Real Estate Agent Education and Career Advice

No matter what your motivations, take a little time to become familiar with the realities of being a real estate agent before you jump in and become licensed.

Typical real estate agent expenses include:

Pre-licensing school costs

• Licensing exam fees
• Required business licensing
• Fees to join a local Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
• Fees to join a local Board of Realtors (usually in conjunction with the MLS)
• Ongoing fees for local real estate boards (quarterly or monthly)
• Expenses of doing business, which vary depending on the agency you choose, and can include all of your postage, phone calls, copies, advertising and much more
• A dependable vehicle
• Additional auto insurance to cover increased liability for business passengers
• Gas expense
• Increased mileage that lowers your vehicle's value
• Errors and omissions insurance coverage
• Optional training to learn effective sales methods or to acquire special certification

Even if you sell a house immediately, you won't be paid until the transaction closes--typically 30 to 60 days. And those first sales are often slow to kick in. New agents in most markets should have enough extra savings to cover at least six months of living expenses--more if possible.

Below we have included some of the most popular books on becoming a successful real estate agent.

The House on Tradd Street

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Money...It's About Being the Best You Can Be!

In this revolutionary handbook youll learn:

* Three key concepts that drive mega-agent production.
* Essential economic, budgetary, organizational, and lead generation models that are the foundations of any high-achievers business.
* The distinguishing characteristic of Millionaire Real Estate Agents--the way they think!
* How you can get on the real estate career path to Earn a Million, Net a Million, and then Receive a Million dollars in annual income.

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent is not about quick fixes. It is about \

How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent in Your First Year: What Smart Agents Need to Know Explained Simply

Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business

From beginners just getting started in residential real estate to seasoned agents -- or anyone in business looking to take their game to the next level -- this step-by-step guide teaches readers the art of selling. With her personal touch, Fitzgerald shows readers how to manage clients with style, choose the right company and the best mentor, establish a stellar reputation in their field, develop a daily schedule for running a home office, and maintain a successful attitude every day. With all of her tools at their fingertips, readers will also soon be sho \

Pretend You Don't See Her

What happens when she is placed under police protection, forced to give up her identity and move to another part of the country, at least until the killer can be positively identified and apprehended?

What happens when in her new life she meets the perfect man, only she can't risk falling in love because she can't tell anyone -- even him, especially him -- who she really is?

Pretend You Don't See Her is Mary Higgins Clark's brilliant and terrifying new novel, her fifteenth, and her most chilling and suspense-filled yet. Set in New York and in Minneapolis-St. Paul, it is the story of Lacey Farrell, a young rising star on Manhattan's high-powered and competitive real estate scene.

In the course of selling a luxurious skyline coop, Lacey becomes the witness to a murder and hears the dying words of the victim, a woma \

Success as a Real Estate Agent For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

This no-nonsense guide shows you the fun and easy way to become a successful real estate agent. It provides expert advice on acquiring the skills needed to excel and the respect and recognition you’ll gain through making sales and generating profit. Soon you’ll have all the tools you need to:

• Prospect your way to listings and sales
• Build a referral-based clientele
• Work with expired and FSBO listings
• Plan and host a successful open house
• Present and close listing contracts
• Market yourself and your properties online and in print
• Negotiate contracts and avoid derailment
• Stak \

How To Become a Power Agent in Real Estate : A Top Industry Trainer Explains How to Double Your Income in 12 Months

How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate gives real estate agents both the powerful sales techniques and the practical management tips they need to double their income by closing more transactions. Based on the outstanding success of Darryl Davis's seminar "The POWER Program," this motivational guide utilizes POWER Principles to help the new agent as well as the experienced top producer dramatically increase listings and sales.

The book is full of Davis's surefire methods for managing the sales process, including time management for agents, prospecting for listings, handling the seller's and buyer's concerns, maintaining a winning attitude, and generating more sales in less time. He also reveals how clever use of the Web can provide a competitive edge and how the top producers work smarter­­not harder. Offering field-proven tools and techniques, Davis shows agents how to progress at their own pac \

Perfect Phrases for Real Estate Agents & Brokers

In our current real estate climate, it's more important than ever to have the right words at your fingertips. Whether you're new to the game or a seasoned seller, Perfect Phrases for Real Estate Agents and Brokers has just the right words and phrases you'll need to track down prospective properties and clients, manage transactions, negotiate terms, facilitate communications between buyer and seller, and close the deal. This easy-to-use, quick-reference guide gives you:

• Hundreds of quick, ready-to-use words and phrases
• Coverage of every situation you'll face, from meeting a new client to finalizing the sale
• Winning approaches that persuade prospects and generate sales
• Expertise from a top realtor educator and author

Real Estate License Exams For Dummies

If you want to get the best possible score on the exam, you need the kind of practical test preparation guidance you’ll find here — all at a much cheaper price than you’d pay for a test preparation seminar or class. Real Estate License Exams For Dummies covers all the basics on:

• How — and what — to study
• Knowing what to expect on test day
• Developing the math skills you’ll need
• Understanding your state’s license laws and procedures
• Different exam formats

In addition to helping you get a great s \

Obsessed

A deadly tale of ultimate obsession.

Stephen Friedman is making a good living in good times. He's just an ordinary guy. Or so he thinks. But one day an extraordinary piece of information tells him differently. It's a clue from the grave of a Holocaust survivor. A clue that makes him heir to an incredible fortune...a clue that only he and one other man can possibly understand. That man is Roth Braun, a serial killer who has been waiting for Stephen for thirty years. Roth was stopped once before. This time nothing will get in his way.

Known worldwide for page-turning, adrenaline-laced thrillers, Dekker raises the stakes in this story of passion, revenge, and an all-consuming obsession for the ultimate treasure.