What Does a Real Estate Agent Do All Day Anyway?
Lots of people wonder what a real estate agent does daily.
A real estate agent’s day can constantly differ in the real estate business.
Do they sit around all day waiting for the phone to ring? Do they do anything special for their buyer and seller clients?
Is what you see on reality television an accurate picture of what a real estate agent does?
In the age of Zillow, Trulia, and For Sale By Owner, many people think that real estate agents are unnecessary when buying or selling a home.
But that assumption is highly inaccurate. Selling a home for sale by owner is not easy!
While online resources enable handling some of the tasks involved in real estate transactions independently, they are far from replacing a real estate professional.
Websites on car repair and medical care make it easier to handle low-level tasks in their respective fields.
Still, everyone knows they are no replacement for an experienced professional when your valuable car or even more valuable health is on the line.
The same is true in real estate.
To get the best possible results in a real estate transaction – where hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line, if not more – you need to work with an experienced agent.
From experience of being a top-producing Realtor for the past three decades, picking the right agent is vital. The best real estate agents do many things for you.
Unfortunately, there are others who will try to get away with doing as little as possible. It becomes vital not to make a bad hiring decision.
You should understand what to expect from a real estate agent. I will provide you with a list of tasks and responsibilities all competent Realtors perform. By having this information upfront, you can ensure your agent will do them.
You’ll know the commissions you’re paying are worth it!
Essential Facts to Know
1. A real estate agent helps clients buy, sell, or rent properties such as houses, apartments, or commercial spaces.
2. They research properties and market trends to provide clients with accurate information and guidance.
3. Real estate agents assist in negotiating deals between buyers and sellers, ensuring fair terms for both parties.
4. They handle the paperwork and legal processes involved in property transactions.
5. A real estate agent often liaises between clients, other agents, lenders, and attorneys to facilitate smooth transactions.
What is a Real Estate Agent?
A certified real estate agent facilitates transactions between buyers and sellers and advocates for them in legal discussions. Agents typically earn commission based on a percentage of the property sale.
The specific percentage varies based on the agent’s state and brokerage. A brokerage is the agents’ overseeing entity, providing them access to company branding, connections, and legal support.
Understand The Difference Between a Realtor and a Real Estate Agent
It would help if you first understood the difference between a Real Estate agent, a Realtor, and a broker. These terms are used interchangeably all the time but have striking differences.
Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors. They are true real estate professionals who follow a strict code of ethics. They always put their potential clients first. Following real estate laws are a part of what they do daily.
Picking the right agent to work with depends on which side of the fence you are sitting on.
Understand the Difference Between a Seller’s Agent and a Buyer’s Agent
Did you know there are a few types of real estate agents? You can have a buyer’s and seller’s agent. Each has different responsibilities with some overlap.
I advise choosing someone with expertise and knowledge in real estate where you need services.
Are you going to be buying a home or selling one? These are two different processes. Believe it or not, some agents are better equipped to handle one side of the transaction than the other. Buyer’s agents have different skill sets than seller’s agents and vice versa.
See listing agent vs. selling agent to get a better handle on the role of each real estate in the transaction process. Listing agents specialize in working with sellers, while buyer’s agents help buyers.
Let’s take a closer look at what real estate agents and Realtors do for buyers and sellers to understand why hiring the right agent is worth hiring.
What real estate agents make will partially depend on how well they perform these tasks.
What Real Estate Agents Do For Buyers
Let’s start by looking at what real estate agents do for potential buyers. An excellent real estate agent will take all of these tasks seriously.
A critical distinction needs to be made between actual buyer’s agents and agents who are just looking to make a sale. The best buyer’s agents care about only one thing – their client’s best interests!
There are numerous reasons to have a buyer’s agent when purchasing a house.
1. Get You Pre-approved For a Loan.
An excellent real estate agent will have an extensive network of agents, lenders, and other professionals in the real estate industry that they can connect you with.
Your agent should be able to connect you with a lender that can get you pre-approved for a mortgage – a necessity when you are shopping in a competitive market.
Buyers need to understand there is a difference between being pre-approved vs. prequalified.
Without a doubt, you want to be pre-approved. With pre-approval, the lender will verify a buyer’s employment and income and research their credit history. A savvy listing agent will want a solid pre-approval letter.
A buyer’s agent can also provide recommendations on a mortgage lender. Understanding how to choose a lender when purchasing a home is essential.
2. Help You Find The Right Home For Your Needs.
Hunting for a home is exhausting even when everything goes smoothly.
