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Real estate career opportunities for women - Brief Article

For women today, there are many career possibilities in the world of real estate. Real estate jobs tend to be more entrepreneurial and create opportunities to become wealthy if you have the right mix of analytical skills and entrepreneurial drive.

One of the exciting things about real estate is that it can be approached from so many different ways. You can be a white-collar worker projecting and analyzing cash flows from new developments with spreadsheets; an agent in the field with heavy contact with customers on a day to day basis; or an entrepreneurial property owner/manager looking for undervalued real estate buys and strategies for creating value.

There are a variety of ways to break into real estate. If you are interested in the sales side you need to get licensed and should go to work for a commercial or residential broker. If you would like to get involved in property acquisition and analysis you should get a higher degree with a specialization in real estate and go to work for a major property management company. There are also many other ways to enter including through corporate site selection departments, governmental entities and banks.

Here are some brief snapshots of possible, and often lucrative, career avenues in the industry.

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.

Real Estate Appraiser: 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 Manager: Leading real estate owners (e.g. large insurance companies, Real Estate Investment Trusts and wealthy families) and others require professional property managers. Managers are responsible for negotiating leases, ensuring that ten ants are satisfied, ensuring that tenants pay rent and for following local real estate markets. 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.

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.

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 hope 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, there 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 approach or a unique niche strategy.

Lucas Johnson is a freelance writer and career analyst and lecturer.

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