Any person who gets their real estate license does so in the hope of becoming the best agent they can be. A top real estate agent can earn a premium income. However, only the best agents succeed in the long term. It’s highly competitive as the real estate market is populated with hundreds of agents competing for properties.

Becoming a top real estate agent takes a lot of hard work and determination. You need to be the best version of yourself. Here is a guide on how to become a top real estate agent:

1. Be a friendly real estate agent.

Don’t forget that a primary goal in real estate is to help people buy and sell homes. If you’re focused strictly on maximizing your income and exclusively worried about how much money you’re making, that’s not good business, and it won’t translate to good job performance.

Be courteous, kind, and helpful to others. How you make your clients feel matters, and that’s a word that will get around. There’s no better marketing or advertising than word-of-mouth.

2. Understand real estate knowledge.

Becoming a top real estate agent involves confidence in knowing you can be while also understanding the value of always being a student. Real estate trends change. Neighbourhoods change. What worked a few years ago might not work today.

With every open house, every transaction, and every client, you have an opportunity to learn. Even the most experienced real estate agents are always keeping their knowledge base up to date and learning. You should enroll in real estate coaching programs to refresh your ongoing knowledge.

3. Be available for real estate clients.

Once you’ve locked in a client, treat them like gold. Your clients are everything in real estate. Don’t neglect to answer phone calls or emails. Be quick and efficient in answering questions. Respond to their needs and listen to them.

Buying or selling a home can be very emotional, and sometimes a real estate agent is there purely to listen. From that, you translate this knowledge into delivering services that align with what they’re expecting and what they need from you.

4. Cultivate real estate leads

While you want to prioritize the clients you’ve locked in, you also need to be cultivating leads every day. Some leads will come through word-of-mouth. Many people find their real estate agents online, such as through websites, search engines, and social media.

Be active online with an active social media presence and a simple website where you can offer your information. Creating an online presence will work 24/7 as a lead generation engine.

5. Be an active voice in communities.

Locally, be active. You want to get your name and face out there and build familiarity in your local neighbourhoods. This can be responding to local news stories, writing guest columns in newspapers or online publications, or writing columns on your website and then spreading it out online through social media channels.

Try to establish yourself as an expert on local real estate trends and real estate in general. An active, intelligent voice will get you noticed.

6. Specialize in a real estate niche.

Due to the strong competition in real estate, work to chop it down by specializing in a niche. That might involve selling in a specific region, selling a specific type of real estate, i.e. condos, or marketing yourself to a certain demographic, such as seniors downsizing or new families.

You may also discover opportunities either in your region or another region nearby. Go for it! Discover what’s out there and find where you fit in within the greater scope of real estate.

7. Create a real estate strategy to sell.

Create a plan that you can apply to any and every property you come in contact with. This could include hosting open houses, taking professional photos of a property, using drones to take a video of the property and advertising it online.

You should understand where to place real estate listings that are most likely to sell. If you want to sell properties as quickly and efficiently as possible, it’s all about investing time in the presentation.

8. Build business partnerships.

This will come naturally over time but as a real estate agent, start building a list of business relationships with adjacent stakeholders. Network with home décor experts and professional organizers, bank loan officers and mortgage experts, home inspectors, home builders and contractors, and more.

There’s a lot in real estate that you can’t do on your own. If your client requests any of the services above, you have someone you can call right then and there.

9. Have conversations about real estate.

Some people get their real estate agent license and don’t know a single soul in the area where they plan to do business. That’s not unheard of. Where you start is simply by having conversations. Have business cards on you at all times to give to any interested parties.

Ask local businesses if you can leave some business cards on their front counter. If permitted, go door-knocking and see if the people you talk with are interested in getting an appraisal. It’s hard work, but it’ll get you started.