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Real estate investor vs broker

The differences between real estate investors and brokers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a broker has an average salary of $124,861, which is higher than the $81,345 average annual salary of a real estate investor.

The top three skills for a real estate investor include residential real estate, real estate license and general contractors. The most important skills for a broker are brokerage, financial services, and insurance products.

Real estate investor vs broker overview

Real Estate InvestorBroker
Yearly salary$81,345$124,861
Hourly rate$39.11$60.03
Growth rate3%5%
Number of jobs18,7612,770
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4849
Years of experience6-

What does a real estate investor do?

Also called real estate entrepreneurs, real estate investors are professionals who invest in real estate. Real estate investors purchase a property, make some improvements or repairs. They then sell the property for profit. It is their responsibility to assess the real estate market and properties already bought to build wealth. They need to develop skills in communication, marketing, investment, and customer service. Also, they should have a significant level of knowledge about the real estate business.

What does a broker do?

Brokers can either be a firm or an individual acting as an intermediary between a securities exchange and an investor. They often provide services to individual investors and traders who cannot engage directly with security exchanges, which only accept orders from their members. They provide investors and traders with an investment plan, market intelligence, and research. They may cross-sell some financial services and products offered by their brokerage firms. They are also typically classified as discount or full-service brokers.

Real estate investor vs broker salary

Real estate investors and brokers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Real Estate InvestorBroker
Average salary$81,345$124,861
Salary rangeBetween $53,000 And $124,000Between $68,000 And $227,000
Highest paying City-New York, NY
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-Child Guidance & Family Solutions
Best paying industry-Insurance

Differences between real estate investor and broker education

There are a few differences between a real estate investor and a broker in terms of educational background:

Real Estate InvestorBroker
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California

Real estate investor vs broker demographics

Here are the differences between real estate investors' and brokers' demographics:

Real Estate InvestorBroker
Average age4849
Gender ratioMale, 68.4% Female, 31.6%Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 5.3% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 6.9% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage12%13%

Differences between real estate investor and broker duties and responsibilities

Real estate investor example responsibilities.

  • Establish and manage an LLC for real estate investment properties in the state of Florida.
  • Manage reporting requirements to senior management on status of real estate portfolio.
  • Provide administrative management of a portfolio of assign commercial real estate loans in accordance with credit policy requirements for risk management.
  • Generate valuations of IRR, NPV, and other financial ratios for investors emphasizing return on investment.
  • Review loan documents and assist in the workout process to determine an optimal workout strategy in order to maximize loan NPV.
  • Identify internal and external customer needs and addressed concerns and conflicts regarding SBA, bank policy and procedures.

Broker example responsibilities.

  • Manage, lease and sell office condominiums on site.
  • Retail trader, fix income securities; manage client account activity; properly allocate client funds to appropriate investment options
  • Manage indexes, options, foreign equities, and short-selling positions that are compatible with clients' long-term investment goals.
  • Expand and maintain professional relationships with trading accounts including banks, hedge funds and portfolio managers.
  • Specialize in finding undervalue and/or overbought commodities by using fundamental and technical analysis that exist throughout the markets.
  • Install the oracle client for windows.
  • Show more

Real estate investor vs broker skills

Common real estate investor skills
  • Residential Real Estate, 12%
  • Real Estate License, 11%
  • General Contractors, 10%
  • Financial Analysis, 8%
  • Property Management, 5%
  • Real Estate Investments, 5%
Common broker skills
  • Brokerage, 17%
  • Financial Services, 9%
  • Insurance Products, 7%
  • Risk Management, 6%
  • Client Relationships, 6%
  • Real Estate Transactions, 5%

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