Is scrolling homes on Zillow a favorite pastime of yours? Do you subscribe to every real estate-related email newsletter? Do you watch every HGTV show? Is your ideal weekend spent going to open houses (even if you have no intention of buying)? Do you play (and win) the “how much do you think this house costs” game?
If the answer to these questions is “Yes!” then you are destined to be in real estate. The bigger question is: what role do you want to pursue in the real estate industry? A real estate agent is an obvious and common choice; however, that is only one of the many options that could be a perfect fit for your personality and career goals.
We’ve gathered 14 jobs in real estate, including a job description, skills to thrive and the average national salary for each position according to ZipRecruiter. Dive in to see which real estate-related job is best for you.
1. Real estate agent
- License or education required: Yes
- Average national salary: ~$86,000
Job description: The fundamental duties of a real estate agent are to assist individuals with buying, selling and renting residential and/or commercial properties. The more detailed responsibilities include showing and listing properties, generating leads for your business, marketing your services on and offline, maintaining communications with current and past clients, leveraging technology to build your business and creating a network of real estate professionals.
Skills to thrive: Successful agents are honest communicators, detail-oriented and organized, which makes transactions seamless for their clients. They also have a vast knowledge of the real estate market, both nationally and within their specific market. Most importantly, agents have a deep need to help others find properties that make them happy, whether that’s for themselves and their families or for their business needs.
Sound like something you’d be interested in? Start your education right away with a high-quality school:
2. Real estate broker
- License or education required: Yes
- Average national salary: ~$99,000
Job description: Becoming a broker is a great way to advance your real estate career and become a business owner. Brokers, also known as managing brokers, designated brokers or brokers-in-charge, are typically owners or supervisors of real estate brokerages. It includes different responsibilities than just being an agent; you are in charge of hiring, managing brokerage finances, training, overseeing deals, networking and building a positive business reputation.
Skills to thrive: A broker role requires you to have experience as an agent and is an extension of your agent/salesperson license. It allows you the opportunity to be in charge of other agents and run a business. You must have a leadership mentality and the ability to see the bigger picture to grow your brokerage.
3. Mortgage loan originator (MLO) or mortgage broker
- License or education required: Yes
- Average national salary: ~$60,000 to ~87,000
Job description: A loan originator, or loan officer, plays an essential role in the process of purchasing property. As many can’t afford to pay for a home in full, they need to work with a bank to finance a property–that’s where a mortgage loan originator (MLO) comes in. MLOs work for a specific lender and review mortgage applications to ensure they are qualified to receive financial assistance.
Similar to an MLO, a mortgage broker finds financing for buyers. However, a distinct difference is that mortgage brokers work across multiple lenders to find the best mortgage options for their clients, instead of working for a specific lender.
Skills to thrive: This crucial part of the transaction requires mortgage brokers and MLOs to be excellent educators, teaching their buyers, especially first-time buyers, how mortgages work, including payment schedules and interest rates. This rewarding type of real estate job works with clients, but in a different fashion than agents. You’ll still be required to generate leads for your business and market your services, but you won’t be out in the field showing houses like a real estate agent would be doing.
4. Appraiser
- License or education required: Yes
- Average national salary: ~$73,000
Job description: Becoming an appraiser is an excellent way to be involved in real estate without taking on the salesperson role that is typical of the abovementioned real estate-related jobs. An appraiser evaluates properties to determine their fair market value. This could be for multiple situations, like a sale, refinance or purchase of a property.
Skills to thrive: Appraisers must be highly knowledgeable about market conditions and possess expertise in the specific area in which they operate. You’ll need to compare similar properties and adjust for differences in renovations and upgrades to get the fair value of the property you are appraising. Appraisers can be self-employed or employed by banks, government agencies or appraisal companies.
Interested in learning more? Take a look at the best appraisal schools below to get started:
5. Home inspector
- License or education required: Yes
- Average national salary: ~$60,000
Job description: Are you handy around the house and enjoy learning about the inner workings of a home? Then, being a home inspector is right up your alley! Home inspectors are typically brought into a real estate transaction after the seller has accepted an offer and the buyer needs to evaluate the condition of the home. Although inspections can be employed whenever needed by sellers, buyers, developers, investors etc.
The inspector is paid to look throughout the home, checking that the roof, plumbing, electric and other functionality of the home are up to code. Afterward, the home inspector is required to write up a report with images to document the issues that are found.
Skills to thrive: Attention to detail and knowledge about the systems of a home are necessary. You must also be organized and able to articulate issues to clients.
6. Writer
- License or education required: No, but a background in real estate is useful
- Average national salary: ~$76,000
Job description: If you consider yourself a wordsmith and can easily articulate thoughts on paper, a position as a real estate writer could be a great choice for you. Although you’re not required to have a real estate license, if you’re planning to write for real estate professionals, having a background in real estate to inform your writing is beneficial. You can also analyze real estate data and write about that, too.
Skills to thrive: Writing for real estate agents, brokers and teams, or even investors and mortgage professionals, requires you to be confident and comprehensive in your advice. Think of yourself as an educator writing down your lessons. To take it a step further, if you’re adept with structure, grammar and mechanics, explore an editor position.
7. Instructor
- License or education required: Yes
- Average national salary: ~$63,000
Job description: Since prelicensing, post-licensing and continuing education classes are required for real estate agents and brokers – someone needs to be there to teach them! Real estate instructors can come in many forms. The traditional instructor teaches in a classroom setting, but with so many online real estate schools, there is a definite need for online instructors. This may require you to teach live stream courses or to create instructional materials for self-paced courses.
