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Real Estate Sales Agents

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Rent, buy, or sell property for clients. Perform duties such as study property listings, interview prospective clients, accompany clients to property site, discuss conditions of sale, and draw up real estate contracts. Includes agents who represent buyer.

Related: Appraisers & Assessors of Real Estate Property, Real Estate, & Community Association Managers Real Estate Brokers Sales Representatives of Services Securities, Commodities, & Financial Services Sales Agents

Industries: Real Estate & Rentals

Summary
Details

Review plans for new construction with clients, enumerating and recommending available options and features.
Locate and appraise undeveloped areas for building sites, based on evaluations of area market conditions.
Prepare documents such as representation contracts, purchase agreements, closing statements, deeds, and leases.
Contact previous clients for prospecting of referral business.
Generate lists of properties that are compatible with buyers' needs and financial resources.
Display commercial, industrial, agricultural, and residential properties to clients and explain their features.
Promote sales of properties through advertisements, open houses, and participation in multiple listing services.
Interview clients to determine what kinds of properties they are seeking.
Advise clients on market conditions, prices, mortgages, legal requirements, and related matters.
Review plans for new construction with clients, enumerating and recommending available options and features.
Investigate clients' financial and credit status to determine eligibility for financing.
Secure construction or purchase financing with own firm or mortgage company.
Rent or lease properties on behalf of clients.
Arrange meetings between buyers and sellers when details of transactions need to be negotiated.
Solicit and compile listings of available rental properties.
Contact utility companies for service hookups to clients' property.
Confer with escrow companies, lenders, home inspectors, and pest control operators to ensure that terms and conditions of purchase agreements are met before closing dates.
Compare a property with similar properties that have recently sold to determine its competitive market price.
Contact previous clients for prospecting of referral business.
Review property listings, trade journals, and relevant literature, and attend conventions, seminars, and staff and association meetings, to remain knowledgeable about real estate markets.
Contact property owners and advertise services to solicit property sales listings.
Accompany buyers during visits to and inspections of property, advising them on the suitability and value of the homes they are visiting.
Evaluate mortgage options to help clients obtain financing at the best prevailing rates and terms.
Conduct seminars and training sessions for sales agents to improve sales techniques.
Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers, generally representing one or the other.
Coordinate appointments to show homes to prospective buyers.
Display commercial, industrial, agricultural, and residential properties to clients and explain their features.
Arrange for title searches to determine whether clients have clear property titles.
Coordinate property closings, overseeing signing of documents and disbursement of funds.
Answer clients' questions regarding construction work, financing, maintenance, repairs, and appraisals.
Advise sellers on how to make homes more appealing to potential buyers.
Inspect condition of premises, and arrange for necessary maintenance or notify owners of maintenance needs.
Visit properties to assess them before showing them to clients.
Develop networks of attorneys, mortgage lenders, and contractors to whom clients may be referred.
Present purchase offers to sellers for consideration.
Locate and appraise undeveloped areas for building sites, based on evaluations of area market conditions.
Appraise properties to determine loan values.

Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

76980/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

37.01/hr

Currently Employed

24,800

Yearly Projected Openings

2430

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

Initiative
Self-Confidence
Perseverance
Social Orientation
Achievement Orientation
Integrity

Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Global positioning system GPS receiver
Laser printers
Measuring wheels for distance
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers

Accounting software
Analytical or scientific software
Calendar and scheduling software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base reporting software
Data base user interface and query software
Data mining software
Desktop publishing software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Expert system software
Financial analysis software
Geographic information system
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Map creation software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Project management software
Route navigation software
Sales and marketing software
Spreadsheet software
Video conferencing software
Video creation and editing software
Voice recognition software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

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