What are career paths in real estate?

Real estate agents, leasing agents, and title examiners are career paths in real estate. Here is a more detailed view of these career paths and more in real estate.

• Real estate agent

  Real estate agents help clients to either buy or sell a house or property. A good real estate agent knows the housing market and constantly evaluates it, and based on this they can give expert advice based on current conditions and trends.

  Common tasks include giving clients and prospective buyers walk-throughs of homes or properties, holding open houses, listing homes and properties, and marketing them.

  You do not need a college degree to become a real estate agent. However, an associate's or bachelor's degree in business can help.

  While the requirements vary by state, all individuals wanting to become real estate agents must take a pre-licensing course from an accredited real estate school, pass their state exam, activate their license, and join a real estate brokerage.

• Leasing manager

  A leasing manager oversees activities, including upkeep and necessary maintenance, of a rental property. This can be a house, apartment building, apartment complex, or set of condominiums. Leasing managers often live on site of a property they manage.

  They are tasked with making sure the property they manage has a high occupancy rate. Leasing managers do this by marketing the property, maintaining or renovating existing living spaces, and showing available units to prospective renters. Leasing managers work above leasing agents and consultants.

  No formal education is needed to become a leasing manager, however, experience in real estate and home/building maintenance is a plus.

• Title examiner

  A title examiner is tasked with ensuring that real estate titles do not have existing claims on them before being sold to a new owner. To do this they search public records and determine if the title already has a claim. Title examiners also prepare the official documents that guarantee the title in a legal sense.

  Title examiners generally have at least an associate's degree, if not a bachelor's degree in a relevant field.

• Home inspector

  A home inspector examines a residential home or property, and reports on the overall condition of the structure. This includes the foundation, roof, draining system, plumbing, heating system, central air-conditioning system, visible insulation, walls, windows, and doors.

  A home inspector only inspects items that are visible and accessible by normal means on the property. They often perform this job for potential home-buyers to give them a thorough idea of the home's state, as well as the likelihood of any negative issues arising in the future.

  Ultimately a home inspector's job can be defined as determining if a property is up to code and safe for the buyers to live in.

  Close to half of home inspectors have bachelor's degrees in a related field. However, in most cases, a high school diploma or equivalent is sufficient foundational education to become a home inspector. Much of the necessary skills, training and education are learned on the job by working under a veteran home inspector.

• Real estate appraiser

  Real estate appraisers assess the value of different real estate properties. Most appraisers specialize in either residential or commercial properties. To do their job properly they must thoroughly inspect a property or hire a home or building inspector to assist them. They also take photographs to add to records of any properties in their purview.

  The main function of a real estate appraiser is to compare and contrast a property to other properties in the area, this helps them to gauge how much a specific property is worth. The appraiser then gives the real estate a value which is used to determine the appropriate pricing when the property is taxed, mortgaged, insured, sold, or developed.

  The career track of a real estate appraiser is similar to a real estate agent. Many appraisers were real estate agents at one time.