Real estate agents are remarkably happy people. One in two agents report being “very happy” with their lives, which is 20 percentage points higher than the national average.
This means that, on average, real estate agents are happier with their lives than the average American!
Real estate agents are more likely to enjoy their jobs than the average American, even though their hours are long and irregular.
Almost 40 percent of real estate agents say that meeting new people is their favorite part of the job.
The most enjoyed feature for the remaining agents is the flexible schedule at 8.4 percent, next is the unlimited income potential at 7.9 percent, and last is the challenges of the job at 2.6 percent.
Here is what all “Happiest Agent on the Block” respondents enjoyed the least about the real estate industry:
- Rude, disloyal, and uncooperative clients – 11.9 percent of respondents.
- Rude, immoral, and unprofessional agents – 10.7 percent.
- Paperwork – 10.3 percent.
- Issues with leads or lead generation – 5 percent.
- Long hours – 2.8 percent.
The happiness of real estate agents seems to be directly tied to why they chose to enter the industry. Agents who joined to meet new people are much more likely to be happy with their career choice than agents who joined for other reasons, like having a flexible schedule.
It is understandable that real estate is a social industry where daily interactions with others is part of the job. The “flexible” schedules real estate professionals have does not prevent them from working long hours.
Real Estate Agent’s Tools, Technologies, Traits, Skills, and Demographics
1. Tools and Technologies
The happiness of agents is just as important as the growth of their business when it comes to websites, email marketing systems, and CRMs.
If you want to have a successful career as a real estate agent, make sure to use these three technologies. You’ll be happier with your career, make more money, and enjoy your work more.
Lead Types
The happiest agents are those who get the majority of their leads from networking, followed by those who get the majority of their leads from referrals. The most unhappy agents are those who get the majority of their leads from their personal websites.
Electronics
If you’re looking for a successful and happy career in real estate, it’s worth considering using Apple products. agents who use iPads, iPhones and Mac computers report higher levels of satisfaction with their careers and incomes than those who use rival products like PCs and Android phones and tablets.
2. Traits and Skills
Emotional Stability
Whether people are single, families, or organizations, their emotions can run the full gamut when they are involved in the process of purchasing or selling a new home or property. The emotions that people feel can vary widely, from happiness to joy, fear, anger, sadness, and even resentment, depending on the situation.
Newly married couples, for example, will likely be joyous and happy if they have a new home.
If a couple is getting a divorce, they will probably be very different from each other, especially if they have to sell their house because of the divorce. Some people might be selling the family home after a loved one has died, and be very sad.
A real estate agent has to be emotionally stable in every situation, no matter what it is.
You have to be the strong one for them, the one who always remains calm and levelheaded, no matter what happens. You should never let your personal life, problems, or challenges interfere with your work because your clients already have enough of their own.
A Conscientious Work Ethic
The real estate business can be quite competitive. Conscientiousness is the most important personality trait for success.
A person who is conscientious is someone you can always count on. They show up on time and take notice of even the most minor details. They are highly organized, always staying on track with their plans, and never miss any deadlines.
Conscientious people are usually the ones who follow the rules and stick to social norms. This predictability is a good thing when it comes to dealing with clients.
If you tell your clients that you will be somewhere at a specific time, they will know that you will be there exactly when you say you will. When you make a promise to someone, they will get the result that you promised them.
The benefit of working with people who are conscientious is that they are more likely to rebound after setbacks and be successful where others have not.
When faced with adversity, conscientious people go above and beyond to make sure their goals are met with quality and accuracy.
Being Confident
There’s a difference between being confident and being cocky. Even if they don’t receive compliments, confident people know they are capable and can face any challenge.
A confident person in the real estate industry is someone who is completely present when they are with clients. These individuals are confident and relaxed no matter the circumstance and refuse to be influenced by others’ opinions.
Confident people are not cocky. They realize that arrogance is detrimental to interpersonal relationships.
A confident person does not look for praise, but rather encourages, compliments, and is sincere with the people around them.
They don’t sit around and wait for things to happen, they make things happen. A confident person takes action and doesn’t wait for things to happen. People who are successful might have some fear, but they are able to put that fear aside and do what is necessary to be successful.
