unit, and lease th
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
(Guide) What Is a Real Estate Broker vs Real Estate Agent—and Who Should You Hire?
What is a real estate broker? Many people think that real estate agent and real estate broker are interchangeable titles, but there are actually key differences. Here’s what you need to know.
Each state sets its own education and exam requirements. The extra coursework covers topics such as ethics, contracts, taxes, and insurance—at a more in-depth level than what’s taught in a real estate agent prelicensing course. Prospective brokers also learn about real estate legal issues and how the law applies to operating a brokerage, real estate investments, construction, and property management.
To sit for the broker’s exam and obtain licensure, real estate agents must have a certain level of experience under their belt—typically, three years as a licensed real estate agent.
Principal/designated broker: Each real estate office has a principal/designated broker. This person oversees all licensed real estate agents at the firm and ensures that agents are operating in compliance with state and national real estate law. Consequently, this person is in charge of reviewing all real estate contracts.
A principal broker is also often tasked with resolving transaction disputes with other brokerages (say, a disagreement over a home inspection),
says Baxter. Hence, “oftentimes if an agent is having an issue with
another agent in a transaction, it is common for the broker of that
agent to reach out to the cooperating agent's broker to discuss the
issues and determine a resolution,” says Baxter.
Managing broker: This person
oversees the day-to-day operation of the office and typically takes a
hands-on approach to hiring agents, training new agents, and managing
administrative staff. (Note: Some principal/designated brokers also
serve as managing brokers.)
Associate broker: This real estate professional—sometimes called a broker associate, broker-salesperson, or affiliate broker—has a broker's license but is working under a managing broker. This person typically is not responsible for supervising other agents.
Still, there are some drawbacks to using a real estate broker over an agent. If someone is a managing broker, the person might be busy overseeing other real estate agents and, in turn, not have as much time to spend with you as an agent would. Also, some real estate brokers spend a lot of time in the office, which can make them less intimately knowledgeable about the local housing market. And, because they’re more experienced than a lot of other agents, real estate brokers may be less likely to be flexible on their commissions. However, you have to consider what you’re paying for—if a broker can help you sell your home for significantly more money, it might be worth the extra cost.
What is a real estate broker?
A real estate broker is someone who has taken education beyond the agent level as required by state laws and passed a broker’s license exam, says Jennifer Baxter, a broker at Re/Max Regency in Suwanee, GA.
Each state sets its own education and exam requirements. The extra coursework covers topics such as ethics, contracts, taxes, and insurance—at a more in-depth level than what’s taught in a real estate agent prelicensing course. Prospective brokers also learn about real estate legal issues and how the law applies to operating a brokerage, real estate investments, construction, and property management.
To sit for the broker’s exam and obtain licensure, real estate agents must have a certain level of experience under their belt—typically, three years as a licensed real estate agent.
Types of real estate brokers
There are a few types of real estate brokers, each with subtle differences in the role they perform.
Principal/designated broker: Each real estate office has a principal/designated broker. This person oversees all licensed real estate agents at the firm and ensures that agents are operating in compliance with state and national real estate law. Consequently, this person is in charge of reviewing all real estate contracts.
Like
real estate agents, principal brokers get paid on commission—taking a
cut of the commissions of the sales agents they supervise (although many
principal brokers receive an annual base salary). Consequently, their
earnings can fluctuate from month to month, depending on the volume and
types of transactions completed by the agents at the firm. However,
broker-owners make on average $102,200 a year, while a real estate agent
earns only about $30,000 a year, according to a National Association of
Realtors® survey.
Associate broker: This real estate professional—sometimes called a broker associate, broker-salesperson, or affiliate broker—has a broker's license but is working under a managing broker. This person typically is not responsible for supervising other agents.
The pros and cons of working with a real estate broker
Generally, principal brokers don’t work directly with clients, but managing and associate brokers do. One of the main benefits of working with a licensed broker instead of an agent is that you’re typically working with someone who has more experience, says Peggy Yee, a supervising broker at Frankly Realtors in Vienna, VA. That experience can come in handy if you’re trying to navigate a more complex transaction, like buying a foreclosure or selling your home as a short sale. Real estate brokers are also typically very knowledgeable about real estate law.
Still, there are some drawbacks to using a real estate broker over an agent. If someone is a managing broker, the person might be busy overseeing other real estate agents and, in turn, not have as much time to spend with you as an agent would. Also, some real estate brokers spend a lot of time in the office, which can make them less intimately knowledgeable about the local housing market. And, because they’re more experienced than a lot of other agents, real estate brokers may be less likely to be flexible on their commissions. However, you have to consider what you’re paying for—if a broker can help you sell your home for significantly more money, it might be worth the extra cost.
