Residential Real estate
Agent/Broker
Real estate agents and
brokers are usually independent sales professionals who contract their
services to real estate brokers in exchanges for a commission-sharing
agreement (normally six percent). There are over 400,000 real
estate brokers and agents in the United States. To become a broker
you must be at least 18 years old, a high school graduate and have
passed a written test on property laws and real estate
transactions. Most states also require 30-90 hours of classroom
training. You can visit the National Association of Realtor's web
page at http://www.realtor.com/ to
find out more about this career area.
Commercial Real Estate
Sales
commercial property
brokerage offices use sales associates who market office buildings,
hotels and many other types of commercial real estate for
brokers. commercial real estate sales people usually
specialize in a particular property type such as apartments, retail,
office, hospitality, shopping centers and industrial plants. Most
of the large commercial brokerage companies in the United States provide
a great deal of local market data and research in order to be able to
service a cadre of sophisticated clients who are making multi-million
dollar investment decisions. Several trade organizations represent
the various commercial real estate subspecialties including the American
Industrial Real estate Association, the Hotel and Motel Brokers of
America, the national Association of Industrial and Office Properties,
the Real Estate Exchange-a forum for women in commercial real estate,
the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Society of
Industrial and Office Realtors. Additionally, the Commercial
Investment Real estate Institute (CIREI), through its education program,
has been conferring the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)
designation since 1969.
Real Estate Appraisal
Real estate appraisers
provide unbiased estimates of a property's value and quality.
appraisers usually work for banks or for appraiser firms and will
normally value properties by finding comparable sales in an area or by
estimating the discounted value of cash flows expected from a
property. This profession is less cyclical than real estate
brokerage because appraisers are required when homes are refinanced-a
time historically when the real estate market has been slow.
Property Management
Leading real estate owners
require professional property managers. Managers are responsible
for negotiating leases, ensuring that tenants are satisfid, that rent is
paid and that rents reflect market conditions. The career of
property manager requires good interpersonal and analytical skills
and a fair amount of negotiating prowess. This job is personally
rewarding and allows you to really learn the real estate markets should
you wish to embark in business on your own. The Institute of Real
Estate Management (IREM) is the trade association representing property
managers. Their training programs include the Certified
Property Manager (CPM) and Accredited Residential Manager (ARM)
designations.
Real Estate Advisory
Institutional investors
are purchasing real estate more and more. but real estate is not
like a stock or bond that you can buy and put in a vault. Real
estate advisors help investors care for property and, more importantly,
select property in the first place by suggesting areas and property
types that are likely to experience price appreciation in the
future. this job is fun and one that you can get into after
getting experience in investing or property management. People who
are good with statistics and excel at client contact do well in this
job.
Investment Banking
Many investment banks have
groups dedicated to real estate, particularly the repackaging of
mortgages into residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS),
collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) and commercial
mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). Big players include CSFB,
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sacks, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Paine
Webber. Other popular areas include the REIT stock, bond and
preferred stock origination business, lodging in investment banking,
principal investing in real estate and synthetic lease
origination. If you have an interest in both real estate and
investment banking, why not go for both areas at once?
Development and
Construction
Are you willing to work
hard and take risks to develop new properties? Then a career in real
estate development may be for you. You can enter this business
working for another developer, moving up to construction manager, or you
can strike out on your own, starting with some smaller
transactions. good developers are results-oriented and know how to
get work on time which involves managing labor, establishing time
estimates, getting appropriate equipment operators and construction
crews.
Real Estate
Entrepreneur
Real estate is one of the
last bastions of the free-enterprising entrepreneur who buys properties
in hoe that they will rise in value because of improvement in market
conditions or renovations. Since WWII some of the wealthiest
persons in the world have been real estate entrepreneurs. To make
it in this career you need to be savvy, hard-working, willing to take
risks and fortunate. Remember, their are others who would also
like to become wealthy in real estate who will be bidding on the same
deals and properties that you will. It is important, then, to
think carefully of how you can succeed in this market through better
wits, a superior management.
