You’ve learned how much does a real estate agent make and got so excited about our industry that you decided to go to real estate school, didn’t you? And you’re loving it, about to graduate, thinking it’s time to look for real estate jobs? Hold on a moment there, young fella! Do you know how to get a job in real estate? Real estate jobs can be hard to get; have you considered looking for internships in Real Estate first?
Internships in real estate firms are a great idea for young agents right out of real estate school and here’s why: even if you don’t plan on climbing the more traditional corporate ladder, even if you intend on being and building your own company; you still need workplace and management experience not only to build your name but your point of view as a professional. The life of a real estate agent – a successful one, at least – goes beyond the very important relationship with the clients; failing to stimulate teamwork thus alleviating the demanding schedule is one of the reasons why real estate agents fail and get out of business.
We’re not here to tell you how to get a job in real estate or an internship in real estate. There are several ways – especially in the digital age – and it’s up to you to find out the best one for you. We’re here to tell you about the benefits of an internship in real estate. What you’ll learn and why will it be fundamental to your career and why these things were not taught at real estate school.
Time Management
In the real estate industry, excellent time management is essential. Real estate agents typically have a work day that is filled with tasks that can include client meetings, showings, research, and even lead generation. This means that agents need to run a tight schedule so that they can perform all of their required duties throughout the day. As an intern, you’ll probably be the one responsible for enforcing that very time management need by pointing out it’s time for the agent you’re interning under to start (or end) a meeting, go to a showing etc. Sure, real estate schools can talk about it but, because you’re the one who’s going to hear it if/when something goes awry; you will start to internalize more clearly the importance of time management in this business.
And what’s even better about this in an internship is that sometimes you’re used to working with tools that the agent might not be comfortable with – let’s say that in the Old-School marketing vs. Modern Marketing debate this agent tends to favor the former to the latter – so you can even use them for your own control, but not with him. It’s one of those “can’t teach an old dog a new trick” situations, so you need to work on a winning time management system that he and you both can follow. What will that teach you? That it’s not about you; an agent has to always find solutions that are good for the client. And, in this case, your client is your boss. You can suggest work hours you think are best, tools you think are more efficient and ways that are less time-consuming… but in the end is all about what *he* thinks is good, and it’s up to you to find a way to make his idiosyncrasies work. Once you start dealing with unreasonable home buyers and sellers that are too needy and require too much of your time, you’ll look back at this time during your internship in real estate and see how important it was to “waste” that time in order to learn how to never do it once it was your turn to call the shots.
Managing Clients
Building a strong clientele takes time. And skills.
As an intern, you will learn how to successfully generate leads and build a direct pipeline with clients – either by example, by watching experienced folks doing it or because it will be part of your duties to cold call and, to some extent, deal with the clients yourself. During your internship in real estate, you will be able to build relationships with clients for the future and acquire experience on how to handle them, which situations usually become a deal breaker, the types of clients that spend more and less money on each type of property. And the best of it? All without bearing the responsibility of success and failure over your shoulders. Real Estate Schools can never teach you customer relationship management to this extent. Theory is nice and important, but humans are unpredictable so the whole thing gets very different once it’s for real, once there are money, dreams, and deadlines on the line. Real estate jobs and internships in real estate can better prepare you for that.
The Art of Closing a Deal
It’s no news that a real estate agent needs to be skilled in sales to be successful in this business. Obtaining an internship in real estate will help to train you on successfully closing a deal. This time, only by example, examining the way your bosses and his or her clients move, act, speak and poker face during a negotiation. They wouldn’t let an inexperienced intern deal with such a huge part of the process, right?
However, it’s still very important because real estate school can only cover so much. First: there’s that teaching that says “those who can, do, those who can’t teach”. It’s kind of harsh, but sometimes it does have a bit of truth to it. So, when it comes to closing deals, street-smart is more important than book smart. You need to know how to appeal to someone, get on their brains and seduce them. Books will always have a hard time doing that. Second: in the real world, things are not black-and-white – you’re always competing in real estate – and there’s a lot of other colors textbook does not cover. So this is probably the most invaluable skill an internship in real estate can give you. This training will be a great asset to your career because it will help you to become comfortable with making a sale to clients.
Understanding Contracts
Real Estate Agents are trusted professionals that are hired in order to aid their clients in the purchase or sale of a property. Your clients should have confidence in the fact that you can properly interpret contract information. Maybe you have a background in law? But even if you do, real estate contracts can be very specific and only by reading (not only that but dealing with) lots of contracts you’ll start to get the gist of it, learn the most common approaches and the most dangerous loopholes. An agent that knows a lot of law and can dispose of this knowledge to its clients has an advantage over his competition by consistently making better and more lucrative deals for his or her clients. Think about it: if you fly solo, you won’t get to be exposed to so many different situations and its contracts. Who would’ve thought you’d be excited about drowning in contracts, huh?
In the end, acquiring an internship in real estate is all about continuing your real estate school. It’s a perfect transition that will give you great experience and exposure without letting you fly too close to the sun. After that, the sky is the limit. Happy internship!