How to find a good real estate broker
Of course, not all real estate brokers are created equal. So, when you’re interviewing a prospective broker, make sure you ask the same basic questions you’d ask a prospective agent:
- How long have you been in real estate?
- How long have you lived in this area?
- What is your schedule?
- Do you have any vacations planned?
Real Estate Agent vs Broker: The Differences Explained (Complete Guide) in 2019
A real estate agent is anyone who has earned a real estate license. A
real estate broker is an agent who has also passed their broker license
exam. The primary difference between a real estate agent and broker is
that a broker can own a real estate firm or hire agents to work for
them.
The five major types of real estate agents are:
A listing agent is an agent who represents a homeowner in the sale of their home. Listing agents, therefore, have a duty to represent their seller’s best interests and get them the best possible contract terms. In cases where the buyer does not have their own agent, a listing agent can become a dual agent or, in some states, a transactional agent. See below for more information on these roles.
In contrast to a listing agent, a buyer’s agent represents homebuyers in their search for and purchase of a home. For that reason, buyer’s agents are invested in their client’s interest throughout the entire buying process; they must put the buyer’s priorities ahead of the seller’s. As part of this responsibility, a buyer’s agent helps purchasers negotiate the best possible price for real estate and assists them through due diligence and closing.
A dual agent is one who represents both the buyer and the seller in a real estate transaction. Dual agency can also arise when the listing agent and the buyer’s agent work for the same real estate broker; this is because it is the broker who defines the agent relationship to the client. However, dual agency is not legal in all states and can cause conflicts of interest. For that reason, many homebuyers and sellers use an exclusive agent who will represent only their interests.
When a buyer is not represented by their own exclusive agent, the listing agent may have to write an offer for them. In states where dual agency is not legal, a listing agent can elect to become a transaction agent. Under these circumstances, the agent doesn’t represent the buyer or the seller and, instead, acts as an impartial facilitator throughout the transaction.
Real estate agents and brokers can earn the Realtor designation by joining the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Generally, this requires agreeing to and abiding by the NAR’s Code of Ethics and paying annual dues. As part of their NAR membership, Realtors gain access to discounts, educational materials, and other career development resources. However, they do not have any legal privileges or rights beyond those of a licensed agent.
Related: 5 types of real estate agents
The three major types of real estate brokers are:
Though designated brokers are legally responsible for a real estate brokerage, their participation in day-to-day brokerage operations can vary. Some designated brokers take a more hands-off approach and let others handle the daily operation of the brokerage. Others take a much more active role in hiring and training agents, managing staff, and even working with clients who are buying or selling homes.
There are several real estate Best broker firms in Columbus, Ohio, they mainly deal with multifamily investing properties.
Although this license allows them to open their own brokerage as a designated agent and manage other agents as a managing broker, associate brokers instead choose to work under another real estate broker. That means they have the exact same roles and responsibilities at a real estate agency that real estate agents do, but they have more experience and are better educated than their real estate agent peers.
Also read Why multifamily is better way to invest?
Common responsibilities of real estate agents and associate brokers include:
The five benefits of being a real estate broker versus agent are:
If you prefer not to open your own brokerage but are interested in mentoring and managing agents, you may be interested in a managing broker position. A managing broker oversees other agents and brokers within an existing brokerage and is a great position for those with many years of experience to offer.
Here’s a quick summary of the differences in income for real estate agents and brokers:
Source: National Association of Realtors 2017 Member Profile
Knowing where you stand, what your options are, and what salary and commission you can command will give you a leg up in your path ahead. For that reason, being well-versed on commission splits as you enter the market and pursue your goals is important. If you need a refresher, we offer a comprehensive guide to how real estate commission splits work.
Activities like leasing and collecting rent are considered to be real estate activities and must be conducted under a broker’s license. Therefore, every property management firm is required by law to have a licensed real estate broker on staff. Property management can be a wonderful addition to your income, so if you’ve thought about owning an investment property, check out our tips for buying your first rental property.
As a broker, you can take advantage of your training and experience when marketing to new clients. For example, when meeting with prospective clients, leverage your experience by highlighting your broker credentials as part of your listing presentation.
