11 Entry-Level Jobs in Real Estate That Don’t Require a License (Remote & In-Office)
If you’re thinking if you can get a real estate job without a license, know that there are a multitude of non-licensed real estate jobs to explore, including ‘work from home’ opportunities.
We reached out to industry experts to identify the best real estate jobs for those with no experience and no real estate license.
Based on the experts’ answers, we compiled a list of work opportunities that are a good fit for those who are starting their career in real estate.
Which job that doesn’t require a real estate license is the best for someone who is just starting their real estate career?
Real Estate Assistant
Being a real estate assistant is a good jump-off point to immersing yourself in the real estate field.
As a real estate assistant, you can provide administrative support to agents and brokers such as handling client calls, scheduling appointments, maintaining client directories, and preparing documents.
The best way to be “real estate adjacent” is to work directly with agents. Many assistants end up being agents and some, top agents.
The ability to be shoulder to shoulder with agents is priceless compared to many other avenues that are in the real estate world.
Top agents are always in need of assistance and are willing to pay to help save them time and paper cuts.
For someone just starting their real estate career and looking for unlicensed real estate jobs, I would suggest being a real estate assistant.
If they work for the right person, they will learn all aspects of real estate: how to help buyers and sellers, all of the paperwork, systems, models, and how to grow their own businesses.
This is the only job that keeps their focus on their newly chosen career.
First entering any industry does require you to be the new person on staff — the assistant.
Even as a real estate asset manager, I started out as a junior AM, not a Senior AM. Of course, I speak from a commercial real estate mindset only.
Another role when first starting out might be an assistant property manager, or assistant leasing manager, or agent.
Get a real estate mentor and learn under them. That way when you do have the experience and knowledge to go out on your own, you have good strong solid on the job education from a seasoned mentor.
You can learn a lot about the business.
Realtors need assistants because it is not possible to do all the tasks required to be a realtor and still have time to do the important things to build business.
And, it is a jump-off place to become a successful realtor.
An assistant can learn the ropes and be involved in the industry while obtaining a license.
You learn on the job and are more prepared to take the next step if you had worked as an assistant to an experienced professional prior.
Depending on your state requirements, you have to have a license to be a property manager, leasing agent, wholesaler/bird dog for property wholesalers.
If you want to learn the business, an unlicensed real estate assistant is a great way to start and see if you like the job before going through the licensing classes and exam process.
I began my career as an assistant to a real estate agent and that was hands down THE BEST training I could have received.
The broker my agent worked for was very aggressive about training and continual learning. Personally, I do not think I would have been as successful as I am now without that experience.
Someone who is involved in the day-to-day of a real estate team, as an administrative assistant or director of operations, would be one step removed from real estate transactions yet still involved on some level.
They would not need a license but would gain great insight and experience.
You are fully integrated into a team or office to see the daily activities of real estate agents or offices to help you better understand what it takes to be a real estate agent. It is not just about writing a contract.
Starting as an assistant allows you to learn the industry and necessary skills to become an agent while making a steady income, which you likely will not have in your first months as an agent.
Work with a great principal agent or real estate team as an assistant, and you will get a front-row seat into what is required to be a real estate agent. You’ll get first-hand experience and there’s no better training.
You get exposed to all the inner workings of real estate transactions, along with the required paperwork and how to handle difficult situations for others without having it be your deals yet.
When you work with someone in real estate, you can get paid and learn at the same time. This way, you will know if being a real estate agent will or will not interest you.
You learn the ropes without spending a penny!
Leasing Agent
Working as a leasing agent allows you to help investors find tenants for their residential or commercial property rentals.
If you have good customer service skills, this is the perfect job opportunity for you to interact with potential clients while learning about the real estate investing industry.
As far as what one would learn, it is perfect for getting you ready to be a realtor for many reasons.
The people that are looking for a place to rent usually haven’t thought about buying simply due to misinformation about the cost to do so or assumptions about the overall process.
If the person looking is not in a position to buy, the perfect person to navigate the right steps to make that happen is a realtor.
People overall start 6 months to a year before actually taking that leap. Building a relationship with this individual or couple displays dedication and earns trust.
Another reason it is such a great side hustle is because you learn what the public is looking for through simply listening.
Designs, layouts, addresses, what the local businesses that are upcoming or declining, or relocating employees.
You learn costs of material for replacement and install while building relationships with local installers and contractors, cleaning crews, junk removal, etc.
A realtor wears many hats and has to be able to problem-solve many conflicts with many individuals while synchronizing everyone’s schedule, meditate for a mutually beneficial outcome, and keep all marketing sites and information current while driving around all day and night.
