How To Become A Real Estate Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a real estate internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Daniel Wright

Real estate interns primarily work to gain experience and build their resumes. They work with real estate brokerage firms or a property management company. Like most internships, the duties may not fully reflect the work in the industry. Most real estate interns begin by doing administrative tasks and slowly work up to more responsibility.

A day in the life of a real estate intern may include answering calls, making copies, filing, and preparing reports. Some interns may also research properties, create a listing that meets specific criteria, and prepare paperwork.

Real estate interns may also set up client and investor meetings for senior agents. It's also common for an intern's duties to deviate to everyday tasks like getting coffee and picking up mail.

To become a real estate intern, you need a relevant degree and a general knowledge of real estate. You must also have the appropriate research and writing skills.

What's a day at work look like for a real estate internship?

Daniel Wright

Program Director - MS Real Estate, Lecturer of Finance, UNC Charlotte

Everything is fluid so it is hard to tell at this point. Many employers are staying virtual at least through year's end while others are in-person. They will continue to utilize Zoom calls and will need to be proactive to ensure engagement with peers. The environment will require more self-discipline with limited over-the-back managers.

ScoreReal Estate InternshipUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $32,662

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.32%

Asian 6.89%

Black or African American 5.32%

Hispanic or Latino 13.30%

Unknown 4.31%

White 69.85%

Gender

female 34.11%

male 65.89%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a real estate internship

Explore real estate internship education requirements

Most common real estate internship degrees

Bachelor's

77.9 %

Master's

9.1 %

Associate

5.1 %

Start to develop specific real estate internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Real Estate Market	11.36%
PowerPoint	10.10%
Financial Analysis	7.85%
Data Entry	7.07%
Market Research	5.68%

Complete relevant real estate internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New real estate interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a real estate internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real real estate internship resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed real estate internship usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed real estate internship in most of states. 34 states require real estate interns to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Maryland	Degree required	State exam required	REAL ESTATE SALESPERSON
Arkansas	Specific course required	State exam required	Real Estate Salesperson
California	Degree required	State exam required	Real Estate Salesperson
Connecticut	Specific course required	State exam required	Real Estate Salesperson
Delaware	Degree required	State exam required	Real Estate Sales Agent

Research real estate internship duties and responsibilities

Manage several business bank accounts in Quickbooks.
Manage social networking sites: LinkedIn, Facebook.
Manage errands by showing listings and rentals, dropping off lockboxes and handling EDDM for settle listings.
Manage reporting requirements to senior management on status of real estate portfolio.

Prepare your real estate internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your real estate internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a real estate internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable real estate internship resume templates

Build a professional real estate internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your real estate internship resume.

Apply for real estate internship jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a real estate internship job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do real estate interns rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Real estate internship reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2021

Pros

Flexible Schedule. Accompanying New Agents with business operation skills, critical communication skills, contract negotiation, problem solving, proactive approach to obtaining purchase agreement, assisting brokers with avenues to increase network for sales agent, conducting feasibility study for outmoded business models, providing ongoing business operation training, training programs for leadership/business development, building trust for agent sustainability.

Cons

Continuous solicitation of businesses to sustain. Louisiana has small window for Real Estate Consultants.