Must read this, If you're frustrated with your agent
The three main benefits of being a real estate agent instead of a broker are:
The steps for becoming a real estate agent and upgrading to a broker’s license are:
To meet your state’s prelicensing education requirements, consider taking courses from a platform like McKissock Learning. The school offers courses online so you can meet state-specific requirements on demand and from the convenience of your home or office. Click here to learn more about their course offerings in your state.
you may like investing for financial returns?
Once you are registered, familiarize yourself with the structure of the real estate agent licensing exam and consider taking an exam prep course. While each state’s exam is different, it typically includes around 150 questions and covers national and state-specific topics. Check out our step-by-step guide to passing the real estate exam for helpful tips and tricks.
Once you have taken and passed the exam, you can submit an application for licensure to your state’s real estate board. Processing time varies, but generally takes four to six weeks. You should be notified by mail or email if your application is approved and you are granted a real estate license. To begin working, you will have to associate yourself with an established brokerage.
Start by choosing a real estate company to work for. If you want to specialize in a certain area of real estate, like vacation homes or waterfront properties, find a broker who excels in that area. Likewise, if you intend to be a listing agent or exclusive buyer’s agent, work for a broker who can support those goals.
If you want to upgrade to a broker’s license, you will need to gain a specific amount of experience working for your chosen brokerage—typically, a set number of years. In lieu of experience, some states allow agents to earn a degree in real estate to meet broker licensing requirements. Be sure you check with your state’s real estate commission to determine the requirements you need to meet.
Real estate broker exams are often extremely state-specific. For that reason, it’s important to meet all of your state’s course requirements and take an exam prep course prior to registering for the test. Check out our ultimate guide to learn more about how to prepare for and pass the real estate broker’s exam.
To start a brokerage, first decide whether you want to have an independent brokerage or work with a franchise. Next, choose whether you want a limited liability company (LLC) or other business structure, create a business plan, file the necessary regulatory documents, and determine your source of funding. When you’re ready to get off the ground, recruit agents and market your business on a platform like Real Geeks. Check out our guide to starting a real estate brokerage for more information.
Here are some sample real estate agent versus broker requirements by state:
Real Estate Agent vs Broker: At a Glance
Responsibilities
|
Median Annual Salary (National)
| |
|---|---|---|
Agent
|
Real estate agents rent, buy, or sell property on behalf of clients.
|
$33,750
|
Broker
|
Brokers negotiate, arrange, and oversee real estate transactions. They may also own/run brokerages.
|
$54,670 to $96,150
|
Realtor
|
A Realtor is an agent or broker who has earned the NAR’s Realtor designation.
|
$42,500
|
5 Types of Real Estate Agents
There are several types of real estate agents—each with unique responsibilities and specializations. These include listing agents who sell homes, buyer’s agents who help people purchase real estate, and dual agents who act as the listing agent and buyer’s agent. Additionally, a listing agent may become a transaction agent when writing an offer for an unrepresented buyer. Agents may also join the National Association of Realtors to earn the Realtor designation.
The five major types of real estate agents are:
Listing Agent
A listing agent is an agent who represents a homeowner in the sale of their home. Listing agents, therefore, have a duty to represent their seller’s best interests and get them the best possible contract terms. In cases where the buyer does not have their own agent, a listing agent can become a dual agent or, in some states, a transactional agent. See below for more information on these roles.
Buyer’s Agent
In contrast to a listing agent, a buyer’s agent represents homebuyers in their search for and purchase of a home. For that reason, buyer’s agents are invested in their client’s interest throughout the entire buying process; they must put the buyer’s priorities ahead of the seller’s. As part of this responsibility, a buyer’s agent helps purchasers negotiate the best possible price for real estate and assists them through due diligence and closing.
Dual Agent
A dual agent is one who represents both the buyer and the seller in a real estate transaction. Dual agency can also arise when the listing agent and the buyer’s agent work for the same real estate broker; this is because it is the broker who defines the agent relationship to the client. However, dual agency is not legal in all states and can cause conflicts of interest. For that reason, many homebuyers and sellers use an exclusive agent who will represent only their interests.
Transaction Agent
When a buyer is not represented by their own exclusive agent, the listing agent may have to write an offer for them. In states where dual agency is not legal, a listing agent can elect to become a transaction agent. Under these circumstances, the agent doesn’t represent the buyer or the seller and, instead, acts as an impartial facilitator throughout the transaction.
Realtor
Real estate agents and brokers can earn the Realtor designation by joining the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Generally, this requires agreeing to and abiding by the NAR’s Code of Ethics and paying annual dues. As part of their NAR membership, Realtors gain access to discounts, educational materials, and other career development resources. However, they do not have any legal privileges or rights beyond those of a licensed agent.
