- What You’ve Learnt From Leasing
- Tips To Start Real Estate Sales
- Positioning Yourself As An Area Specialist
Are you a leasing agent in the UAE looking to transition into real estate sales?
Most real estate professionals in Dubai begin their journey in the industry with leasing, then move to sales. Although beginning with leasing helps one familiarise themselves with the industry, both roles have several key differences.
There are many things to take into consideration when making this move. While it may seem overwhelming now, we share our top tips for easing the transition process and making your mark in this new role.
Lessons From Leasing
Real estate rentals in Dubai are fast-paced, with a high volume of leasing opportunities available in the city. Being a leasing agent involves engaging with multiple leads and clients throughout.
Although the sales and leasing process falls under the real estate umbrella, there are several vast differences. Rental transactions are short commitments, usually of one year or less. Clients looking to rent properties are all end-users. And decisions made for rentals generally are much faster, since tenants have a specific move-in date in mind and it is a significantly smaller monetary commitment (compared to buying property).
Leasing agents usually master the following skills:
- Understanding real estate clients’ and property seekers’ mindsets
- Dealing with investors and landlords
- Understanding market pricing and the real estate landscape
As a leasing agent, you help landlords get tenants, achieve high ROI’s and assist with inspections and key handovers. A seller, on the other hand, expects the following while working with a real estate agent:
- To have their homes priced competitively
- To sell their property within a specified period of time
- To negotiate effectively with potential buyers
- To achieve maximum exposure of their property
- To get assistance with paperwork and settlements
What are the qualities that a sales consultant should master?
- Have an in-depth understanding of the Dubai property market
- Have a solid network of contacts
- Have knowledge of the workings of the industry (processes, laws, regulations, etc.)
- Have strong attention to detail
Tips For Starting Real Estate Sales
Choose Your Location
The key to success in real estate sales is being an area specialist, or focusing on a single area. Understanding the property prices in the area, its major highlights, and accessibility is a good starting point. You can check out Bayut’s Area Guides to learn more about an area, and our resource on becoming a true area specialist (based on our session at Bayut academy)
Get the latest tips for Real Estate Success
Choose Your Segment
Are you working with apartments, townhouses, or villas – and are they luxury or affordable properties. Narrow down the segment you’ll be working with.
Choose Your Price Bracket
Have a clear idea of the budget your target audience would be interested in. Is it luxury properties with the highest prices in the market, mid-range properties or budget-friendly deals. – plan this based on your understanding of your audience.
Learn All About The Property Types In The Chosen Location
Take your time to learn about all the property types in that area – townhouses, apartments, villas, etc
Learn About Comparative Developments
Take your time to learn about developments similar to the one you specialise in. This can be based on similar price points, amenities, or interests to your target audience. This helps you offer other recommendations to your clients in case your area of specialisation does not meet all their needs.
Learn About The Launch Dates, Prices And Movement Of The Prices
If you’re specialising in off-plan properties, knowing the details about the launch, handover, and prices are ideal for better conversations.
Positioning Yourself As A Community Expert
A significant challenge while being in real estate sales is finding inventory. There is no clear-cut way to get inventory, as each agent has their own way of doing so.
One way to find inventory is to position yourself as a community expert. It will build confidence amongst sellers to work with you. Here are some tips to achieve this:
- Price your inventory correctly. You can use last-sold transaction data for this, which is available on both the Profolio™ app and desktop
- Ensure that all your property listings have high listing quality scores. This means they have the right amount of images, clear descriptions and additional resources such as Signature, Hot and the TruCheck™ badge assigned. Having quality listings lets your potential sellers know you’re an agent who goes above and beyond for your clientele.
- Develop a network of contacts with mortgage providers and other service providers.
To price your inventory effectively, here are a few pointers:
- You may be put in a situation where your client asks you to price your inventory at a higher rate. The best approach in this situation is to have a thorough knowledge of the market – be armed with a CMA and have past-sold transactions at hand to let your client know what a realistic price would be.
- Understanding the expectations of a seller would be a good starting point too. We would recommend checking out our resource on understanding the Expectations in Real Estate.
Although transitioning from real estate leasing to sales may initially sound challenging, being prepared and understanding the market can pave the way for a smooth ride. Learn about the real estate market and ways to improve your career skills with Bayut Academy, our in-house series of workshops for real estate professionals in the UAE. You can also check out our library of resources to help you accelerate your real estate career on our Content Corner on the Agent Portal.