I have seen a lot of new agents work rentals/leasing. They have then gone up to be successful in real estate.
They can gather clients/contacts from the renters they are working with. Most of these renters will become a buyer one day.
If you have a good relationship with them as a leasing agent, they will be happy to use you as their realtor, too.
It can be an invaluable source of leads. Once you have enough clients ready to make the switch to buying, you can then make the switch from leasing agent to full-time realtor.
I’ve seen a ton of unlicensed people start working in leasing offices in New York City, so they can learn about the industry on a set schedule and hourly rate.
After they feel comfortable showing the apartments and understanding the market, they typically get their license and do very well!
Leasing agents tend to be on a regular salary and/or payment schedule. They receive earned income on a regular basis.
Bird Dog for Real Estate Investors or Wholesalers
If you’re looking to get into real estate investing, you can start by becoming a bird dog.
This job involves locating undervalued properties with good investment potential such as vacant, abandoned, or distressed properties and sharing info about them with investors or wholesalers in exchange for a fee.
As a property locator, you can use a variety of online tools to search for vacant, distressed, or abandoned properties, doing business in the comfort of your home.
Being a real estate bird dog for property investors or wholesalers is advantageous as it doesn’t require a license and involves scouting potential properties.
This role allows individuals to earn commissions by identifying lucrative deals and connecting various types of real estate investors with motivated sellers, making it a flexible and accessible option for those interested in real estate without the need for formal licensing.
It leverages networking and research skills to contribute to successful transactions without the regulatory requirements associated with other real estate jobs.
Bird dog work will get you out into various neighborhoods and communities. This is a great way to get firsthand knowledge of various market areas.
Learning to find unlisted inventory will benefit you in your career and is key to your early success.
The barriers to entry here are low and no license is required. Great dual-purpose real estate agent side hustle.
Real Estate Lead Generator
Whether or not buying real estate leads is worth it is a topic for a debate. But many real estate professionals prefer buying real estate leads and focusing on other real estate goals than lead generation.
If you are good at marketing, you can be their answer to “where to buy real estate leads?”. But to keep up with the competition, your leads should be better than the ones sold by real estate lead generation companies for investors and lead generators for real estate agents.
If you lack skills but think it’s a niche you are talented in, learn about real estate SEO, real estate investor SEO, and motivated seller lead generation.
Using social media is an important part of any lead generation business. Educate yourself on the social media platforms for real estate professionals and real estate social media advertising strategies.
You will also need knowledge on real estate website design: your site is an important lead generation tool.
Once you become a fully licensed realtor, your ability to generate leads is the most important realtor skill you have.
If you cannot generate new leads, you’ll be out of business very quickly. Properties tend to sell themselves; customers need to find you.
Landlord
Being a landlord is the most popular real estate investment strategy. There are many approaches to buying rentals.
You can go the easy way and purchase a turnkey rental through a company such as Norada Real Estate Investments.
Or, you can buy a house that needs work by leveraging one of your local hard money lenders, repair it, refinance, take out a home equity loan, buy another one, and so on. This is called a BRRRR strategy (and BRRRR Invest Academy teaches how to implement it correctly).
To learn the ins and outs of rentals before diving into the business, consider taking one of the best landlord courses and real estate investment training programs.
Books for real estate investors will also provide you with additional and valuable information.
When you are ready to start, look into:
- property management software such as Innago, TenantCloud, TurboTenant, Baselane, or Buildium
- tenant screening services for landlords
- rent collection apps for landlords and real estate investment accounting software
- accounting software for landlords
- lease guarantor companies
- rental listing syndication sites
Whether you are planning on managing rental property from a long distance or locally, these property management tools for landlords will help you automate and optimize your business from the start.
If an agent has the ability to have a rental property, they will have passive income that they receive on a monthly basis.
Other than an occasional call from a tenant, they will not have to do much and can reinvest some of the other rental income into other projects.
Fix and Flip Investor
Fix and flip investing means buying houses that need repairs, fixing them up, and selling them. To succeed, you need to buy a property below its as-is market value and sell it at its market value after repair.
Obviously, this is a job for those who are good at home improvement. But it also requires marketing and business skills.
To find cheap houses to flip, you need to master finding motivated sellers. There are many types of motivated sellers: heirs with unwanted inherited real estate, homeowners going through a pre-foreclosure, and others.
Finding them is easier when you have a real estate investor website. There are many real estate investor website builders, such as Investor Carrot making it easy to set up one.
Alternatively, you can find wholesale houses or use real estate investor lead generation software.