Related: 5 types of real estate agents
3 Types of Real Estate Brokers
Real estate brokers have varying responsibilities and titles depending on the career path they decide to take. Regardless, going from real estate agent to broker opens up a number of possibilities. Depending on your needs and ambitions, consider becoming a designated, managing, or associate broker.
The three major types of real estate brokers are:
Designated Real Estate Brokers
By law, every real estate agent and every real estate agency must be overseen and managed by a real estate broker. Legally speaking, that broker is called the designated broker, and bears the legal responsibility for all transactions that agents working under them complete. Designated brokers who own the brokerage for which they are the designated broker are sometimes called broker-owners as well.
Though designated brokers are legally responsible for a real estate brokerage, their participation in day-to-day brokerage operations can vary. Some designated brokers take a more hands-off approach and let others handle the daily operation of the brokerage. Others take a much more active role in hiring and training agents, managing staff, and even working with clients who are buying or selling homes.
Managing Real Estate Brokers
A managing broker manages a group of real estate agents or real estate associate brokers. Some designated brokers also work as the managing brokers at their agency, while others take a more hands-off approach to running the agency by hiring another managing broker. In general, managing brokers take a very active, hands-on role in running the day-to-day operations of the brokerage.
Associate Real Estate Brokers
Associate real estate brokers, also referred to as broker associates, are real estate agents who have met state requirements to become a licensed real estate broker. In general, this includes completing coursework and work experience requirements; licensed agents must also pass a state broker licensing exam.
There are several real estate Best broker firms in Columbus, Ohio, they mainly deal with multifamily investing properties.
Although this license allows them to open their own brokerage as a designated agent and manage other agents as a managing broker, associate brokers instead choose to work under another real estate broker. That means they have the exact same roles and responsibilities at a real estate agency that real estate agents do, but they have more experience and are better educated than their real estate agent peers.
Also read Why multifamily is better way to invest?
Responsibilities of Real Estate Agents & Brokers
The main difference between real estate agents and brokers is that only a broker can own real estate firms or manage agents. If you’re an agent, you’ll need to work under a sponsoring broker. This creates differences in day-to-day responsibilities, as agents do not have the ability to manage other agents, handle compliance and recordkeeping activities for a brokerage, or otherwise operate a brokerage.
Common responsibilities of real estate agents and associate brokers include:
- Representing buyers and sellers
- Marketing homes for sale
- Negotiating prices and managing transactions
- Prospecting buyer and seller leads
- Holding open houses and showing homes
- Renting residential and commercial units
- Recruiting, training, and managing agents
- Resolving internal brokerage conflicts
- Reviewing contracts
- Establishing escrow accounts
- Marketing and lead distribution
- Property management
- Managing the brokerage office and staff
- Communicating with governments and professional associations
- Managing compliance, recordkeeping, and vendor relationships
5 Benefits of Being a Real Estate Broker
Being a real estate broker—instead of an agent—has significant benefits. Though there is a lot of hard work involved and more education requirements, being a broker allows you to scale your career in ways that remaining a real estate agent cannot. This is because brokers have the ability to run their own brokerage or property management company. Brokers also have a higher earning potential because of higher incomes and more advantageous commission splits.
The five benefits of being a real estate broker versus agent are:
1. Real Estate Brokers Can Run Their Own Brokerage
Unlike real estate agents, licensed brokers can open their own real estate brokerage to represent buyers and sellers of real estate. Brokers can work alone (and keep 100% of their commissions) or hire other real estate agents or associate brokers to work under their license (and split their commissions). Alternatively, you can start a firm where agents earn a 100% commission but pay desk fees and other fees you designate.
If you prefer not to open your own brokerage but are interested in mentoring and managing agents, you may be interested in a managing broker position. A managing broker oversees other agents and brokers within an existing brokerage and is a great position for those with many years of experience to offer.
2. Real Estate Brokers Earn a Higher Income
While having additional career options and responsibilities is great, most agents choose to become real estate brokers because they can make more money. According to the NAR 2017 Member Profile, Realtors make $42,500 per year on average, while broker-owners make between $54,670 and $90,910 annually, depending on whether or not they are actively selling property.