A successful real estate agent can help you narrow your search to save time and energy by asking you targeted questions to help you define precisely what you want.
They can help you focus on the right location, neighborhood, school district, property type, and more.
It will still take time and energy to shop for the right property, but much of that time and energy will be spent with the Realtors.
A buying agent will continuously scour the multiple listings service to find the right property.
The actual showing of a home is one of the least crucial real estate agent duties.
3. Negotiate an Offer.
When you find a home that you want, one that excites you, it is time to make an offer. But what bid should you be putting forward?
Making an offer too low isn’t wise because it will probably be ignored and potentially piss off the seller.
On the other hand, you don’t want to offer too much because no one wants to spend more than they have to.
You’ll need to hit the sweet spot – a number that an experienced real estate professional is well-qualified to help you choose.
They will attempt to get you the best deal. Hopefully, a purchase price aligns with the comps or comparable sales.
A buyer’s agent will also suggest appropriate contingencies based on the current housing market. You’ll need to lean on their advice to land the house.
4. Help You Select a Home Inspector.
Some inspectors for houses are better than others. Your agent will know the best home inspectors in your area and can connect you with them. It would help to inspect the home before buying it to avoid purchasing a money pit.
Your agent knows this fact and will encourage you to get the home inspected using a reputable inspector you can depend on. Your agent can also help you decide if you need other inspections, like radon, mold, etc.
5. Attend a Home Inspection.
Home inspectors can miss problems, so you want a second set of eyes. The best Realtors are genuinely interested in representing their clients to the fullest and will attend the home inspection to ensure everything goes as it should.
They will be there to help you understand the results of the inspection.
Sometimes, prospective buyers can struggle to know what problems are worth stressing over and which aren’t. Your real estate agent will help you decide what issues you must be concerned with.
6. Negotiate Any Home Inspection Repair Requests.
Issues that you find through the home inspection may be ones that you need to discuss with the seller. Your agent can tell you which problems need to be addressed and can handle the negotiation process.
They can negotiate for a price reduction, repairs, or some other justified concession due to the problems with the home. Mediating issues from a house inspection is commonplace, and you want someone skilled.
7. Communicate With The Seller’s Agent and Your Attorney Throughout The Process.
Things continuously change during the real estate transaction process. With each shift in the landscape, every vital party in the transaction must be aware of what is happening and react as they will.
Your real estate agent will keep up the lines of communication between all the parties to keep the transaction moving along.
Excellent communication skills are one of the hallmark traits of an exceptional agent, whether representing a buyer or seller.
Buyer’s agents regularly communicate with real estate attorneys to keep the closing process on track.
8. Monitor Your Loan Commitment.
A skilled real estate agent knows how easy it is for a buyer to lose a loan approval – it’s based on your financial situation at the time of your application, and any significant changes you make after that can cause the funding to fall through.
No one wants this to happen, especially your agent, so they will keep track of your mortgage and advise you on protecting your approval.
Additionally, your mortgage commitment date is a critical milestone in your contract. You want to make sure a commitment is given by this date. If not, your buyer’s agent must be on the phone to get an extension.
Not doing so would open you up to losing your home deposit—something you don’t want to happen.
9. Finalize All Loose Ends For The Closing.
A surprising number of details need to be addressed to finalize a closing. You have enough on your plate as it is, which is why your real estate agent will be the one to ensure that all of these details are taken care of.
Your agent will finalize all those loose ends so you close without issues.
Part of the final steps for getting to the closing will be doing a final walk-through to ensure the home’s condition is the same as when you wrote the offer. If something does cause trouble, your agent will be there to advise you on how to move forward.
What Real Estate Agents Do For Sellers
The best seller’s agents have one goal – doing what is best for their clients. They always put the needs of home sellers first. Listing agents develop strategies to ensure sellers maximize their sale price.
1. Goes Over The Listing Agreement and Other Paperwork in Detail.
One of the first things real estate agents do when meeting home sellers is review all the paperwork they will sign. The most important document will be the exclusive right to sell listing agreement.
However, there will be others, including necessary disclosure forms.
2. Price Your Home Correctly.
One of the most important things a seller’s agent does is price a home correctly. It is hard to overstate the importance of getting the price right immediately.
Many sellers assume that if they price it too high, they can return and lower it. While that is technically true, the reality is that reducing the price of your home listing can change the perception of the property in the eyes of Realtors and buyers.
