Fulfill your dreams in real estate: Here is how

Everyone speaks of the big money involved in New York real estate transactions and the huge commissions awarded to real estate sales professionals. Many dream of becoming a part of it. Sales of any kind is not an easy task. The rule is that the greater the value of the product, the harder it is to sell, which is particularly true in real estate. In real estate, sales encompass residential rentals, residential sales, commercial (office and retail) leasing, and investment sales. The good news is that if you have superior communication skills, along with a track record of a prior profitable sale, you can achieve success in real estate sales. So where do you start? As real estate sales are commission based, the main consideration is how long you can carry yourself without a steady income. If an immediate income is necessary, you should direct yourself to residential rentals. The New York City rental market is one of the busiest rental markets in the world, especially in the summer, where new students are looking for housing in New York and demand exceeds supply. You can then generate immediate income. If you can ride for a few months without income, residential sales should be your next target. Residential sales involve meeting clients and apartment showings. Your goal is to show your clients as many apartments as possible within their price range and within their targeted area in order to find the right fit. In this case, you will have to spend hours upon hours looking at co-op/condo buildings and the available apartments for sale. Knowledge of the product is essential, as showing apartments and open houses is quite time consuming. Next in line will be commercial leasing, where you will have to tour as many commercial spaces as possible that are available for lease in order to become knowledgeable enough to reach out to new clients. Training is essential and will take many months. You will be dealing with clients who are running their business and looking for new space at the same time, and as such, time is of the essence. Being knowledgeable will result in your ability to minimize the research time for your client, thereby giving clients the confidence they need to choose to work with you. And at the top end of the industry scale are investment sales. Investment sales involve analyzing property information, such as size, zoning, building class, and available air rights, in addition to the property financials. In investment sales, meeting clients in person is important but is not required, as most of the work is conducted via the phone, fax, and email. You will be required to find and understand where to find the potential upside, as most investors will look for it. Your training is highly important and you will have to spend months studying properties, and eventually, how to deal with the sellers, buyers, and their attorneys (and yes, legal background is an advantage). Now, your 2013 New Year's resolution is to get into the real estate industry and start making lots of money. So where would you start? Tamir Daniel is a former professional soccer player and is president of Daniel T Enterprises, Manhattan, N.Y.