Here’s a quick summary of the differences in income for real estate agents and brokers:
Median Annual Income of Real Estate Agents vs Brokers: 2016
Type of Real Estate Agent
|
Median Salary (2016)
|
|---|---|
Sales Agent (Real Estate Agent)
|
$33,750
|
NAR-designated Realtors
|
$42,500
|
Broker-Owner (Designated Broker)
Without Selling |
$54,670
|
Broker-Owner (Designated Broker)
With Selling |
$90,910
|
Associate Broker
|
$55,360
|
Manager (Managing Broker)
Without Selling |
$82,500
|
Manager (Managing Broker)
With Selling |
$96,150
|
3. Real Estate Brokers Have Better Commission Splits
If you don’t have an entrepreneurial streak or prefer the safety of working under another broker, you can always work as an associate broker. While you more than likely won’t have any additional responsibilities at the brokerage beyond those of an agent, your heightened licensure and expertise will enable you to command a higher commission split from the managing broker than most real estate agents.
Knowing where you stand, what your options are, and what salary and commission you can command will give you a leg up in your path ahead. For that reason, being well-versed on commission splits as you enter the market and pursue your goals is important. If you need a refresher, we offer a comprehensive guide to how real estate commission splits work.
4. Real Estate Brokers Can Run Property Management Companies
The ability to run a property management company is another reason to get your broker’s license. Property management companies act as a middleman between the owner of a rental property and the tenants who occupy it. If investment properties are currently hot in your market, property management can be a great additional revenue stream or a new career option.
Activities like leasing and collecting rent are considered to be real estate activities and must be conducted under a broker’s license. Therefore, every property management firm is required by law to have a licensed real estate broker on staff. Property management can be a wonderful addition to your income, so if you’ve thought about owning an investment property, check out our tips for buying your first rental property.
5. Real Estate Brokers Can Leverage Their Experience in Marketing
In general, real estate brokers are more experienced in the real estate industry than many agents. What’s more, real estate brokers typically have completed more training and earned more specializations and real estate designations than many agents in their market. For that reason, clients looking for future representation to buy or sell a home are more likely to trust experienced local brokers than newer, less experienced agents.
As a broker, you can take advantage of your training and experience when marketing to new clients. For example, when meeting with prospective clients, leverage your experience by highlighting your broker credentials as part of your listing presentation.
Must read this, If you're frustrated with your agent
3 Benefits of Being a Real Estate Agent
Real estate agents cannot engage in as many real estate-related activities as brokers. However, this means that agents do not have as many prelicensing requirements as brokers. What’s more, agents have fewer administrative responsibilities than brokers and are not financially responsible for other agents like managing brokers.
The three main benefits of being a real estate agent instead of a broker are:
1. Agents Have Fewer Licensing Requirements
To earn a real estate agent license, aspiring real estate agents must meet administrative requirements, take state-specific prelicensing courses, and pass a licensing exam. In contrast, real estate brokers must first obtain an agent’s license, gain experience, and meet additional broker education and exam requirements. For that reason, many real estate professionals prefer to remain an agent rather than take the additional steps required to become a broker.
2. Agents Have Limited Financial Liability
Unlike managing brokers, real estate agents cannot open their own real estate brokerage or manage other real estate agents. For that reason, real estate agents cannot be financially or legally responsible for the actions of other agents. The reduced duties and responsibilities of real estate agents mean that they have fewer liabilities than real estate brokers.
3. Agents Have Fewer Management Responsibilities
Real estate brokers are generally responsible for a range of management activities related to the operation of a brokerage. These tasks typically include writing contracts, managing a back office and other administrative duties, and recruiting and onboarding agents. In contrast, agents are only responsible for representing homebuyers and sellers in the transfer of real estate.
How to Become a Real Estate Agent or Broker
Becoming an agent is similar to becoming a broker—and agent experience is required for broker licensing—so we’ve included both in a single set of steps. To begin the process, take real estate prelicensing courses and pass your state’s agent exam, then join a brokerage and gain industry experience. If you want to upgrade your license, complete broker prelicensing courses and pass the state broker exam.
The steps for becoming a real estate agent and upgrading to a broker’s license are:
1. Take Real Estate Prelicensing Courses
Regardless of whether you want to become an agent or broker, you will need to first secure your agent’s license. To do so, start by meeting your state’s real estate prelicensing education requirements, which typically include between 50 and 200 hours of coursework. Required courses cover general topics like property ownership and land use controls and regulations, agency law, and real estate contracts.
To meet your state’s prelicensing education requirements, consider taking courses from a platform like McKissock Learning. The school offers courses online so you can meet state-specific requirements on demand and from the convenience of your home or office. Click here to learn more about their course offerings in your state.
you may like investing for financial returns?
