Career opportunities abound in the real estate industry, and the Center for Real Estate is here to help you make the right connections to move your career forward. We’ve pulled together a variety of resources to help you decide which part of the industry is right for you and then find a job in that field.
Contrary to what many people may first think, “real estate” encompasses far more than simply the residential brokers that help you buy and sell your home. In fact, the term refers to a much broader industry, including developers, financial analysts, corporate real estate officers, property managers, appraisers, and more.
Real Estate Career Descriptions
Unlike automobiles, there is no physical title certificate to demonstrate one’s ownership of a parcel of real estate. Because of the varied and complex claims that can be established in real property, title companies play a central role in the smooth transfer of properties from one owner to another.
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One of the defining characteristics of real estate is its fixed location, meaning each parcel of real estate is affected by the use of land around it. As a result, governmental restrictions on the use of private land are ubiquitous. Federal, state, and local government agencies all hire real estate graduates to help analyze real estate development patterns and develop efficient land-use policies.
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Property managers take care of most day-to-day tasks associated with operating income-producing real estate, including advertising, leasing, collecting rent, maintenance, and staffing. In addition, property managers often provide financial reports and advice to the owners of properties they manage. As such, property managers provide a valuable service that can help maximize the overall income a property generates for its owner.
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Commercial banks, savings and loans, mortgage banks, insurance companies and other institutional investors are all among the numerous firms that provide loans for purchasing both residential and commercial real estate. These firms hire real estate graduates to design, price, and underwrite a variety of mortgage products and financial derivatives generated from mortgage.
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Many real estate graduates work for themselves as private real estate investors, or as analysts for larger corporations or syndicates. Key to success in property investment is a solid understanding the structure of real estate markets, knowledge about how to analyze the cash flows generated by income properties, and insight into the proper role of real estate within a larger financial portfolio.
Development involves the subdivision of land and the construction of improvements such as roads, utilities and buildings to transform vacant or underutilized property for a new, more valuable use. Developers may specialize in land or building development, and may further specialize in the development of a particular type of property.
Real estate development is an exciting career that requires a solid understanding of every aspect of the real estate industry—and more than a little bit of luck.
Facility management is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology. From apartment complexes to office building to manufacturing facilities to complex mixed use campuses, facilities managers help ensure the real estate works to meet the needs of the people it serves.
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- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook for Administrative Services Managers
- International Facilities Management Association Career Development site
Grant Glasgow
NAI Martens
Meet Grant Glasgow, he has over 18 years of commercial real estate experience with a wide range of expertise in retail and office representation. He is a graduate of WSU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship with an emphasis in Real Estate. Grant was named one of Wichita Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and has been recognized as part of Wichita’s Emerging Leaders program in conjunction with the Kansas Leadership Center.
For most businesses, real estate often makes up a large fraction of the company’s total assets, even if its primary business is not related to real estate. In addition, all businesses make real estate decisions on a regular basis: where to locate manufacturing plants, corporate offices, warehouses, retail operations, etc.; whether to buy or lease space; is it best to build new or purchase an existing building; should the firm purchase or build more space than it currently needs, leasing out the excess until it is required.
To effectively make these decisions and to more efficiently manage their real estate assets, many large firms have created corporate real estate departments. In any event, all firms must make real estate decisions like as these on a regular basis, and students with an understanding of real estate markets bring an added set of valuable skills to any employer.
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Brokerage is probably the most familiar—and most prevalent—career in the real estate industry. Real estate brokers act as intermediaries, helping buyers and sellers or owners and renters of real estate find one another, and facilitating the transaction once a “match” has been made. Because of the unique characteristics of different real estate markets, most brokers tend to specialize in a particular property type: commercial office, retail, and industrial, multi-family residential or owner-occupied residential.
A real estate salesperson or broker license is generally required to engage in any activity related to buying, selling or leasing real estate on behalf of someone else. Licensing in Kansas is overseen by the Kansas Real Estate Commission. There are two licenses available: salesperson and broker; a salesperson must work under the supervision of a licensed broker.
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Nearly every user of real estate—buyers and sellers, mortgage lenders, investors, tax assessors, insurance adjusters, government officials—requires an unbiased estimate of a property’s true market value. As such, appraisers play an important role in real estate transactions, appraising properties as diverse as single-family homes, undeveloped farmland, retail strip malls, and high-rise office buildings.
Real estate appraisers in Kansas are licensed and regulated by the Kansas Real Estate Appraisal Board. There are several different appraiser classifications in Kansas, determining what type of real estate the licensee may appraise.
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For more information regarding the full range of career options related to real estate, visit Careers Building Communities, a strategic collaboration of 29 real estate-related organizations focused on raising awareness and attracting diverse talent to the many careers available across the built environment. Another good resource is the Careers in Commercial Real Estate brochure by the Building Owners and Managers Association.
National Real Estate Career Service Websites
The following websites contain listings of real estate-related jobs from all over the U.S. and beyond.