What Skills Are Needed to Succeed as a Real Estate Agent?
Specializes in providing actionable insights into the commercial real estate space for investors, brokers, lessors, and lessees. He covers quarterly market data reports, investment strategies, how-to guides, and top-down perspectives on market movements.
Although it may have a low barrier to entry, being a commercial real estate agent is by no means an unskilled job. Being a successful real estate agent requires a unique combination of organization, social, and technical skills. With the right skills as your tools, you stand a much better chance of success.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the vital skills a commercial real estate agent needs to succeed in their field, starting with the most obvious: market knowledge.
#1 – Market Knowledge
Developing a strong base of local market knowledge is critical for real estate agents no matter what kind of property they specialize in. Unlike marketing and messaging, there is no way to “fake” this requisite knowledge, which is the main thing that delineates an expert real estate agent from an amateur.
More than just having a knowledge base, a successful commercial real estate agent is always looking for opportunities to expand their knowledge and learn more. The drive to continue learning is how you can stay on top of the market and outperform your competition.
#2 – Knowledge of Math & Economics
Similar to market knowledge, a commercial real estate agent needs to have a firm grasp on mathematics and economics. A real estate agent should be able to look at numbers about properties and calculate figures, such as capitalization rates, ROI, capital expenditures, loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, and operating expense ratios (OERs).
Commercial real estate agents also need to understand how macroeconomic conditions affect their specific commercial real estate niche. For example, how does the Federal Reserve’s raising of interest rates affect property cap rates? You need to foresee changing economic landscapes so you can make the right decisions for your clients.
#3 – Organizational & Management Skills
Commercial real estate is an industry for a specific type of motivated and organized person. Most agents have to find their own clients, so they need strong organizational and management skills. You’ll need to manage an ever-changing schedule and be flexible to your clients’ changing needs.
Organization can include things like budgeting, coordination, strategic planning, HR management, and delegating. Real estate agents work in a flexible and independent environment, so the amount of work they get depends heavily on how well they can organize and plan work around their clients’ schedules.
#4 – Database Management Skills
Digital integration is continuing to penetrate the field of commercial real estate, and it’s crucial that real estate agents incorporate digital technologies to streamline their operations.
Digital systems provide ample opportunity to streamline basic tasks like property searches, financing, and more, and a digital database of transactions allows you to keep track of all relevant figures.
#5 – Negotiation & Persuasion Skills
Negotiation and persuasion skills are critical for real estate agents as a large portion of their workload involves brokering leases and sales contracts between tenants/buyers and landlords/sellers. Negotiating is a difficult skill that requires a significant amount of empathy and social intelligence to make both parties feel welcome and leave the table satisfied.
Negotiating as a commercial real estate agent can take several forms. For example, negotiations can take the form of simply counseling your clients about the best decision to make. Alternatively, it could involve negotiating a sales contract between a buyer and seller so both parties get the best value.
#6 – Legal and Regulatory Knowledge
Commercial property typically has very different laws and regulations than residential properties. Laws can change very quickly and you’ll need to adapt to a changing regulatory environment to generate good returns for your clients. Abiding by regulations is incredibly important as non-compliance could result in legal/financial penalties to your clients and negatively impact your professional reputation.
#7 – Communication & People Skills
Above all, being a real estate agent means you’ll be dealing with people every single day. Having an approachable attitude and an ability to form professional relationships are critical to your success.
You could have the greatest economic and mathematical analysis with several perfect properties lined up, and it won’t matter at all if you’re not approachable.
#8 – Dedication & Commitment
Although not exactly a skill, a commercial real estate agent needs a level of dedication and commitment to stick to promises and follow through on goals.
A career as a commercial real estate agent requires a significant amount of independent motivation to find clients and establish a reputation. It can be hard to find your footing at first, but through some grit and dedication, you’ll start to work things out.
#9 – Skills and Commercial Real Estate Resumes
One of the most important aspects of being a commercial real estate agent is demonstrating your value to potential clients and employers. Updating your resume with the appropriate language helps show your qualifications and helps you get jobs.
According to data from ZipRecruiter, four top skills that are mentioned in commercial real estate agent job postings are:
- Lease agreements;
- Entrepreneurship;
- Investment sales; and
- Collaboration.
Other top skills listed in their data include investment sales, collaboration, and research. Conversely, the top three terms that commercial real estate agents list in their resumes are:
- Customer service;
- Real estate license; and
- Business administration.
Showcasing these types of skills and keywords on your resume can increase the chances of getting a callback on an application.
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