2. Take & Pass Agent Licensing Exam
Each state has its own exam application and registration process, so visit your state licensing board’s website to determine the steps necessary to take the exam. However, licensing boards generally require aspiring agents to demonstrate they have met the state’s education requirements before they can register to take the exam.
Once you are registered, familiarize yourself with the structure of the real estate agent licensing exam and consider taking an exam prep course. While each state’s exam is different, it typically includes around 150 questions and covers national and state-specific topics. Check out our step-by-step guide to passing the real estate exam for helpful tips and tricks.
Once you have taken and passed the exam, you can submit an application for licensure to your state’s real estate board. Processing time varies, but generally takes four to six weeks. You should be notified by mail or email if your application is approved and you are granted a real estate license. To begin working, you will have to associate yourself with an established brokerage.
3. Find a Brokerage & Gain Experience
After acquiring a real estate agent license, you will need to associate yourself with a brokerage before representing buyers and sellers in property transactions. After finding an appropriate brokerage, you can remain an agent and work on building your farm area while also honing your specialty within the real estate industry, or you can work toward upgrading to a broker’s license.
Start by choosing a real estate company to work for. If you want to specialize in a certain area of real estate, like vacation homes or waterfront properties, find a broker who excels in that area. Likewise, if you intend to be a listing agent or exclusive buyer’s agent, work for a broker who can support those goals.
If you want to upgrade to a broker’s license, you will need to gain a specific amount of experience working for your chosen brokerage—typically, a set number of years. In lieu of experience, some states allow agents to earn a degree in real estate to meet broker licensing requirements. Be sure you check with your state’s real estate commission to determine the requirements you need to meet.
4. Complete Broker Licensing Courses & Exam
After earning an agent’s license and meeting state-specific experiential requirements, real estate agents who want to become brokers must take additional licensing courses and pass their state’s broker’s licensing exam. Broker licensing courses typically include between 75 and 150 credit hours—similar to the courses required for agents. However, broker courses cover more advanced topics like how to run a real estate office.
Real estate broker exams are often extremely state-specific. For that reason, it’s important to meet all of your state’s course requirements and take an exam prep course prior to registering for the test. Check out our ultimate guide to learn more about how to prepare for and pass the real estate broker’s exam.
5. Join a Brokerage or Start Your Own
Depending on the type of broker you want to be, you can work under the supervision of another broker—as an associate broker—or start your own brokerage. When searching for a real estate brokerage, consider factors like the company’s culture, reputation, and specializations. For example, if there’s an area of real estate you’re particularly interested or experienced in, make sure the brokerage will provide sufficient resources to expand your expertise in that area.
To start a brokerage, first decide whether you want to have an independent brokerage or work with a franchise. Next, choose whether you want a limited liability company (LLC) or other business structure, create a business plan, file the necessary regulatory documents, and determine your source of funding. When you’re ready to get off the ground, recruit agents and market your business on a platform like Real Geeks. Check out our guide to starting a real estate brokerage for more information.
Real Estate Agent vs Broker: Requirements by State
As mentioned above, the requirements for becoming both and agent and broker vary by state. However, almost all states require some combination of education, experience, and a passing score on a licensing exam. For sample requirements by state, review the tables below. Be sure to check with your real estate commission for the most up-to-date requirements in your state.
Here are some sample real estate agent versus broker requirements by state:
California Real Estate Agent vs Broker Requirements
Real Estate Agent Licensing Requirements
|
Real Estate Broker Licensing Requirements
| |
|---|---|---|
Age
|
18 or older
|
18 or older
|
Pre-licensing Courses
|
135 hours real estate pre-licensing courses
|
360 hours broker pre-licensing courses
|
Experience
|
NA
|
2 years as a real estate agent or 4-year degree with major or minor in real estate
|
Exam Requirement
|
✔
|
✔
|
Texas Real Estate Agent vs Broker Requirements
Real Estate Agent Licensing Requirements
|
Real Estate Broker Licensing Requirements
| |
|---|---|---|
Age
|
18 or older
|
18 or older
|
Pre-licensing Courses
|
180 hours real estate pre-licensing courses
|
900 hours broker pre-licensing courses
|
Experience
|
NA
|
4 years experience as a real estate agent or 3,600 points of experience
|
Exam Requirement
|
✔
|
✔
|
New York Real Estate Agent vs Broker Requirements
Real Estate Agent Licensing Requirements
|
Real Estate Broker Licensing Requirements
| |
|---|---|---|
Age
|
18 or older
|
20 or older
|
Pre-licensing Courses
|
70 hours real estate pre-licensing courses
|
120 hours broker pre-licensing courses
|
Experience
|
NA
|
2 years experience as a real estate agent or 3,500 points of experience
|
Exam Requirement
|
✔
|
✔
|
Florida Real Estate Agent vs Broker Requirements
Real Estate Agent Licensing Requirements
|
Real Estate Broker Licensing Requirements
| |
|---|---|---|
Age
|
18 or older
|
18 or older
|
Pre-licensing Courses
|
63 hours real estate pre-licensing courses
|
72 hours broker pre-licensing courses
|
Experience
|
NA
|
2 years experience as a real estate agent
|
Exam Requirement
|
✔
|
✔
|
Bottom Line: Broker vs Agent
Real estate brokers have more experience, undergo more training, and make more money than real estate agents. They are also the only real estate professionals who can open their own brokerage or property management firm. However, agents have fewer licensing requirements and don’t have financial responsibility for other agents. Consider upgrading to a broker’s license if you want to start your own brokerage, make more money, or manage properties.Tuesday, August 13, 2019
6 TOP REAL ESTATE MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR AGENTS
Being a successful real estate agent relies heavily on your marketing strategy. Without a top-notch real estate marketing strategy, you’ll never generate enough qualified leads to grow your business.
