How to Become a Leasing Agent

Anyone with great customer service and sales skills should consider becoming a leasing agent. This can be a great job if you like your independence but need a good income too. While you don't need to have a real estate license, there are some other things that you will need to become a leasing agent.

If you are interested in this career choice, then you will need to take the following steps. First, you will be required to take classes in real estate law, real estate ethics, finance and marketing.
Decide if you want to get into commercial leasing (renting out office space and warehouses to businesses) or residual leasing (renting out apartments and houses). Consider which area has more opportunities: commercial or residual leasing. Commercial real estate offers higher commissions but will take you a lot of time to learn about each of the properties (information about square footage, the sewage system, leasing terms, the lessee's responsibilities and information about the surrounding area i.e. proximity to the highway, airports and transportation). On the other hand, whenever you work in residential leasing you will need to learn how to effectively show a property and sell its potential. As such, you will need to be personable, knowledgeable and patient.

After you complete a company's leasing agent-training program you will need to create a professional resume. This resume will be used whenever you are interviewing with property management or with a real estate agency.

Take your resume to management companies in the area. Talk to leasing agent to see who is hiring and what type of work you will be doing.

Go to networking events and job fairs where you can meet other people who work in real estate. Look for any open positions there as well as in online classifies, on job boards and in real estate newsletters.

Prepare for your interview by researching the company. Learn about what properties they manage. This information will be useful in showing your interest in the company and your understanding of what is required of you in order to be a successful leasing agent.

Keep up-to-date about the local real estate market. Become knowledgeable about the area that you will be working in. Take some time to take additional classes whenever they are offered, as this will help you to advance your career and make more money.