Many wants to find out more about criteria to become a real estate negotiator because many are attracted to the myth that a real estate negotiator
1. Earn high commission
2. Flexible timing
3. Low entry prerequisite
However many are not clear how many succeed in this industry and what is the real prerequisite to join this career path.
This blog will briefly explain how the majority of real estate negotiators in Malaysia are performing and what are the criteria to become a successful one.
80% of real estate negotiators quit within the same year in Malaysia.
From our observation, about 8 out of 10 real estate negotiators will quit the industry within the same year. New agents relying on upfront advertising costs for prospects in general is simply not sustainable. Most of them do not possess cost free private contacts before joining the industry.
Good networking is the only requirement.
The only criteria to become a real estate negotiator is to possess good networking or connections. They have to be easily accessible anytime.
A new real estate negotiator must possess at least 5 private contacts that
1. own or control plenty of properties
2. want to buy or rent properties soon
If one does not have at least 5 qualified private contacts, build up the contact list before becoming a real estate negotiator to avoid wasting time and spending hard earned reserve money upfront.
Possessing a motor vehicle, owning a smartphone, having industry knowledge, having good moral values and hardworking are only secondary prerequisites.
Know your private contacts
Job seekers are highly recommended to use the free Listingmine.com to judge their networking potential before choosing this career path. The estate agent private CRM helps anyone to systematically organise their contacts, listings and demands.
Try to identify common qualities among these contacts and group them together. It is much easier to generate deals by match making available relevant supply and demand. The CRM tool helps to identify and manage quality contacts and help focus on servicing them.
Join the right company
Joining the right company according to the type of contacts a candidate possesses is very important. The right company can help satisfy and maximise the candidate’s private contacts needs and ultimately close deals.
Below are some examples
| Contacts a candidate possess | Should join type of company specialized | |
| 1 | Mostly buyers for residential properties in Penang. | with many Penang property listings. |
| 2 | Mostly 1st time home buyers with no savings. | in zero down payment new launch properties. |
| 3. | Mostly sellers who want to dispose. | with plenty of buyers |
| 4. | Mostly corporate contacts. | with corporate real estate |
| 5. | Mostly retailer contacts. | with retail or shopping malls. |
| 6. | Mostly investor contacts. | with auction or investment grade properties |
| 7. | No useful contact. | in corporate agency that gives only salary and does not pay commission. |
Joining the right company increases the chance of unlocking sales potential. Cooperating with the wrong company will only result in no sales.
Fulfilling legal obligations is only secondary. Most companies will guide a new candidate in obtaining a REN tag and to provide relevant training on industrial knowledge to perform their duty which is governed by The Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents & Property managers.
Choose the correct remuneration package
Assume a candidate already possess good connections and has identify a list of companies which can help closing deals. The next focus should be to decide what type of remuneration package suits the candidate most.
In general there are 3 type of remuneration category known as
1. Salary base
2. Commission base
3. Salary + Commission base
Below is a table showing the advantages and disadvantages of the 3 types of remuneration categories.
| Monthly Income Type | Advantage | Disadvantage | Type Of Company |
| Salary + Bonus | Secure monthly income even with no sales. | Income is capped even generating a lot of sales. | Focus on corporate dealings |
| Commission | Uncapped income. More sales equals more income. | No income if no sales. | Focus on residential or small commercial properties |
| Salary + Commission | Secure basic monthly income even with no sales. Some commission when there are sales. Income is not capped. | Income is not as high as a pure commission base when there are sales. | Focus on SME real estates such as land, factories, tenancy relocation. |
The majority of real estate negotiators choose pure commission based companies because of the uncapped income. However candidates new to the industry should first understand their own financial obligation, networking strength, reserve money and to choose the remuneration schemes best suit them.
The only criteria to become a real estate negotiator is to have strong connections. It is good practice to use a private CRM such as Listingmine.com to manage contacts, listings and demands.  Once the candidate understands the connections nature, then choose to join a company that can help extract values from the candidate’s connections.