There are plenty of great marketing ideas out there, but what are the top strategies that every agent should be using? We’ve put together a list of 6 strategies that have proven to be effective for many top agents in the US housing market. Take a look:
#1 Marketing for Active Listings
Your real estate marketing strategy for active listings should include a two-point approach- visuals and content. One of the most common marketing tips for real estate agents is to use professional photography to advertise and market active listings. Hiring a photographer, investing in virtual/3D tours and even drone photography can really amplify your marketing strategy.
While this is a good tip, something that is so often overlooked is the actual content in the listing. In fact, when NAR looked at profiles of homebuyers on their site, 87% of online property buyers said the images were helpful in their purchase and 85% found the detailed description to be useful. So it’s true that images of a property attract potential buyers and without them, you can lose qualified leads who are ready to buy property this instant. But after looking at the images, a serious property buyer is going to be looking at the content as well and deems it equally important.
While the facts- square footage, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, etc.- need to be listed clearly and plainly in real estate ads, you should also work to create a story within your listing. Don’t just list features but try to be a bit more creative to allow potential clients to envision themselves living in the home. This is, of course, if your target client is a homebuyer. However, even if you’re looking for real estate investors, they too will look to the description to make sure it will attract future tenants and rake in rental income.
It’s not easy to get creative with real estate ads. The first step you can take is to look to other listings. You’ll find most of them follow the same formula, but sifting through enough listings of top real estate agents in your area, you’re likely to find the ones that stand out creatively. Take note of what these agents are doing differently for this aspect of their real estate marketing strategy and try to apply it to your unique listings.
#2 Content Marketing
Did you know that content marketing can generate 3 times the amount of leads that paid promotions can? Take advantage of this fact by producing content. Here are two ways to use this strategy:
Create a Blog on Your Real Estate Agent Website
One of the best real estate marketing strategies revolves around producing content. And your listing’s content is not enough. Having a real estate blog on your website can be a great resource for online lead generation.
It comes back to your pipeline that starts with real estate leads that aren’t ready for buying, selling, or investing in property just yet. These leads are just starting their journey; they’re only toying with the idea of buying a property. These leads get no value from active listings. Instead, they’re looking to learn about the buying process or the real estate market in general. With valuable content, you nurture them and may even push them into the next stage in your pipeline.
Not only do you help your real estate lead generation with this marketing strategy, but you also market your expertise. Sharing blogs with helpful tips or important updates on the market with your insider knowledge will imprint you in the reader’s mind as a local expert and that’s exactly what you need. When this reader is finally ready to make a move and work with a real estate agent, you’re more likely to be on their mind.
While valuable content is key to this real estate marketing strategy, you’ll also have to learn a little about SEO and how to optimize your content for Google. However, taking this step, even if it’s complicated at first, will surely boost your real estate agent career.
Send Out a Newsletter
Another key form of content is a newsletter. While blog posts can reach out to leads in that first stage of the pipeline, a newsletter can have even further reach. Maintaining relationships with past clients in hopes they’ll bring repeat business or real estate referrals can be done through this marketing strategy. Sending listings, sharing content unique to the newsletter, informing your email list about local market trends and updates, and even sharing the content of others (while crediting sources) can help nurture these relationships. Don’t forget to use images and make your newsletter visually appealing to invite leads to read and reach out for further engagement.
