Realtor
Realtor
Career Overview
Real estate agents help people buy, sell, and rent residential and commercial properties. They work with clients throughout the process, from researching properties and arranging viewings to negotiating offers, preparing documents, and completing transactions. Many agents use digital marketing, social media, property technology, and data tools to connect with clients and promote listings.
Education
A high school diploma or equivalent is generally the starting point for this career. Real estate agents must also complete the education, training, and licensing requirements established by the jurisdiction where they plan to work. Requirements vary internationally and may include approved real estate courses, supervised experience, and a licensing or registration exam. Technology is becoming an important part of modern real estate, with agents using digital marketing, aerial imagery, virtual tours, 3D visualization, data tools and AI-powered technologies to showcase properties and connect with clients.
Future Outlook
Real estate will continue to be an important career as people buy, sell, rent and invest in homes and commercial property. Technology is changing how agents work, with digital listings, virtual tours, social media, data analytics and online communication becoming important parts of the business. Strong communication, negotiation, relationship-building and digital marketing skills can help agents stand out in a competitive market. Salary information is an average guide based on available labour-market data and is not an exact salary for every position. Earnings can vary significantly depending on location, experience, property values, sales volume, commissions and market conditions.
Work Environment
Real estate agents may work for real estate firms, brokerages, or independently. Their work combines office and field activities, including meeting clients, showing properties, attending inspections, and completing paperwork. Schedules can be flexible but often include evenings and weekends because agents work around their clients' availability. Income is frequently commission-based, so earnings can vary from year to year.
Recommended High School Courses
- Psychology
- Business
- Communication
- Economics
- Marketing
- Computer-aided Design Competency
- Mathematics
- Digital Media
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- 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.
- 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.
- Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- 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.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- 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.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- 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, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- 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.
- 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.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.
- Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Negotiate prices or other sales terms.
- Prepare sales or other contracts.
- Obtain property information.
- Develop content for sales presentations or other materials.
- Appraise property values.
- Gather customer or product information to determine customer needs.
- Contact current or potential customers to promote products or services.
- Identify potential customers.
- Advise real estate clients.
- Schedule appointments with prospective customers.
- Attend events to develop professional knowledge.
- Deliver promotional presentations to current or prospective customers.
- Explain technical product or service information to customers.
- Develop professional relationships or networks.
- Verify customer credit information.
- Develop proposals for current or prospective customers.
- Recommend products or services to customers.
- Examine condition of property or products.
- Arrange delivery of goods or services.
- Train sales personnel.
- Contract real estate to clients.
- Identify investment opportunities or strategies.
Schools
Approx Salary Expectation
References
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.