Licensed Agents Are Exploring Different Real Estate Careers: Find Out Why
It’s no secret that the housing market has experienced various forms of instability since the pandemic first hit. Initially, high demand & low supply led to intense bidding wars and soaring listing prices. Then, skyrocketing interest rates, inflation, and the looming shadow of a 2023 recession catapulted a rapid decrease in home sales over the last few months. Indeed, home ownership feels forever out of reach for millions of would-be buyers these days, and the same forces that affect buyers and sellers also create special challenges for buy-sell agents, who, right now, feel the effects as housing transactions continue to slow down amidst impossibly high prices and rates.
However, despite the looming recession and decline in home sales, people still need a place to live, and for many adults that means renting, even with the spikes in rent costs. Even if supply for multifamily housing levels out a bit in the near future, demand will remain high for some time. The rental market, therefore, retains its positive future outlook, while buy-sell looks more grim in the coming year as sales continue to stall out.
As a result of the more positive outlook in rentals, some buy-sell agents are switching their focus to leasing, either full-time, or as a supplement to their buy-sell business. In fact, AptAmigo has seen an increase in applications from traditional real estate agents in recent months, and we expect that trend to persist.
As AptAmigo’s CEO, Dan Willenborg, remarks, “Multiple agents who focused exclusively on buy-sell before have joined AptAmigo and built up a six figure run-rate income in less than 2 months by plugging in to our proprietary leasing platform, while still retaining the ability to do buy/sell transactions. Real estate is cyclical, and we’re excited to give our agents opportunities to build their business in any market.”
Moreover, because buy-sell agents know how to generate leads and work independently, they tend to excel at apartment locating, with its much higher volume of deals and streamlined process, especially when given access to our exclusive software.
Related to Different Real Estate Careers: Advice for Apartment Locators, from Apartment Locators
The Appeal of Apartment Locating
Aside from the economic and social pressures driving this shift in real estate circles, leasing attracts agents looking to benefit from some of its other perks as well. This list covers only some of the many reasons traditional real estate agents shift into the rental market.
Fewer Buy-Sell Transactions Coupled with Housing Shortages
The pandemic exacerbated the problem of low supply and high demand that has plagued the housing market for some time now. For a while, the resulting high prices meant high commissions for agents at a still reasonably high volume, but the current economic downturn is changing that landscape as sales become more scarce. Fewer sales means fewer commissions and a less stable income, so many agents are exploring different real estate careers to weather the uncertainty.
More Frequent Commissions Resulting from a Much Faster Process
Yes, the amount of a single commission is significantly lower in leasing than in buy-sell, but they come in at high volume and fast pace, often increasing your overall earning potential. You don’t need to worry about sacrificing your salary as an apartment locator, nor do you need to abandon buy-sell itself. You can do both, if you choose. Hear what Keisha Pettway, one of our recent hires from buy-sell, has to say based on her experience:
“Don’t limit yourself in real estate! Buy-sell sounds more appealing because of a potential higher commission check, but think about how many people are actively looking to buy-sell a home vs. how many people are looking to rent an apartment. An apartment commission may not be as high as a home commission, but you’ll likely be closing SO many more deals in rentals. Those rental deal commissions could easily surpass the commissions made in buy/sell!”
Demand for Rentals Remains and Will Remain High
Because so many people need a place to live and so few can afford to buy, the multifamily industry is thriving and will only continue to grow. Any licensed real estate agent can take advantage of this situation by participating in leasing as an apartment locator.
You Can Still Do Buy-Sell Deals
As mentioned above, you can use apartment locating to supplement your buy-sell business during this time of MLS uncertainty. Chances are you’ll stick with it even after the home market stabilizes because of all of its benefits. The bottom line is that you don’t need to abandon your passion for helping people buy or sell homes, and you just might discover a new passion that complements your old one.
The Leasing Process Is Much Easier (and, Again, Faster)
From the time a client begins searching for a home to closing day, traditional real estate transactions can take months to complete. It’s a long, complicated, and sometimes tedious process. Leasing, however, can happen in as quickly as a few days to a few weeks, with fewer steps and less negotiating along the way.
Colin Stok noticed this speedier process right away when he became an apartment locator. He observes that “leasing is definitely a lot less hand holding. It’s a lot of gathering the correct information upfront to qualify a client, and then after that, they are a lot quicker to make a decision. You also don’t have to carry the transaction through escrow. Once a lease is signed, it’s 90% a done deal.” With quicker transactions that lead to more frequent commission checks, apartment locating provides a great opportunity to fill in those gaps between buy-sell deals where payments roll in much slower.
Why Choose AptAmigo
Highest Commission Splits in the Industry
When searching for rental real estate jobs, commission splits matter, and AptAmigo offers some of the highest splits in the industry. Keep in mind that clients pay nothing out of pocket for your services. Instead, the apartment buildings pay, usually in the amount of 1 month’s rent in exchange for a signed lease that keeps their units occupied.
Independence & Flexibility
Many real estate agents enter the profession because they love the idea of working flexible hours from a location of their choosing. AptAmigo provides that same flexibility and values your independent spirit, while still encouraging teamwork and community.
Company Supplied Leads to Supplement Your Commission Pool
AptAmigo’s marketing and tech teams work hard to generate in-house leads, and those leads will show up in your inbox to supplement any that you earn independently. In fact, the company will even reward successful, independent lead generators with extra company supplied leads, increasing your potential client pool even more.
Most Advanced Tech in the Industry
What impresses real estate agents the most when they become apartment locators at AptAmigo is our custom built software. We are, after all, a startup. Our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software revolutionizes the ease with which our locators manage leads and move clients through the sales pipeline.
You can learn more about how and why we created our own CRM on our career & industry blog. Even better, you can experience the uniquely tailored features on our CRM yourself when you join our team and gain access to it.
Company Culture and Support
AptAmigo works hard to build a supportive and team-oriented culture. Yes, you get the opportunity to work independently and build your real estate business, but you also gain instant access to mentors and experienced industry leaders as well as social media training and marketing support. As a company, we achieve success on a much greater scale when we work as a team and help each other out.
Considering Different Real Estate Careers? Join Our Team of Rental Agents Today
Are you exploring different real estate careers? If this opportunity sounds like an appealing way to supplement your buy-sell income and grow your career, check out our job board and reach out to us for more information about rental real estate agent jobs.
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.
