The real estate industry is one of the largest in the United States, employing millions of people in a wide variety of jobs. Of course, there are real estate agents – brokers and salespeople whose job it is to bring buyers and sellers together. But there are many others involved as well: lawyers, appraisers and inspectors, for example. There are also developers, architects and builders, lending, institutions and mortgage brokers. Even real estate agents have begun to specialize, creating new niches in the profession: transactional brokers and buyer’s brokers.
The real estate industry helps individuals and companies buy, sell, lease, manage, and evaluate property. Often people have the idea that real estate agents are concerned only with buying and selling homes and condominiums. And they are right at least up to a point. Real estate agents help others buy and sell residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial properties; lease and manage office buildings, shopping centers, and apartment buildings; oversee real estate on behalf of banks, pension funds, and publicly traded real estate companies; and evaluate properties for individuals, banks, and insurance companies
Real estate agents come into two flavors: those you can work with and those you cannot. You are looking for an agent you can work with – someone with whom you can establish good chemistry and who will bring you a steady stream of properties to inspect and make offers on.
Real estate agents play a fundamental part in the use and exchange of one of this country’s most important resources – real property. The real estate industry offers a wide variety of opportunities to men and women of all ages and backgrounds. Real estate brokers and sales agents must be licensed by the government in which they work.
Perhaps no single factor has had a more significant change on the real estate industry than computerization and the use of the internet to transfer information. Developers and builders of real estate can transfer building structures and tenders via the web to save time and money in the construction process. Real estate agents now can access home listings from an internet service on their laptops or even on their personal digital assistances, and then e-mail housing information to clients.
Real estate franchising is determines with few industries accounting for most of the market. Franchises provide smaller real estate brokers with many of the same advantaged enjoyed by national and regional firms. Franchises are talented to manage to pay for larger nationwide publicity budgets so that their name becomes well identified. Franchises put forward members training in management and sales techniques that can help them run their companies better. Many franchises also buy supplies such as contracts in quantity and pass the savings along to their members. Franchises have helped many smaller brokers who might otherwise have been unable to compete with large local firms. But the rapid growth of franchises has also resulted in many franchises taking as members firms that are fruitless and troubling their successful members with these not very competent coworkers. Cairnhill 16