How to Get Started as a Real Estate Agent in New York This Year
Real estate in New York state is a dynamic, rewarding industry to get into. Real estate can be a reliable source of income or it can be the start of your fortune. It depends on what your goals are and how much you’re willing to put into your career.
Working as a real estate agent in New York can feel tough, especially in NYC. There are over 20,000 agents in New York City to compete with, and thousands more statewide. Many have more experience, bigger advertising budgets, and bigger networks. How can you differentiate yourself from the crowd and get started in real estate?
First of all, here’s the info on how to get your NY license and get started in real estate.
Sign Up for the 75 Hour Real Estate Course NY
Everything starts when you sign up for the 75 hour real estate course NY. There are several options open to you for learning everything you need to earn your real estate license. The 75 hour real estate course in NY will teach you the basics of being a real estate salesperson, including the process of closing on a home, paperwork, your legal obligations, and just how to help your clients buy and sell properties.
Do yourself a favor and sign up for the New York state real estate license course online if you’re interested in your earning your license. Completing the courses online will help you retain the information you need to pass the state exam. You can sign up for an online course any time and you have up to a year to complete the 75 hour real estate course NY from RealEstateU. There’s no excuse not to sign up today if you’ve been thinking about earning your license. Here’s why you should go online instead of with a traditional classroom:
1. Do it on your schedule – Do you work full-time or part-time? Working 9-5, you might be able to find classroom courses in the evenings, but even people who work traditional 9-5s are seeing their hours pushed back to 6, 7, or 8 sometimes. Working in customer service, hospitality, medicine, or any number of shift-based careers, it can be even more challenging to find time in the evening for regularly scheduled classes.
The RealEstateU 75 hour real estate course NY is presented as a series of video courses created by 21 real estate professionals. It lets you take the courses whenever you’re ready and you have the time. Take them late at night after the kids have gone to bed, early in the morning before work, or while you’re on the train on your commute.
2. Take as much or as little time as you need – As the name suggests, the New York real estate license course includes 75 hours of material. How long it takes you to complete that material is up to you. If you’re unemployed or on a break, you could put in 10 hours a day and have it finished in a week, or you could take up to a year to finish it.
3. It’s affordable – There aren’t many career change credentials that can compete with real estate license courses in terms of affordability. Our online real estate license courses in NY are only $99.
Pass the New York State Real Estate License Exam
Once your course is completed, you’ll write the RealEstateU proctored exam. Our exam will help you prepare for the New York State real estate license exam, which you can register to take on eAccessNY. Use the 200-page PDF you get as part of your RealEstateU online real estate license courses to study.
Textbooks are not required as part of New York real estate license courses, so not all schools offer a resource like this. The 200-page PDF can help you study without having to go through every video course again. It’s easy to look up relevant information when you’re studying for your exam. With the 200-page PDF to study from, you can easily pass the New York State real estate license exam which requires a passing grade of 70%.
Find a Real Estate Broker
A real estate broker is typically a real estate agent who has taken the next step in their career, continuing their education and passing a brokerage exam. They can now hire other agents to work under them. Some take the form of large companies with a franchise system – they can offer big name recognition that lends your business credibility as well as professional development opportunities and office space. In exchange, they will take a part of your commission or charge you for office expenses.
Because a broker earns more money when they hire more agents and their agents are active, it won’t be difficult to find a broker. What you want is a broker who will help you in exchange for that commission split. Professional development and mentorship are some of the most valuable things you can gain from a broker.
Working in a broker-provided office can also open a lot of doors for you. You will be surrounded by more experienced and established agents who can help you out, especially if you help them. One of the most common ways you can benefit from an office is offering to sit more established agents’ open houses. It can give you a chance to meet and greet prospective homebuyers, many of whom may not have an agent yet. It’s a great opportunity to network and build your own client list from scratch.
Once you’ve passed the New York state real estate license exam and found a broker, you’re a practicing agent. Now what can you do to compete in New York’s tough real estate market?