Being Risk-Averse
It means that people are more likely to make safe, conservative investments rather than take risks. People who are risk-averse are more likely to make safe, conservative investments rather than take risks. It means to prefer taking a loss instead of making a gain if that gain comes with too high of a risk.
A risk-averse person would rather have a certainty of a lower value, than a possibility of a higher value. People who are professional gamblers are not the type of people who are risk-averse.
In the real estate industry, it is better to stick with tried and true methods rather than take risks with untested methods.
Continued Self-Improvement/Development
A top real estate agent is always looking to improve and develop their skills. Although it is commonly believed that older dogs cannot learn new tricks, this is not the case.
The main reason that people do not help others is because they are either lazy or they only care about themselves. The real estate industry changes quickly and agents who don’t keep up with the changes will fall behind the rest.
A top real estate agent is someone who is always learning new skills, listening to different opinions, and engaging with experts and mentors.
The best agents are never satisfied with their success and are always looking for new information, advice, and most importantly, new ways to sell. We want to help real estate agents get better at their job.
Excellent Listening Skills
Listening to one’s clients is important for all top real estate agents.
Being an excellent listener doesn’t just mean being able to listen to what people are saying, but to actually hear what they’re saying and understand the meaning behind their words.
The best real estate agents are the best listeners. They have a subtle, but important difference that helps them become the best.
Excellent Negotiating Skills
This last trait is one of the most important for a real estate agent because it is important for their clients. If you want to be successful in your job, you need to be able to negotiate.
You not only need to negotiate the listing price of any homes, but also the selling price and commission. becoming a better negotiator will happen over time.
The good news is that being an excellent negotiator can help you make more money for your clients. The even better news is that you can use your negotiating skills to convince your clients to pay you more money. Being an excellent negotiator means having several different traits. They include;
- Being extremely clear in what you say
- Knowing what your ‘bottom line’ is before you begin
- Always have a ‘Plan B’
- Establishing a habit of negotiating that you use every in every situation
- Being able to play the reluctant party
- Use your body language correctly
- Being able to read the body language of others
3. Demographics
Age
Although some agents who are under 30 years old exist, there does not appear to be a relationship between an agent’s age and how satisfied they are with their career and income.
It is unsurprising that younger agents are less satisfied, given that they have less industry experience and thus generate fewer leads, close less transactions and make relatively little in commission income.
As people age, they become less satisfied with their daily lives, but their overall satisfaction with life does not seem to be affected by age.
Marital Status
In general, agents who are married tend to be happier than those who are single. However, agents who are in their first marriage are the happiest of all, while those who have never been married are the least happy.
Agents who are single following their first divorce are only slightly more likely to be happy than their single, never-married peers. This is according to a new study that looked at data from 6,309 adults who participated in the National Health Interview Survey. The trend of married agents being happier than unmarried agents is also true in the U.S. as a whole.
Education
There is no clear connection between education and agent happiness.
Getting an education does not always lead to happiness, even though it is generally thought that it does. This is especially true for real estate professionals.
Here are our findings on how education affects agent happiness:
- There seems to be a slight correlation between increased income and agent happiness with life in general. This isn’t particularly surprising, as highly educated Americans tend to earn more, have higher job satisfaction, and lead healthier lifestyles than their lesser-educated peers.
- Generally speaking, it appears that the more education agents have, the more likely they are to be happy with their real estate careers. There are some exceptions, however. For example, those who have taken some college courses are slightly more likely to be happy with their real estate careers than those who have a bachelor’s degree and have taken some graduate school courses.
- There doesn’t appear to be a correlation between an agent’s education and happiness with real estate income. In fact, the agents who are happiest with their real estate incomes are those who have only earned a high school diploma. This disconnect is most likely due to the income expectations of highly educated agents (i.e., their failure to make as much as they expect to earn), as we found there is a positive correlation between agent education and commission income.
- There is a slight inverse correlation between education and agent happiness with their real estate tasks; the more education an agent receives, the less likely he is to enjoy the daily tasks that are work-related!
Geographic Location
Agents from the Southern region are more likely to be content than those from the West.
Why is it surprising that the West is home to many perennially happy states when the South tends to dominate the opposite end of the happiness scale?
Gender
Though women are more likely to be happy with their lives in general, men are slightly more likely to be happy with their real estate careers, incomes and tasks.
