The world of real estate is not as easy as it seems. Instead, there are many different players involved, including property managers, appraisers, contractors, home inspectors, mortgage loan officers, and buyers and sellers, not to forget.
But, the workhorses of the entire real estate industry are the real estate agents and brokers who coordinate the whole process.
Whether you want to launch your own real estate business or become one of the agents, you ought to have exceptional real estate agent personality traits that can help you outperform others.
In fact, “The annual wage difference between the upper and lower level of real estate agents exceeds over $90,000”, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
So, the question is what sets them apart?
Here are the top 12 real estate agent personality traits that can give you immense success and let you gain a foothold on the market.
1. Integrity
The first step to being a successful real estate agent is winning your buyer’s trust. Remember that if an agent shows that he just wants to make money, people will easily sense it and won’t call him again. Instead, you should strive to genuinely help customers. This will allow you to build a reputation with integrity.
Never ask for a commission in front of your buyers. You should always be ready to go extra miles for the clients and they should feel that you are thinking about their benefits. Consequently, you’ll also reap substantial benefits.
2. Being Proactive is Key
As stated above, there is a huge difference between the annual wages of the real estate agent. The real reason behind it is the proactive nature of successful agents.
As per the study by the popular American Psychological Association, “The proactive nature is significantly responsible for the wage difference between the top and bottom performers in the industry.
To be one of the high-paid agents, you must be proactive. Agents must have knowledge of the latest technology like property management, real estate crm software and Also, know about the market latest trends and take immediate action and create plans for it.
3. Consistent Follow-up
One of the best real estate agent personality traits is constant following-up on leads and keeping a track on then. It might take a few weeks or months for buyers to choose a home they want. In the whole period, you must make sure that you utilize that time optimally to build a healthy relationship with them. This will increase your odds of being selected by the clients whenever they feel like buying the property.
4. Keep a check on your Competition
In this competitive landscape, you must be ambitious and have the determination to succeed. Successful agents don’t seek for opportunities, they dig deep to get things done. And, as a real estate agent, you have to grab opportunities amidst cut-throat competition. For that, you should keep abreast of ongoing trends and keep pace with them.
For instance, if you don’t use online project management software, you must be willing to implement them because your competition is doing so.
Otherwise, you might be dethroned by your competitors.
5. Build Negotiation Skills
Negotiation is a crucial part of your job and one of the most significant real estate agent personality traits. Negotiation is incredibly important as you might need to haggle over things, namely listing cost, selling price, and your commission.
Once you become a real estate agent, you must master the art of negotiation. Start setting a commission for yourself. If you can do so, you can easily negotiate on other core matters of real estate.
6. Be an Extrovert
There’s no point in being shy in the real estate industry. To sell property, you should be open-minded and love talking to people. Hence, you should be an extrovert.
Many successful agents become successful by growing their connections and by giving their business cards to everyone they meet. This allows your business card to travel to places. You can also carry out different meetings. With each meeting, you will significantly increase your chances of getting a prospective client.
7. Pay Attention to Small Details
This is one of the most overlooked real estate agent personality traits that can cost you big. As a real estate agent, you must pay attention to all details. No matter whether you are checking the prices of property, considering your client’s Wishlist, or reviewing contracts, you must pay attention to every single detail. For the contract to close, make sure you carefully guide your clients throughout the entire process. Even a small thing can make or break your deal.
8. Motivate yourself
Remember that when you’re a real estate agent, ‘you’re your boss’. It doesn’t matter whether you are working under a broker or freelancing alone, you’ll still be an independent contractor. This means you are managing your own business.
That’s the reason; you need to be self-motivated to convert your leads into customers. Nobody is going to come down and say something inspirational to make you work. You will be accountable for what you do.
9. Prioritize Personal Care
Another significant real estate agent personality trait that you must consider is prioritizing personal care. Yes, you should check how you look and what you wear.
As an agent, not only you are selling the property, you are somewhat marketing yourself as the right person to deal with. So, make sure that you dress well and keep yourself neat and tidy. Your appearance could significantly impact your client’s buying decision.
Don’t forget that your clients buy your image before the property, so keep yourself well-groomed.
10. Knowledge is Power
If you are a real estate agent, you should know everything about the industry. But what if a new trend just entered the market and you have no idea about it?
In such cases, you will lose your buyers. So, you must stay updated on the hot topic in the real estate industry to efficiently help your clients. Make sure you consistently educate yourself. This can help you to stay at the forefront of the real estate market. To be a successful real estate agent like others, identifying and developing a focus in the industry can help you to stand tall.
11. Be a Problem-Solver
If you are a property agent, you are bound to face problems and they could be anything related to the property, legal documents, etc. But you must be patient and always available to solve their problems.
Problem-solving is one of the incredibly important real estate agent personality traits. While the problem may be similar, you may need to tackle them differently depending upon your client. So, you should always feel comfortable with solving problems unconventionally.
12. Experience Does Matter
As per the study conducted by the Journal of Real Estate Research, it was concluded that ‘experience is one of the significant real estate agent personality traits contributing to the success of top performers in the industry.
You learn through experiences so undoubtedly, experienced agents know what to expect and how to tackle any situation much better than a novice. Hence, you should also be ready to experience and grow with it.
Don’t forget that building a strong network isn’t a cakewalk, it takes time. “The longer you will be involved in selling homes, the better you will become in doing so”. Real estate agents who stay within a particular region can effortlessly learn about their market well.
Final Thoughts
So these were 12 traits that make up a successful real estate agent. While these 12 tips can be realistic, it doesn’t mean that you need to possess all these real estate agent personality traits by birth. You might have some of these qualities. In case of remaining ones, you can start learning them and develop with time.
You should consider taking time to check-in yourself for the qualities already you have and for your strengths or weaknesses. Once you’re done figuring out, you must improve yourself in all these areas that are potentially imperative to the success of your real estate career.