How to Jumpstart Your Real Estate Career

Our team has had a record year and will likely be growing. Here’s how you can get involved.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

I am happy to be joined today by Amy Schafer, our lead buyer’s agent, to talk a little about our team and how we help those who are interested in a career in real estate get started.

This year has been crazy. It’s been a record year for our team. Since we’ve been growing so fast, we have been getting a lot of questions about how to get into the industry. We’ve got a lot of different roles on our team, and some of them don’t even require a real estate license.

We have a school here at Keller Williams to help you get licensed if real estate is a career you’re considering. We have regular career nights here at KW and also teach a live class for the 60-hour pre-license. We also teach listing practices, buying practices, and developing professional ethics, which are the three classes you need to complete to get your license.

We'll help you get your real estate career started!

The total time for the classes is 96 hours, but we make it fun with Amy as your instructor. Another good contact for you to have if you’re thinking about a career in real estate is the Professional Licensing Bureau, which deals with the Iowa Real Estate Commission. Gaby, our agent services coordinator, is also available to help walk you through the process.

If you have any questions for us or would like to talk about getting a career started in real estate, give us a call or send us an email. We can send you some information so you can determine if it’s the right fit for you. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Do You Have What It Takes to be a Realtor?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

Today I'm with one of our best buyer's agents, Karoline Benskin. She's going to be speaking about her journey of becoming a licensed Realtor and what it took to get her where she is today.

Karoline has been licensed for two years now. She had to take a 60-hour course that lasted about a week and a half, and after that she took a test related to the course. After passing the exam, she then had to take an 18-hour course that focused on the ins and outs of being a Realtor.

Something that most people don't realize about being a real estate agent is that you don't have endless amounts of free time. We have to cater to the needs of our clients, and we take this very seriously. The market never stops running, so we never really stop working.

Another thing to remember is that success does not come overnight. Some people expect sales right away, but usually nobody gets a sale until 60 days in. We did, however, have an agent get five deals in his first few days.

Another thing to consider is which brokerage you want to work with. Certain companies offer you varying levels of independence, so you need to do some research and find out where you would fit best. We've both been with Keller Williams, and we love it. Anyone who starts working with KW has to read "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent". It's like the bible around here, and it contains all the systems and models you need to succeed in this business.

What drove me to get into the business was when I lost my job at a marketing firm in 2008. I decided I never wanted anyone else to determine my wealth again, so I became an agent. I also used the skills I acquired at the marketing firm to build my business here.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with questions. We look forward to hearing from you!