REAL ESTATE AGENT INTERVIEW
Kristin Sutter
Dr. Teresa Fishman
ENGL 314 Online
27 May 2007
When I graduate I hope to go into the real estate business and; eventually I would like to open up my own real estate company by myself or with one other person. For my interview I interviewed Alicia Hack who is an agent for Hartwell lake properties in Anderson. I asked her a lot of questions involving everything from her career background to how being a real estate agent has had an effect on her personally. Here were her answers.
1. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE FIELD?: Two Years.
2. WHAT MADE YOU GO INTO REAL ESTATE?: Tired of the car business (selling Mercedes Benz cars for 21 years)
3. WHAT CHARACTERISTICS ARE NEEDED BY SOMEONE IN THIS BUSINESS?: Outgoing, need to be a people person, have a sense of money management, and, have a lot of time on your hands.
4. WHAT KIND OF REAL ESTATE DO YOU SO?: Property and residential
5. WHAT PREPARATION WOULD BENEFIT A PERSON WANTING TO GO INTO THIS BUSINESS?: You have to go to real estate school, pass the class exam and the pass the required state exams in the states you want to sell in.
6. WHAT HOURS DO YOU WORK?: It varies depending on how busy you are and how many clients you have. In most firms there are set “floor” hours that all of the agents rotate so that when customers or potential customers walk in someone is always there to help them.
7. WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT YOUR JOB?: “The paperwork” A real estate agent most of the time has to write their own ads, write contracts, make settlement sheets, be able to tell a customer what their potential “net” will be for a property, get in touch with people by email calling etc and make many appointments especially if a client lives out of state.
8. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?: “Meeting people and showing houses”.
9. WHAT IS LOOKED FOR IN POTENTIAL REAL ESTATE AGENTS BY YOUR BROKER?: Personality, flexibility, willingness to have time and personal presence.
10. HOW ARE CUSTOMERS OBTAINED?: Referral, walk-ins, people see your sold sign in front of a house, personal mailings and, magazine advertisements.
11. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE GOING WHO WANTS TO GO INTO THIS BUSINESS?: “You need to have at least one year’s income saves up to support yourself in case you don’t sell a lot of houses/properties in your first year”.You also need to know that there are a lot of personal expenses involved in the business like gas, advertisements, cards etc. especially when you first enter the business. Lastly she told me that it takes time to build up a customer base and a name for yourself in the business.
Dr. Teresa Fishman
ENGL 314 Online
27 May 2007
When I graduate I hope to go into the real estate business and; eventually I would like to open up my own real estate company by myself or with one other person. For my interview I interviewed Alicia Hack who is an agent for Hartwell lake properties in Anderson. I asked her a lot of questions involving everything from her career background to how being a real estate agent has had an effect on her personally. Here were her answers.
1. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE FIELD?: Two Years.
2. WHAT MADE YOU GO INTO REAL ESTATE?: Tired of the car business (selling Mercedes Benz cars for 21 years)
3. WHAT CHARACTERISTICS ARE NEEDED BY SOMEONE IN THIS BUSINESS?: Outgoing, need to be a people person, have a sense of money management, and, have a lot of time on your hands.
4. WHAT KIND OF REAL ESTATE DO YOU SO?: Property and residential
5. WHAT PREPARATION WOULD BENEFIT A PERSON WANTING TO GO INTO THIS BUSINESS?: You have to go to real estate school, pass the class exam and the pass the required state exams in the states you want to sell in.
6. WHAT HOURS DO YOU WORK?: It varies depending on how busy you are and how many clients you have. In most firms there are set “floor” hours that all of the agents rotate so that when customers or potential customers walk in someone is always there to help them.
7. WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT YOUR JOB?: “The paperwork” A real estate agent most of the time has to write their own ads, write contracts, make settlement sheets, be able to tell a customer what their potential “net” will be for a property, get in touch with people by email calling etc and make many appointments especially if a client lives out of state.
8. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?: “Meeting people and showing houses”.
9. WHAT IS LOOKED FOR IN POTENTIAL REAL ESTATE AGENTS BY YOUR BROKER?: Personality, flexibility, willingness to have time and personal presence.
10. HOW ARE CUSTOMERS OBTAINED?: Referral, walk-ins, people see your sold sign in front of a house, personal mailings and, magazine advertisements.
11. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE GOING WHO WANTS TO GO INTO THIS BUSINESS?: “You need to have at least one year’s income saves up to support yourself in case you don’t sell a lot of houses/properties in your first year”.You also need to know that there are a lot of personal expenses involved in the business like gas, advertisements, cards etc. especially when you first enter the business. Lastly she told me that it takes time to build up a customer base and a name for yourself in the business.
posted by KRISTINSUTTER at 5/27/2007 09:47:00 PM
2 Comments:
These are interesting questions, but you need to make sure you ask questions directly related to the writing that real estate agents do, so you can get the information you need for your assignment.
It was interesting to read the questions you came up with. Since I couldn't interview someone in the exact field I want to go into, I settled for just the questions she gave us, and I didn't get much information through them.
I also didn't realize how expensive it is for someone looking to go into that field to start out on their own!
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