#1 Put in the Work
It’s one thing if your goal is to earn a bit of extra money on the side helping friends, family, or colleagues with their real estate decisions. But if you want to make a go of becoming a full-time, successful real estate agent in New York, it’s time to put in the work. Working hard is the first step to getting to where you want to go. That means:
- Being available to clients when they need you
- Always invest time into finding new clients and following up on leads
- Always learning more about your field, properties, and your clients
- Attending professional development conferences
#2 Advertise Yourself
Self-promotion doesn’t have to be part of your personality, but brand marketing does need to be an essential part of your business. Social media like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are affordable ways for you to connect with people looking for a real estate agent and other professionals in your industry. It helps to start by looking at other prominent real estate social media accounts. Learn about the best hashtags, do some digging into great real estate quotes you can use, find high quality real estate images, and more.
You should also be making good use of newsletters and emails to an opted-in contact list. Advertise your own successes to the people who are following you for tips and advice on real estate. Share what you learn.
#3 Meet and Greet
Always be introducing yourself to people at parties, event, fundraisers, PTA meetings, and neighborhood meetings. This is a great way to meet potential new clients and people will always be impressed when you’re not shy about yourself. Meeting people face-to-face is some of the best advertising you can get, and don’t forget your business card.
Part of meeting and greeting also means dressing for the part. Check out these tips for business-casual outfits that will inspire trust and confidence in real estate agents. Focus on your shoes, belt, sunglasses or glasses, and watch, as this can elevate your outfit.
Why Real Estate in New York Is Different
The New York real estate market is a unique one, especially if you’re practicing in New York City or nearby.
Rentals Are Big Business
In other cities and states across the country where homeownership is the norm, real estate agents might not take working in the rental market seriously. It can be a valuable stepping stone to selling houses and even building up a future client-base. But in New York, rental is a fiercely competitive sector and one where using a real estate agent is extremely common.
Nearly two-thirds of NYC-residents are renters. They account for 65% of the population, compared to 60% back in 2006. Rental has always dominated the city, but the growth in rental is a sign of where New York’s real estate market is headed for years to come.
It’s not just NYC where renting is big business. Upstate is also seeing the numbers of renters grow. For example, Buffalo now has 145,000 renters compared to 103,000 homeowners according to Patch. Across the state, homeownership is down while renting is up. For real estate agents, that could mean success depends on diversifying into a robust rental market.
There’s a Luxury Home Surplus
While many of the country’s most successful cities are entering into an acute housing shortage, New York’s luxury home market has a major surplus. The luxury market is undergoing a correction thanks to surplus inventory that can be traced back to the 2008 recession. Listings for luxury penthouses were up 19% in 2018.
Back during the financial crisis, luxury condos were one of the few markets where demand was unaffected, so developers doubled down on the luxury market. The effects of that decision are coming into play now that there seems to be an oversupply, especially in Manhattan. Between ample supply and long sales times, luxury home prices are starting to drop.
Diversity of Housing Types
There aren’t many cities in the world that offer the kind of housing diversity you can find in New York City. Much of New York is a vertical city, including modern high-rises, contemporary condos, and walk-up high rises. There are single family homes across Staten Island and Queens, turreted enclaves of the Bronx, new condos across the city, luxury penthouses, and co-op-style apartments that you don’t see nearly as frequently in other cities. There are classic, coveted brownstones and converted factory lofts, and to top it all off, there are even condops – a hybrid between condos and co-ops.
Don’t Expect Lockboxes
With everyone so close together, don’t expect to find lockboxes the way you would in other cities. A lockbox is a convenient way for buyer’s agents to get access to a property for a showing. That’s not often the case in NYC, where it’s more common for the listing agent to be present for all showings. Some rentals may make it possible to leave keys with the doorman (KWDM), or you can pick up keys with the listing rental agency. You may need to leave a deposit to make sure you bring the key back.
The National Association of Realtors Isn’t Nearly as Important
In most of the United States, real estate agents want to become realtors by joining the NAR (National Association of Realtors). It means that you follow a professional code of ethics. In New York, most real estate agents want to join the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), which shares listings through the RLS and provide their own code of ethics.
When you’re ready to take the bull by the horns and earn your real estate license in NY, we’re always here to help by providing you with more information. From clarifying course requirements to sending our students guides on earning money as a real estate agent or finding a broker, we want our students to succeed. Get in touch with us to learn more about the benefits of earning your real estate license in NY.