Regardless of your approach to finding distressed properties, you must be good at real estate investment due diligence. Real estate investment analysis software, such as DealCheck, will help you in this.
You must also find a way to finance a house flip project. This is usually done by using hard money lenders.
Then comes selling your renovated house. You need to either have a solid real estate listing marketing plan and ability to execute it or hire a skillful real estate agent to do it for you.
To learn more about this strategy, consult our articles:
- How to Get into Flipping Houses?
- Pros and Cons of Flipping Houses
- How Much Do Hard Money Lenders Charge?
- How to Qualify for a Hard Money Loan?
- How to Get a Loan to Flip a House?
Also, consider taking house flipping courses such as Flipping Mastery. Get first-hand knowledge from the professionals that will help you lose money on rookie mistakes.
The house flipping industry is very popular, so there exist many real estate investing software apps designed specifically for house flippers.
House flipping software such as Flipster, will help you automate some of your business processes.
If one has the money or access to wholesale real estate and unconventional lending options, this is definitely the best way to make fast cash!
I’ve fixed and flipped a few homes myself. It’s my favorite thing to do.
Passive Real Estate Investor
Passive real estate investors buy shares in real estate private equity companies, such as real estate investment trusts (REITS) and investment funds. In many cases, this can be done via the Internet, without leaving your home.
Another way of becoming a passive investor is via real estate crowdfunding platforms and real estate syndication sites, as well as tools such as Landa or Arrived Homes.
Depending on the platform, the minimum investment can be as low as a few dollars, and you don’t always need to be an experienced investor.
A real estate syndication platform may require you to be an accredited investor for joining commercial real estate acquisition or construction projects carried out by experienced property developers.
The first step to become one is educating yourself via the best commercial real estate investing courses and books on commercial real estate.
Then, look into commercial real estate analysis software — it will help you find good and avoid bad deals.
Being a passive investor is also another way to build wealth over a longer period of time and/or for creating generational wealth.
A passive investor can amass lucrative incomes from the percentage he/she receives after the property has sold.
Interior Designer
If you’re interested in the creative side of real estate, you can work as an interior designer to embellish residential or commercial spaces.
Not only will you be able to unleash your creativity but you will also be able to better understand the functionality of interior spaces while learning about the importance of building codes and meeting community standards.
Some interior design work can be done without leaving your home. You may provide consultancy over the phone or via video call and send your concept design through email.
Here is a guide on how to become an interior designer with no experience.
Being an interior designer can be a rewarding career choice for several reasons, especially when compared to other real estate jobs with no license required.
Interior designers have the opportunity to unleash their creativity and artistic talents to transform spaces into beautiful and functional environments.
They work closely with clients to understand their needs and preferences, allowing them to create personalized designs that truly reflect the client’s personality and style.
Unlike some other real estate jobs that may involve more administrative or sales-oriented tasks, interior designers get to focus on the visual and aesthetic aspects of a property.
This can be incredibly fulfilling for those with a passion for design and a keen eye for detail.
Additionally, interior designers often have more flexibility in their work schedule and can choose to work on a variety of projects, ranging from residential to commercial spaces.
Overall, being an interior designer offers a unique blend of creativity, client interaction, and flexibility that can make it a highly appealing career choice for those interested in the real estate industry.
Home Stager
Home stagers are similar to interior designers in that they also embellish homes. But unlike designers, home stagers do this with the sole purpose of helping agents or homeowners sell their property.
This job is even more interwined with the real estate industry because it’s directly related to sales.
Since many homebuyers start their search online, virtual home stager has become one of the best jobs in real estate without a license.
You can do virtual home staging for photographers or interior design companies that need to outsource part of their work.
They will send you images of their clients’ properties, and you will virtually stage those spaces, send the files back to them, and get paid.
Real Estate Content Writer
One of the most popular remote real estate jobs with no license required is a content writer.
If you have a writing background, you can work as a real estate copywriter while learning about the business.
You can harness your own writing skills or utilize AI technology to develop content for other real estate professionals who are looking to educate their target market by using their websites or social media platforms.
With the advancements of AI, writing content has never been easier. You don’t even need to know anything on the topic.
Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Working as a virtual assistant is one of the best real estate jobs that don’t require a license and anything else but your computer.
Realtors and investors turn to VAs for tasks that eat up the most time, which they would rather spend generating leads and closing deals.
As a real estate virtual assistant, you can be hired for simple tasks such as research, data entry, and publishing real estate social media posts.
You can join one of the popular virtual assistant services for real estate investots or market yourself via freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr.
After starting out in real estate without a license, you may want to move on to a better job requiring a license. Here is a list of the highest paying jobs with a real estate license required.
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