They assume that something is wrong with the property if you can’t sell it at the price you set.
Many times, if you set the price too high and have to reduce it to sell it, you will have to go lower and lower to get a buyer – lower than you would have if you had set the price correctly at the beginning.
A knowledgeable real estate agent will carefully set your market price to be competitive based on similar home sales in your area.
They will understand whether it is a buyer’s or seller’s market and price accordingly. Understanding the current real estate market is always crucial.
Just having the assistance of a great agent to price your home is often worth more than the commission you will pay on the property.
A detailed comparative market analysis (CMA) will be provided so you feel comfortable with the suggested pricing strategy.
3. Market Your Property Like Crazy.
Marketing homes are the next most important skill a real estate agent offers sellers. Exceptional real estate marketing requires much more than listing the house and putting up a sign in the yard.
You must prepare the property, take excellent photos, write a compelling listing, spread the word through multiple channels – MLS, popular real estate sites for buyers, the Realtor’s website, social media, word of mouth – and show the home.
While their online presence will be vital, you’ll also want professional-looking marketing materials at home. An average real estate agent may try to do as little as possible.
The best Realtors have a tried and true system to market properties that cannot be replicated by anyone but another real estate professional.
4. Avoid Shady Gimmicks Designed For Their Interests, Not Yours
Unfortunately, real estate agents are a dime a dozen. If you pick the wrong agent, they could entice you into one of these practices where the benefits are solely with them and not you.
These include:
- A pocket listing – pocket listings are when the agent keeps your home in-house or even to themselves and does not let anyone else know about it. This is a huge mistake if you want to sell your home for the most money. The more people that know about your home, the better!
- Dual agency – lots of real estate agents practice dual agency. The benefits lie squarely with the agent and NOT the seller. Never accept a dual agent whereby they become a neutral party, no longer representing your best interests.
- Guaranteed house sale – The “I will sell your house in X days” is another shady gimmick used by agents to get you to list your home with them. If you don’t mind selling your home for 50 cents on the dollar, go right ahead and fall for this stupid marketing tactic.
- Open houses – is an open house appropriate? Sure, go ahead, but know that anyone serious about buying a home will schedule a showing. Open houses are entirely unnecessary in the digital age and are used by agents to prospect for business. They will use your home as their sales office for the day. Don’t be fooled.
5. Communicate With Home Sellers About What is Going on.
If you are like most sellers, you have a life, a job, and other obligations that occupy a large portion of your time. But just because you are busy does not mean you don’t want to know what is happening with your home sale.
A top-shelf agent will keep you up to date about what is happening concerning your sale. Feedback will be a regular part of the process of selling your home. Equally important, they will not bother you with unimportant information you don’t need to know.
One of the best things about having an agent with years of experience is that you can trust them to update as needed. You will be in the loop and able to make informed decisions but not be overwhelmed with endless unnecessary details.
6. Make Sure The Buyer is Qualified.
Pretty much anybody can say they want to buy a house. However, not everyone is capable of purchasing your property.
To sift through the interested buyers, you need to look for those that are pre-approved for a mortgage.
Pre-approval is challenging because you must go through almost the entire process of getting a mortgage. But once a buyer is pre-approved, they should be able to purchase your home if nothing changes with their finances.
Your real estate agent will ensure that pre-approved buyers are the ones you interact with so you don’t waste your time with people who cannot buy the home.
7. Negotiate The Best Terms.
Your agent wants to get you the best terms for your sale. It’s what they are paid to do. They are skilled at negotiation – they do it regularly for multiple clients.
When you go to the negotiating table, you want a skilled negotiator. They will ensure that you get the best possible terms for your sale.
You usually want as much money as possible for your sale. But you may have other equally important terms, like closing the sale quickly if you have to move for work.
Your agent will be intimately familiar with your needs and will push to ensure that those needs are met through the sale.
8. Be Present For The Home Inspection.
The home inspection will provide the hard facts about the state of the home – facts that will be the basis for negotiations moving forward.
You want to have your agent there at the inspection that represents your interests.
Your agent can follow along throughout the inspection so that they know the state of your home and are ready for the potential issues that the buyer might bring up in negotiations.
They will also be able to push back if the buyer’s agent overstates the importance of the problems in the negotiations.
Lots of real estate agents like to make excuses for why they won’t attend the inspection. Some of them are “it’s for the buyer I don’t have a right to be there” or “an attorney advised against it.”
Hogwash – these are flimsy excuses.
