Entry-Level Positions for Aspiring Real Estate Advisors
Entry-level real estate roles often involve sales, requiring strong prospecting skills—"literally knocking on doors, talking to people"—and a good mentor to guide career development, as illustrated by Mark's experience with a mentor lacking a website in 2017. While sales offer "uncapped potential," other avenues exist within large firms or focusing on investor partnerships.
Sales, Mentorship, Networking, Prospecting, Real Estate
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Mark Sloat
Real Estate Advisor
Sloat Group at The Agency
Arizona State University
Bachelors Degree
General Studies / Not Applicable
Real Estate
Communication and Marketing
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Many entry-level positions exist in real estate, offering various income streams.
2. Success in real estate sales requires strong prospecting skills, such as cold calling and utilizing online leads, to overcome the initial limitation of a small professional network after college.
3. Finding a mentor is crucial for navigating the industry and developing essential skills; however, it's important to maintain an independent filter to assess advice critically.
Transcript
What entry-level positions are there in this field that an undergraduate college student might consider?
There are many opportunities in real estate. We discussed earlier that there are numerous ways to make money in this business.
If you're looking at starting in a sales role right out of college in residential retail sales, which is what I do, I've worked with other interns before. I tell them immediately that my business isn't set up to help them grow. However, other teams will teach you exactly how to handle incoming leads, whether through cold calling, online leads, or social media marketing.
In our business, you have to be either a marketer or a prospector. If you're starting from the beginning, age will be a significant challenge. As soon as you graduate college, the number of friends and connections in your network who will be buying homes is naturally small.
This means you'd have to focus heavily on prospecting: knocking on doors, talking to people about real estate, and handling phone calls and online leads. You might also find investors to flip homes with, or you could take a job with a large real estate company or a salary position. There are many opportunities to go that route.
Many people will tell you that sales offers the greatest, uncapped potential when it comes to income. It really just depends on where you want to start. For anyone interested in getting into this field right out of school, I would strongly advise focusing on being the best prospector you can be.
You absolutely need to align yourself with a good mentor. Find someone who has experience and has succeeded in this field. Learn from them, but also maintain your own judgment to decide what is good or not.
For example, my first mentor when I started in 2017 didn't have a website for his business. I asked him what I was supposed to use on my business card. His response was that you don't need a website to sell real estate. While that's partly true, a website is a crucial item for social proof, allowing people to easily see your legitimate business.
Nowadays, there are many more ways to do this with social media and other platforms.
So, to answer the question about starting in entry-level positions: get into the business, find a really good mentor, and focus on prospecting and the sales route.
Advizer Personal Links
www.sloatgroup.com IG: @sloatgroup