Lisa wakes up and starts the day with a cup of hot chocolate in
hand and a lap top at her desk with two monitors attached. Lisa is a leasing agent for a company called
RentSFNow that works side by side an investment company called Veritas.
Lisa spends most of the morning returning emails about recent posts she’s put
up on Craigslist and other networking sites that advertise the apartments that
she is currently showing. Not only does Lisa have to update current Craigslist posts, she also has to update their personal website for RentSFNow. On this website, all of the
apartments that are ready to be rented are on there as well as location, price,
and amenities. Lisa’s goal is always to rent out the highest priced
apartments—furnished and unfurnished. She works with some of the most
beautiful living spaces in San Francisco. Her title is a leasing agent
but she is also a property manager for a building where is resides for free.
Most of the agents are given these positions after working with the company for
a bit. She lives in a beautiful refurnished studio in cow hollow—free of
rent. I would definitely take this
opportunity if it were given to me! While Lisa is returning her emails, she is
also making up the rest of her schedule for the day to show apartments.
Since most people work during the day Lisa chooses to stay in the office for
the first half of the day and then show apartment later when it is more
convenient for her and her clients. My goal is be break into real estate
field. I want to be getting people and families into beautiful apartments
and houses that they will love and enjoy. I really enjoy being hands on
which is why Lisa’s job really appeals to me. However it isn’t all hands
on.
There is a lot of admin work that Lisa has to get done. Part
of her time at the office is spent updating ads that are put out they have had
recent price drops or putting updated posts on new apartments that are recently
available. She also has to update the status of vacant apartments.
This also means that she sometimes has to go to a certain apartment and take
pictures and analyze it to come up with the decision to either fully remodel
the apartment or just paint and clean it. She enters all this information
into a GoogleDoc and then sends to out to all the other leasing agents in the
company. Each leasing agent has their own admin work—the GoogleDoc is
just Lisa’s assignment. The leasing document Lisa works on daily doesn’t
just have the status of upcoming apartments.
It also had all different kinds of information about each building
including property manager names and phone numbers. It also includes date of purchase, how many
units in the building, neighborhoods, and historical rent.
After Lisa receives an application from a prospective tenant, she
has specific steps she needs to follow. She receives their application and then has to
run credit checks for all the prospective tenants and possible guarantors. If the credit check comes back with a score
of an A, then Lisa confirms the applicants are still interested in the
apartment. After this then Lisa puts
together a lease through a program called Docusign. It’s very specific regarding the rent, lease
start and end date, signatures, etc.
For the open houses or private showing, Lisa has to let the
curious apartment hunters in the apartment and then help them with any general
questions that they have. Lisa answers questions about how her company
decides who gets the apartment, where rent is paid, questions about utilities,
and also questions about the surrounding area. Other websites also have the available apartments available for the company. I’m in a few real estate
classes now so I’ve been learning about what Lisa can and cannot tell her
prospective tenants about the apartment due to the integrity of brokers.
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Lisa’s job seems very interesting with a lot of room to grow
within the company. I’m very excited to learn more about this subject and
I can’t wait to get into it myself!
Lisa's job sounds like a lot of fun. I think a benefit to her job is that she isn't stuck inside an office all day. She gets to go out and meet clients and show them around places. I considered being a real estate agent for a short time. I didn't think it was for me though. I am sure you will succeed in this field, especially since it seems like your learning a lot from Lisa. I was curious to know how well your real estate classes seem to prepare you for this job?
ReplyDeleteSantino is right when he says real estate is a great field since you basically get to make your own hours. But that's not necessarily true because most of the time you are shaping your schedule around what's best for your client. The client is the whole reason Lisa's job is possible. So being able to communicate with them well through websites is also another great way to reach out to new clients and be able to market your properties more easily.Emailing is a very important tool in the business world. Writing these emails a real estate agent may use the business jargon they have become accustomed to. But steering clear of confusing your client is also very important. One confusing email and you can kiss that nice commission goodbye. So I agree it's very important to proof read all your work before sending it, even if its just an email.
ReplyDeleteReal Estate is definitely a fun field. You do not have to stay in the office all day although you do spend a lot of hours in front of the computer. I heard people in this field get discounts on rent but free rent, that's amazing. Does she have to work on getting leads or does her company supply her with the apartments to rent?
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