Skills to thrive: Obviously, a background in real estate is a must for this role, but you also have to be well-versed in real estate laws, ethics and other prerequisites for completing or upgrading a license. As a teacher, patience and a willingness to help others succeed are crucial to your success.
8. Real estate manager
- License or education required: No, but background in real estate is useful
- Average national salary: ~$84,000
Job description: While brokerages are primarily composed of real estate agents, the majority of them have managers who oversee the business, keeping it organized and running smoothly on a daily basis. Based on the size of the office (maybe even multiple offices), there could be managers for tons of different sectors: general, operations, marketing, accounting, people, leasing, rental, sales etc. So, depending on what you’re interested in, the world is your oyster!
Skills to thrive: All these management jobs in real estate keep you in the industry, but allow you to use other talents. For example, operations managers focus on organizing the systems of the business to ensure productivity and efficiency. Whereas, a people manager at a real estate firm focuses on recruiting, hiring and training new agents. And although you’re not necessarily in the field meeting clients, you’ll still be on the ground floor working with agents to help their clients find properties.
9. Property manager
- License or education required: Depends on the state
- Average national salary: ~$58,000
Job description: A very popular real estate career is a property manager. Some people become property managers when they buy their own rental properties and self-manage them, or become employed at a property management company. Either way, the purpose of the property manager is to maintain the property through maintenance, tenant communication, leases, repairs and marketing. This could range from one unit to multiple units in one development, or even entire portfolios of properties spread across larger areas.
Skills to thrive: Depending on your state, you may or may not be required to get a real estate license, but a background does help with some of the more real estate-related tasks like marketing, leases and tenant communication. Additionally, being handy or having a network of people who are, will give you a leg up in tackling day-to-day property tasks.
10. Transaction coordinator
- License or education required: No
- Average national salary: ~$52,000
Job description: Some agents and teams have so many transactions happening at the same time that it’s hard for them to keep track of all the paperwork and communication. Enter a real estate transaction coordinator (TC). The role of a TC is to keep everything running smoothly between all the members of a transaction by organizing paperwork, coordinating meetings, maintaining marketing and lead generation and answering calls, texts or emails from clients.
Skills to thrive: It is not necessary to have a real estate license for this real estate job, but it certainly is helpful. However, this is also a great job in real estate for those who are hoping to learn more before becoming a full-fledged agent. It will provide you with the tools and inner workings before you set foot in the field yourself.
11. Investor
- License or education required: No
- Average national salary: ~$87,000
Job description: There are no prerequisites for becoming an investor in real estate, other than having the funds to do it. That being said, you really should have a plan about how you want to invest, whether that’s in residential or commercial rentals (also known as buy and hold), fix and flip, real estate investment trusts, wholesaling or other methods. It’s essential to research the strategy you prefer to make sure it aligns with your goals.
Skill to thrive: A key aspect of all real estate investment methods is the ability to understand investment calculations, ensuring a positive return on investment. You must be able to analyze the market to purchase properties within your price range, but also have the potential to make a profit through whatever investment strategy you choose.
12. Leasing coordinator
- License or education required: Depends on the state
- Average national salary: ~$38,000
Job description: A leasing coordinator is essentially a real estate agent, but for a specific building or set of buildings. They are employed by the property owner or company and work on leasing out units within the apartment complex. It is a bit more stable than an agent role as you are assigned to a specific place and typically make a salary (some also add commissions per lease out).
Skills to thrive: You’ll need to be knowledgeable about the property you’re presenting, marketing units to generate new tenants and have a thorough understanding of leases. You’ll also be tasked with tenant communication for any issues that arise, which may include coordinating with the property maintenance team.
13. Attorney
- License or education required: Yes
- Average national salary: ~$141,000
Job description: While there is definitely more schooling involved in being an attorney, this specialty will put you right in the middle of real estate transactions. Typically, buyers and sellers employ a lawyer after the offer is accepted. The attorneys act as the intermediary between the two parties to make adjustments to the contract and ensure the final contract is sound.
Skills to thrive: Being responsive and able to negotiate on behalf of your clients is crucial to your success as a real estate attorney. You must also juggle the personalities of the agents representing the buyers and sellers. However, this real estate job is a perfect fit for those who are interested in the legal aspect of a transaction and want to help clients finalize their purchases.
14. Home stager or interior designer
- License or education required: No
- Average national salary: ~$43,000 to ~73,000
Job description: Those with a keen eye for detail and flair for design will love the role of a home stager or interior designer. Both real estate-related jobs are tasked with beautifying a home, but for different purposes.
A home stager comes in when a property is ready to list to the public. The property needs to be styled in a way that invites interest, but also leaves room for a buyer to see how the home could work for them. An interior designer can assist a home stager, but is usually brought in after a home is purchased to assist the buyer in creating their ideal home design.
Skills to thrive: For either of these roles, you need to know the latest fashion trends in colors, furniture, light fixtures etc., so you can make the home look spectacular.
The full picture
It’s time to put all your scrolling through houses on Zillow and time on HGTV to work! Take a look at the real estate-related careers on our list, pick a few that resonate with you and do a little research on your own to see if it’s the best fit for your skills and interests. Your bright future in real estate is right around the corner.