If you aren’t in attendance, it is impossible to determine what is a real issue and what isn’t. A home inspector’s report often overstates simple problems, causing home buyers to ask for the moon.
The best listing agents will attend the home inspection for these reasons.
9. Attend The Home Appraisal.
The real estate appraisal is another major event that severely impacts your home sale. The appraiser may have questions about the home that need to be answered to facilitate the evaluation – your agent will be there to answer those questions and make the appraiser’s job as easy as possible.
For example, if the appraiser needs to know about significant updates you have made to the home, your real estate agent can provide that information.
Updates and improvements to a property can significantly impact the final appraised price of your home, so you want to ensure that it is delivered in full to the appraiser.
Before the appraisal even happens, your agent should offer guidance on how to prepare for it. Appraisals are a significant hurdle to clear in real estate transactions. It makes sense for agents to educate on ways to go smoothly.
10. Tie up and Solve Any Remaining Issues For The Closing.
So many small details must be taken care of to close the sale of a home. Your Realtor will take care of all those fine points and loose ends so that you don’t have to worry about them – or worry about being surprised in a way that disrupts the closing.
Things like taking care of the smoke and carbon monoxide detector certificate, final water/sewer readings, and similar issues – these are tasks that your agent will handle.
11. Get The Best Price For Your Home.
One of the most essential things a real estate agent does is get the best possible sales price.
A real estate agent who knows the value of your home is the best-qualified individual to negotiate on your behalf. There are no guarantees about how things will turn out, but you can stack the odds in your favor by using a professional to fight for the best price.
Daily Tasks of an Excellent Real Estate Agent
- Stays informed about local and regional market trends and industry updates. Understanding shifts in the local housing market is a must.
- Researches currently active, pending, and sold listings and reviews the daily MLS hot sheet or activity report.
- Submits and files real estate documents, agreements, and records with the appropriate state agencies.
- Will plan and coordinate appointments, open houses, showings, and meetings with clients and other real estate agents.
- Develops marketing plans for property listings and produces fliers, newsletters, and other promotional materials.
- Sets up advertising with relevant sources to enhance marketing efforts.
- Manages incoming emails and phone calls.
- Updates websites, social media profiles, and blogs.
- Many successful real estate agents have an assistant or transaction coordinator to handle day-to-day tasks, freeing the agent to focus on revenue-generating activities.
- Does networking with other agents for building relationships to serve their clients?
What Does a Real Estate Agency Do?
So, now that you’ve learned what real estate agents do to earn their keep, you may be wondering what a real estate agency does.
Many folks will ask what a real estate broker does.
Real Estate brokers typically own or manage a real estate agency. Real Estate brokers perform many tasks just like agents do. They are in charge of ensuring each agent they employ has a real estate license.
A real estate broker could potentially be in charge of recruiting new agents. A real estate brokerage often provides training to new agents, too.
Their most essential function is to oversee the daily operation of the business. They try to ensure their agents work hard to make themselves successful.
Real Estate brokers are also responsible for being an escrow agent in many real estate transactions. When there is a problem in a sale, clients and agents will speak to the broker in charge.
Conclusion
The best description of a true professional is a problem solver. The most skilled agents work tirelessly for their clients. The reality TV version of real estate agents just showing three beautiful homes and then collecting a big fat paycheck is a far cry from reality.
The best real estate agents could be described with these words – they all portray how some agents go above and beyond in a transaction.
- Juggler
- Psychiatrist
- Coordinator
- Scheduler
- Mediator
- Fiduciary
- Gopher
- Therapist
- Social media marketer
- Friend
- Jack of all trades
- Miracle worker
The bottom line is that the best real estate agents have many tasks and responsibilities to achieve their client’s objectives. They use their expertise and knowledge to accomplish them most efficiently.
Hopefully, you better understand what a real estate agent does all day. Maybe you can better appreciate the work put in by those who are the creme of the crop when it comes to agents.
About the Author: Bill Gassett, a nationally recognized leader in his field, provided information on what a real estate agent does. He is an expert in mortgages, financing, moving, home improvement, and general real estate.
Learn more about Bill Gassett and the publications he has been featured in. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-625-0191. Bill has helped people move in and out of Metrowest towns for the last 38+ years.
Are you thinking of selling your home? I am passionate about real estate and love sharing my marketing expertise!
I service Real Estate Sales in the following Metrowest MA towns: Ashland, Bellingham, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Natick, Northborough, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sutton, Wayland, Westborough, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton, and Uxbridge MA.
