A real estate agent oversees the buying and selling of homes (or properties, commercial or residential). For a seller, they will investigate comparative properties to aid homeowners in setting a price, set up the listing, arrange for pictures and obtain home specs to include in advertisements and website listings, arrange and oversee agent-only showing and open houses, negotiate between parties (including counter offers), and steer the closing process. Often the agent will weigh in on any esthetics that may need to be addressed before listing (both decorative adjustments and home repairs - an agent will be able to tell clients what improvements are worth doing, and which will not offer a return on investment as far as price and ease of sale.)

If the agent's character's clients are the buyers, they will research suitable listings based on the client's needs and price, understand current lending rates and convey this to clients should they need this information, set up viewings, investigate the area for information on schools, services, property taxes or anything else new homeowners may wish to know. They also accompany the client during showings, and once a match is found, the agent will submit an offer on the client's behalf, negotiate price and terms, steer the closing process behind the scenes, and arrange for a final walk-through and key hand off.

Real estate agents must be flexible, attentive, efficient, and hands on, as often the buying and selling of a home is time sensitive, especially in a hot market. A character in this job must attend to all client needs promptly and be willing to meet at different hours as often home showings and negotiations happen outside of work time. As agents have multiple clients at once, this can require a lot of schedule juggling and a need for excellent time management.

Agents take a pre-licensing course (the length of which depends on the country and state) where they learn the terminology of the business, realty practices and processes like how to assess a home's value, understand banking processes, lending rules, and how to be an effective advocate and negotiator. After meeting the training time of the course, they must take and pass their licensing exam, and then pay for a license to practice.

A character in this field will most likely join a brokerage to start, pulling on the networking of a larger firm, and later on they may choose to set out on their own. In a more populated area, agents usually choose a specialty, be it homes in a specific area of the city, working with either residential or commercial properties, having a practice focus on ranches and farms, or only taking listings in a certain price range (such as high-end properties). A smaller town, they will likely have a variety of clients and listings as this is necessary to make enough commission to live on. How your character specializes can tell readers more about them: who they like to work with, values, and level of hustle and drive. They also require excellent people skills, and have a smooth, pleasant demeanor.

A KNACK FOR LANGUAGES, A KNACK FOR MAKING MONEY, CARPENTRY, CHARM, EXCEPTIONAL MEMORY, GAINING THE TRUST OF OTHERS, HAGGLING, HOSPITALITY, LIP-READING, LYING, MAKING PEOPLE LAUGH, MULTITASKING, PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY, PREDICTING THE WEATHER, PROMOTION, READING PEOPLE, WRITING