“Don’t dwell on the lows or highs for too long. This job moves too fast to be negative during the bad moments and cocky during the good ones. Always find an element of happiness throughout your day.”
– Andy Heller, Apartment Locator
Build a Successful Real Estate Career as an Apartment Locator
After reading through all the articles on our career and industry hub, you discovered a job that matches your skills, applied for it, and now you’re preparing for your start date. Congratulations!
As you prepare to start your new career as an apartment locator, you’ll want to know what you need to do to thrive in this exciting new role. We’ll elaborate below, but, to cut to the chase, the most important keys to success for apartment locators are no secret at all: a strong work ethic and making genuine human connections with your clients.
Our reps often repeat the phrase, “You get out what you put in,” and they live by that standard; but, they also know that clients won’t sign leases if you don’t build a solid relationship with them. Hardwork and quality service matter.
What to Expect When you Start Your New Job
On your first day, AptAmigo’s fabulous HR team and managers will walk you through all the basics.
You’ll receive top notch training during your first few weeks and long-term mentorship from your managers and colleagues, so you never need to worry about feeling alone through the ups and downs of the real estate calendar year. Bobby Brandt, a fellow apartment locator who navigated this career path during the height of the pandemic, testifies to the company’s supportive culture and enduring optimism.
As you begin pursuing leads and closing deals, which will happen right away, know that AptAmigo will equip you with the tools you need to succeed. Through its community of fantastic coworkers, encouraging leaders, and custom digital tools tailored to your every workflow need (you can read all about our custom CRM next), you will find yourself settling into a rhythm and improving your sales as you work towards your initial goals.
What You Need to Know About Apartment Locator Jobs
As an employer, AptAmigo leads the way in the industry, offering the highest commission splits and a high volume of hot leads. That alone gives you an edge over others in rental market professions.
However, it’s up to you to supplement those leads with your own skills and strengths as well as a desire to continue growing and learning no matter what career stage you enter.
Apartment Locator Skills
We listed the core skills we look for in applicants in our guide to the company and this role.
But, we thought it would be helpful to hear it straight from the source. When asked, “What is the single most important skill that helped you succeed as an apartment locator?,” our sales reps responded with some great advice. Here are just a few of their wise words:
“The apartment market moves FAST and keeps you on your toes, so you have to adapt as the market changes and be ready to pivot to meet your clients needs.”
– Hannah Dorn, Sales Manager
“The ability to make a new friend with any passing stranger! Clients will put their trust in you the more you connect with them on a personal level.”
– Drew Schwietz, Apartment Locator
“Tenacity: Always being determined to complete any task or goal — from lead generation to deal closing — with an unwillingness to give up until you accomplish what you set out to do.”
– Joe Petramale, Director of Sales
“Positivity: You’ll receive no’s, objections, and denials every single day as a sales rep, but all these obstacles make every closed deal feel that much better.”
– Alex Anderson, Sales Manager
Their advice is so great, we decided to collect it all in one place. You can read a full transcript of their responses to learn more from their experience. Discover The Collective Fount of Apartment Locator Wisdom for yourself.
Set Goals
The company will establish your initial training goals, including the number of deals you’ll need to close before moving into the next phase of your job. After the training period, you’ll need to be proactive in setting realistic, but still ambitious goals that will set you up for success.
Your supervisor can help, especially in the earlier stages of your career. And, you can track your progress, stats, and productivity in AptAmigo’s custom built CRM (Customer Relationship Management software) as you move your clients through the sales pipeline. Use that information to assess your strengths and needed improvements in conjunction with feedback and advice from your mentors and colleagues.
Pro tip: Never be afraid to reach out for advice. You’ll find so many eager colleagues who will jump at the chance to lend a helping hand in our team-oriented environment because when you succeed, so do they.
Check in on your goals daily and track what works well for you and what doesn’t. You’ll need to fine tune and adjust how you set them as time goes on, but establishing those goals, whether monthly, weekly, or both, gives you a clear sense of what you need to accomplish in both short- and long-term timeframes.
Prospect for clients
While we deliver hot leads straight to you with the help of our tech and marketing teams, your sales potential will grow faster when you take the initiative to find additional leads yourself. Sometimes these leads will come from referrals as your past clients tell their friends about you. At other times, you’ll want to leverage social media tools with the help of our marketing team.
Posting ads and listings should become part of your regular routine. Websites, such as Zillow, Zumper, and apartments.com, provide ideal outlets for generating leads both on your own and through team listings.
Moreover, never underestimate the value of good ol’ fashioned networking. Tell everyone, everywhere you go what you do for a living. People move all the time, and you never know when you’ll discover that friend of a friend preparing to move for their new job.
Likewise, apartment buildings sometimes host events that make for great networking opportunities. When it suits your schedule, take advantage of the chance to represent the company and yourself in these settings.
The marketing team provides excellent tools for both potential and current clients. Use the neighborhood guides and blog posts to spread the word about our amazing service.
Share our lifestyle blog posts with your friends and family. Even if they aren’t looking for a place right now, sharing content about design and decorating tips, fun ways to spend a summer, or bar recommendations will get them to our website, where they will encounter our name, logo, and friendly personality. As they gain brand awareness, they’ll share our name with family and friends, and the more recognition we receive, the more quickly our volume of clients will grow.
You can find even more advice from Stephanie Dybel, a Chicago Sales Rep, in How to Market Yourself as an Apartment Locator.
Availability to Clients
The same standard that buy and sell agents live by applies to the rental market as well. You must remain available to answer clients calls, emails, requests, and concerns throughout the day. A prompt response shows them that you care, that you value their time, and it builds the trust necessary to keep them engaged throughout the process.
Apartment Locator Salary
As with any real estate agent, apartment locators earn commission-based income instead of a traditional salary. As our locators often say, “You get out of it what you put in.” You can learn more about your earning potential in Apartment Locator Salary.
Apply Today to Become an Apartment Locator
Want to join the team? Browse through our open positions. We’re always looking for highly motivated, team-oriented talent.
Up Next: Jobs in Real Estate that Don’t Require a License
AptAmigo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and does not discriminate based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law, in connection with any aspect of employment at AptAmigo.
Karrie Fuller earned her PhD in English from the University of Notre Dame. After a decade of teaching college-level writing and English courses, she brings a wealth of expertise about writing, editing, and content management to AptAmigo's marketing team.