#3 Automated Email Marketing
Creating valuable content in its different forms and posting it to your website is one element of real estate marketing. As mentioned with your newsletter, you need to be sending this content out to your email list to ensure it reaches the greatest audience and is effective in generating leads.
Not only should you be sharing content through email, but with an organized email list, you can send all sorts of updates and information automatically. For example, when someone first registers on your real estate agent website, they should receive a short and friendly welcome email. Next in the email campaign can come a kind of “get to know you” email with a few basic questions to learn about this real estate lead. Eventually, things will move from automation to actual conversations with the lead. This is an effective tactic for your lead generation strategy that saves a lot of time thanks to templates and automation.
#4 Social Media Marketing
We’re not too far off from 2019 so if you haven’t incorporated social media as one of your key real estate marketing strategies, get on it. It’s not enough to set up profiles on the different platforms and just post listings from time to time. For invaluable online lead generation through social media marketing, you need to use these platforms effectively. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your social media marketing:
Tip #1: Use videos often. In a study done for video marketing, it was found that product videos help 90% of consumers with their purchasing decisions. An easy, go-to “product” video idea is real estate client testimonials. Have clients talk about the success they found with your services. Instead of waiting for real estate referrals, this will be a different way to get “referrals” from a much larger audience on social media websites. Be sure to have the client highlight how you were able to match them with the best property for them. Not only will videos help generate more leads, but they were found to get 1200% more social shares than just text and images!
Looking for the best way to match properties to real estate clients? Mashvisor’s agent dashboard and property finder can help you achieve this. To learn more, schedule a demo.
Tip #2: Join local real estate groups on Facebook. This can be a great real estate marketing strategy if you’re active within the group. Answer questions of curious homeowners about the market, share listings when prompted, and provide value when the opportunity comes up. You will be generating leads and referrals in no time.
Tip #3: Don’t forget to share your content to be sure that leads who don’t land on your site organically find it through social media. Respond to any comments and inquiries on your posts. Sharing the content of others can also be useful as well. Even engaging on posts from other pages can help with real estate lead generation. The bottom line- be active.
Tip #4: Consider paying for Facebook Ads or Instagram Promotions. These will help you reach a wider audience on social media beyond your followers and typically can have a good ROI if done right.
Of course, your social media marketing strategy won’t end there. Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn- be sure you’re hitting all the sites and using their unique features to market your real estate agent services.
#5 PR Marketing Strategy
It’s one thing to post your own content and claim to be a real estate expert. It’s another when an external media outlet is quoting you as one. When you work on your PR marketing strategy by reaching out to different blogs and real estate websites, it’s much more effective in building your reputation as an expert to boost lead generation.
A lot of websites cater to homebuyers and real estate investors looking to buy/sell property. While they typically have their own experts on hand, most won’t turn away a quote from a real estate agent on the subject. Not only does it make their information look more reliable, but it markets you to a wider audience. When they share it on their social media, you get even more exposure. And when you share it on yours, you look better and better in the eyes of potential real estate clients and prospects.
This real estate marketing strategy will take some work as you will have to figure out which sites want your help and reach out to them. Your networking skills will come in handy, no doubt. But an easy way is to sign up to a site like HARO, which allows you to submit answers to different questions. When you’re quotes are selected, the media source will link back to your site as well. This is also great for helping with Google ranks for your site, a key part of real estate marketing for agents.
Bonus Strategy: #6 Free Online Marketing
If you work on your PR or social media marketing strategy, it can essentially be free online marketing. But there are other free options to explore as well that you may have missed. Mashvisor offers agents free profiles to use as one of their real estate market strategies. When you visit Mashvisor and claim your free agent profile, you have a place to post valuable content, and an SEO-friendly page that will be found easily by leads when they are searching for agents online. This is crucial to your marketing strategy when your website doesn’t hold any weight with Google if it’s too new or you aren’t versed in SEO.
To claim your free agent profile at Mashvisor, click here.
Learn More: Advertising Real Estate Agents for Free- The Best Online Tool
The Best Tip for Your Real Estate Marketing Strategies
Track your different real estate marketing strategies. You want to know what is working and effective in generating more leads and what is not, especially for those that you are paying for. While tracking might not always be easy when it comes to using different tools like Google Analytics and the like, it is a must for a real estate agent.
It will require testing, but incorporating variations of the 5 real estate marketing strategies listed above are a sure-fire way to always have incoming leads for your business. If you’re still wondering how to grow your business, and you’re not using one of them, then you now know what to do.
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