What does a Real Estate Broker do?

Operate real estate office, or work for commercial real estate firm, overseeing real estate transactions. Day to day that includes work like sell, for a fee, real estate owned by others and Obtain agreements from property owners to place properties for sale with real estate firms.

What skills should a Real Estate Broker put on a resume?

O*NET rates Speaking, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, and Active Learning among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Real Estate Broker list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Photoshop, AMTdirect, AppFolio Property Manager, Customer relationship management CRM software, and Deep Forest Systems OnCite. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Real Estate Broker work?

O*NET records 28 titles for this occupation, including Broker, Managing Broker, Realtor, and Broker Associate. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Real Estate Broker need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 37% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Real Estate Broker role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Real Estate Broker resume example

A resume for a Real Estate Broker needs to show the work itself: operate real estate office, or work for commercial real estate firm, overseeing real estate transactions. Day to day that means work like this: sell, for a fee, real estate owned by others; obtain agreements from property owners to place properties for sale with real estate firms. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Broker
Managing Broker
Realtor
Broker Associate
Designated Broker
Real Estate Associate
Real Estate Sales Associate
Buyer Broker
Closing Agent
Contract Specialist
Dealer
Lease Administration Analyst
Lease Analyst
Lease Coordinator
Licensed Real Estate Broker
Loan Specialist
Occupancy Specialist
Property Broker

O*NET records 28 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Sell, for a fee, real estate owned by others.
Obtain agreements from property owners to place properties for sale with real estate firms.
Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers over property prices and settlement details and during the closing of sales.
Generate lists of properties for sale, their locations, descriptions, and available financing options, using computers.
Manage or operate real estate offices, handling associated business details.
Compare a property with similar properties that have recently sold to determine its competitive market price.
Maintain knowledge of real estate law, local economies, fair housing laws, types of available mortgages, financing options, and government programs.
Monitor fulfillment of purchase contract terms to ensure that they are handled in a timely manner.
Check work completed by loan officers, attorneys, or other professionals to ensure that it is performed properly.
Rent properties or manage rental properties.
Maintain awareness of current income tax regulations, local zoning, building and tax laws, and growth possibilities of a property's area.
Arrange for title searches of properties being sold.

17 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Sell, for a fee, real estate owned by others, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Obtain agreements from property owners to place properties for sale with real estate firms, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers over property prices and settlement details and during the closing of sales, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Generate lists of properties for sale, their locations, descriptions, and available financing options, using computers, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Adobe Photoshop
AMTdirect
AppFolio Property Manager
Customer relationship management CRM software
Deep Forest Systems OnCite
Domin-8 Enterprise Solutions Tenant Pro
Enterprise Software Systems CRE Sync
Facebook
First American CoreLogic RealQuest Pro
Google Earth Pro
Intuit QuickBooks
Lease Cost Solutions LseMod
London Computer Systems Rent Manager
Microsoft Access

33 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Computer laser printers
Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Digital video cameras
Handheld calculators
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Measuring tapes
Passenger vehicles
Personal computers
Personal digital assistants PDA
Photocopying equipment

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Yardi

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Speaking
02Active Listening
03Critical Thinking
04Reading Comprehension
05Active Learning
06Negotiation
07Persuasion
08Judgment and Decision Making
09Social Perceptiveness
10Writing

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Sales and Marketing
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Law and Government
Administration and Management
Economics and Accounting
Computers and Electronics
Mathematics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

37%Bachelor's Degree
24%Some College Courses
12%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Real Estate Broker do?: Operate real estate office, or work for commercial real estate firm, overseeing real estate transactions. Day to day that includes work like sell, for a fee, real estate owned by others and Obtain agreements from property owners to place properties for sale with real estate firms.
What skills should a Real Estate Broker put on a resume?: O*NET rates Speaking, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, and Active Learning among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Real Estate Broker list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Photoshop, AMTdirect, AppFolio Property Manager, Customer relationship management CRM software, and Deep Forest Systems OnCite. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Real Estate Broker work?: O*NET records 28 titles for this occupation, including Broker, Managing Broker, Realtor, and Broker Associate. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Real Estate Broker need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 37% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Real Estate Broker role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.