4 Essential Skills Needed For Real Estate Agents in 2024!

Hey there, it's Keri Hill here, lawyer turned realtor and coach, and today I'm talking about all the essential skills and traits that are the backbone of success for any new real estate agent. If you don't have these, you'll likely become one of the 87% of new agents that fail in this very competitive business. The odds are against you, so let's change that. Let's get to it. Okay, let's focus on being one of the 13% of new agents that make it and thrive in the real estate business. And if you're not a new agent, but you're not seeing the success you want, listen up because this information can help you too. One, social skills. Okay, so being a real estate agent is super cool, but guess what? It's all about how you talk, listen, understand, and get along with people. If chatting, making friends, and tuning into people's emotions isn't your thing, then being a realtor will be tricky. Your goal is to work every day with people who may want to buy a house or sell a house. Buying a house is a huge investment, and selling a house often entails lots of emotions. Bottom line, the people you work with will have lots of questions, and they will also likely be emotional. Whether that's being nervous, scared, excited, confused, whatever, your job is to be their guide, someone they can trust and feel comfy talking to. You're going to need excellent social skills to pull that off. And it's not just the people looking to buy or sell houses that you need to have excellent social skills for. You also must work with other real estate agents who are on the other side of the deal. You need to thread the needle with that agent, make nice with the agent, be friendly while getting answers that will help your client. If you're inclined to be confrontational, you won't get far in helping your client get the best deal for them. And there are even more people involved in deals you're going to need top-notch social skills to navigate. There are loan officers who help people get the money to buy the house, inspectors who check if everything in the house is working right, escrow officers who handle all the paperwork and the money stuff, and brokers who run the real estate offices. You will likely be interacting with all of these people and your fabulous social skills will again help your client to get the best outcome. Besides interacting with each of these people that I already mentioned, you'll need excellent social skills to work out compromises. If things get tough, like if a deal starts to wobble, you need to stay cool and work out a solution that makes everyone happy. If you're not sure on where to start to brush up on having great social skills, practice listening first. Listen twice as much as you talk. Many say that's why we have two ears and one mouth. Ask questions so you really understand what people want. And keep your smile ready because a friendly face can make a huge difference. If you can chat with anyone about anything and make them feel good about it, you're on your way to being an awesome realtor. By the way, if you're considering joining eXp Realty, I'm with the Wolfpack Sponsorship team and we offer value that no one else in the real estate business is offering. And it's free! Seriously, no hidden tricks. By partnering with us, you'll be joining one of the fastest growing teams at eXp Realty, which is also the fastest growing brokerage on the planet. Learn more at SmartAgentAlliance.com 2. Communication Skills Communication skills for real estate agents are different from social skills. Social skills are more about creating harmonious working relationships that are likely to create advantageous outcomes. But communication skills, they're a whole different ballgame. They are about clarity, precision around complex issues, and sometimes tackling awkward issues with finesse. Regarding complexity, breaking down complex real estate contracts into bite-sized understandable pieces is important. Imagine taking a dense legalese-filled document and translating it into everyday language. That's what you'll need to do. At the same time, you must make sure your clients don't feel overwhelmed. But instead, you want them to feel empowered and informed. Regarding awkward information, take for example advising a client on prepping or staging their home for sale. Let's say that to get top dollar on the home sale, or sometimes just to sell the house at all, you know their house needs some changing. Whether those changes are merely removing items from a very crowded room or making big physical changes, you need awesome communication skills and some social skills too. Almost every seller loves their home as is, and no one wants to hear that they must make changes to improve it. So in presenting this, your home needs changing talk. It will matter what you say and how you say it. You've got to blend honesty with tact. It's a skill to convey a clear message on how the changes will benefit them while leaving the seller still thinking that you love their home so much. So of course, you are a great choice for someone who can sell their home. As new agents in the real estate industry, honing your negotiation techniques is crucial. It's all about finding a win-win situation for everyone involved. To do this, you'll need to listen carefully to buyers, sellers, and the agent on the other side of your transaction. You'll need to understand all the needs and desires and then find common ground to work with. For example, if your buyer loves a house but it's slightly out of their budget, find out if the seller has other needs and desires that your buyer might be able to meet and thereby create an offer where a lower price might still satisfy the seller while meeting the buyer's budget. Don't get confrontational. This will not serve the best interests of your clients. Your social skills in playing nice as well as being respectful and professional with the opposing agent will go a long way to helping your buyers or sellers get the kind of information that can lead to a successful negotiation and a great outcome. Remember, good negotiators are patient and think before they speak. They are prepared. They know when to push forward. They know when to step back. And they know when to compromise. All while maintaining emotional control and realistic expectations. Don't know where to start? We recommend the book Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. It's not about real estate, but the principles are gold. 4. Time Management Skills In the whirlwind world of real estate, juggling various tasks efficiently is not a skill. It is a necessity, especially for new real estate agents. The ability to manage time effectively is vital as you find yourself swamped with diverse responsibilities and the constant need to learn new and evolving information. Start by prioritizing tasks each day. Listing appointments, generating new leads, meetings you must take, and deadlines you must meet. Use tools like calendars, task organizers, or CRMs to keep track of everything you need to do. For tasks, try out Asana.com. That's my favorite task organizer and it's free. And don't forget, delegating or automating are fantastic goals for your real estate career. You can delegate with the help of a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants provide a variety of skills to help you perform a variety of tasks from editing your social media content to making cold calls for leads. And you should know that there are overseas assistants that can also be cost-effective even for a new real estate agent. Regarding automation, a Customer Relationship Management CRM tool can also help with that as mini-CRMs can help you automate some needed work like responding to prospect activity or sending out birthday wishes to your clients. Automating saves you tons of time and presents you as a more responsible, with it, agent. Like, subscribe, hit the bell notifications if you got any value from this video. And if you'd like more information regarding the real estate industry or about eXp Realty and the Wolfpack, those videos should be showing right now. Have a great day.