12 Essential Steps After You Get Your Real Estate License (2025 Guide)

A real estate license lets you become a real estate agent, but it doesn’t guarantee a successful career. That’s where the hard work and tenacity come in. To make it easier for you to start your career in the best way, we outlined the 10 most important things you need to do after you get your real estate license.

Here are the new real-estate-agent checklist:

#1 Join a Real Estate Brokerage

After completing your pre-licensing education and getting your real estate license, the law requires that you work under a real estate brokerage. Because of this arrangement, brokerages play a crucial role in determining an agent's success. 

Finding a brokerage to work with for the first time may tempt you to choose one with low fees and commission splits. However, these brokerages offer less support than you need as a new agent. Here are the essential things to look for when finding a real estate brokerage.

• Mentorships and coaches
• Career training
• Available resources

Once you have found a real estate brokerage that is right for you, the next step is to interview with the brokerage. Setting up this interview is simple. All you need to do is get in touch with the brokerage, express your interest, and schedule a meeting time.

#2 Set Up Your Budget & Business Plan

Treat real estate like the small business it is. Start with a simple 12-month budget:

• Fixed costs: association dues, MLS fees, E&O insurance, cellphone, mileage.
• Marketing: website, yard signs, business cards, paid leads, mailers, social-media ads.
• Variable deal costs: photography, staging, lockboxes, client gifts.

Project your first-year income conservatively—many rookies close only 3–5 deals. Use that figure to calculate how much cash reserve you need to cover six months of expenses. Then map quarterly business goals (transactions closed, GCI, new prospects added) so you can track progress and adjust spending in real time.

#3 Share the Word with Your Sphere of Influence

In real estate, your sphere of influence (SOI) is everyone you know, from acquaintances to family members. The sphere of influence is something that every agent has and can make use of.

What makes your SOI so important is that most of your clients, at the start of your career, will come from the people you know.

To maximize your SOI:

• Announce your new career on social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
• Personally reach out to friends and family to let them know you’re a real estate agent
• Attend networking events to expand your contacts and establish yourself as an industry professional

A buyer or seller is more likely to hire an agent they know over one they don’t. So, when you have a big SOI, and they know you’re a realtor, the odds of finding a client from your network increase.

#4 Join the Real Estate Boards (Local, State, and NAR)

A real-estate board is a nonprofit trade group that exists to improve industry standards and business conditions. Two well-known examples are the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and the California Association of REALTORS® (CAR).

Why join?

• Only board members may call themselves “REALTORS®,” which instantly signals higher ethics and professionalism.
• You’ll gain a support network, legal hotlines, market stats, member-only forms, and deep discounts on tech tools, insurance, and continuing education.
• Membership adds credibility that can tip prospects in your favor.

How to become a REALTOR®

1. Work under a brokerage that belongs to an Association of REALTORS®.
2. Complete NAR’s Code of Ethics course and pass the short exam.
3. Pay your annual local, state, and national dues (one invoice covers all three levels).

Understand Commission-Rule Shift

A $418 million antitrust settlement with NAR took effect on August 17, 2024 and reshaped buyer-agent compensation:

• A written buyer-broker agreement is required before you tour any homes. The contract must list services, length of the relationship, and how the agent will be paid.
• Listing brokers can still offer to pay buyer-agent fees, but that offer can no longer appear in the MLS. It must be negotiated privately.
• All compensation is now 100 percent negotiable. Buyers, sellers, or both can cover it, and many buyers roll the fee into closing-cost credits.

Why this matters to new licensees
Have a ready-to-use buyer-representation agreement and a clear script explaining the new payment options. That way you can start showing properties without delays or confusion.

#5 Join the MLS

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a private database established by cooperating real estate brokers to provide data about properties for sale. Real estate professionals also use it to assist their clients with buying and selling property. 

The MLS is a vital resource for real estate agents. With MLS access, you can:

• Search and analyze active, pending, and sold listings in your area
• Provide accurate home valuations to clients using real-time data
• Stay ahead of market trends and competitive listings

#6 Create a Real Estate Website

Websites are an excellent way for agents to generate leads, establish their expertise, create brand awareness, and provide up-to-date information to the public. Here are several features that make an excellent real estate website.

• Strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Responsive design and straightforward navigation
• Messaging capability
• Images, videos, and virtual tours
• Contact information
• Market data and information

When creating a real estate website, you can outsource to a web developer or handle the creation yourself.

#7 Schedule "Coffee Dates"

This comes from top-producing agent, Richard Schulman. Richard runs a top .1% real estate team and has made more than a billion dollars in sales. He understood that lead generation is the most important thing a real estate agent can do. He created a system that let him deepen relationships, build trust, and book clients. He called this "coffee dates."

Richard set up 30-minute coffee get-togethers with contacts in his database. On a recurring basis, he would set up these dates with people he hadn't spoken to in a certain amount of time. When he got together with them, he would catch up and hear how they've been. Eventually the conversation would come back to real estate in which he would ask them if they need any services.

"Coffee dates" are a simple yet powerful way to find new clients. Either the person you meet needs help, they know someone who does, or you catch up with someone who will eventually need help. This is a great way to stay top of mind and get a good caffeine boost.

By the way, we created a online video program with Richard. It's called From Rookie to Rockstar. It's a 6+ hour online video training program that teaches you how to find your first real state client, how to close more deals, and how to earn bigger commission checks.

#8 Decide If You are Ready to Join a Team

You can join a team or go solo when you become a real estate agent. Below are a few pros and cons of joining a team:

Pros

• Bigger pool of leads
• Early learning opportunity at the start of your career
• You have access to more knowledge
• You can leverage brand name

Cons

• You don't get to choose who you work with
• A potential clash of personality
• Additional commission split
• You're branding the team and not yourself

If you still need help deciding if a team is right for you, consider what kind of leads you will have when you start your career. If you have an extensive network of people ready to buy and sell real estate or are willing to refer you to a family member or friend, joining a team might slow you down. Whereas if you have a smaller network, a team could help create a foundation for you.

#9 Find a Real Estate Mentor

A mentor is an experienced person who educates or gives help and advice to a less experienced person. Having a real estate mentor is always a good idea, especially when you are new to the industry. Your mentor can be anybody as long as the person has gained enough experience to guide you.

Your real estate brokerage may run mentorship programs to match new agents with experienced ones in your office for professional development. However, if they don't, you can just walk up to an older colleague and make your intentions known

#10 Attend Training Classes

Even after getting your real estate license, you need to keep learning and acquiring knowledge. So seek out training classes that can help elevate your career. Typically brokerages offer training seminars for their agents to help them become better negotiators, learn about contracts, and establish good workflows.

#11 Determine Your Why

Success in real estate requires motivation and resilience. Your "why" is your deeper reason for pursuing a real estate career. Whether it’s financial freedom, helping families find their dream home, or building a long-term investment portfolio, having a clear purpose will keep you focused during challenging times.

When obstacles arise, revisit your "why" to stay motivated and committed to your goals.

#12 Leverage AI & Video Marketing

Consumers expect quick answers and engaging visuals. Combine AI tools with video to punch above your weight:

• Use AI tools to draft listing descriptions, email drip sequences, and blog posts—then personalize the copy to maintain voice.
• Generate royalty-free listing images or social-media graphics with AI image tools, but verify you have rights to publish MLS photos.
• Shoot 60-second vertical videos: neighborhood spotlights, “Just Listed/Just Sold,” or rapid-fire Q&A. Post simultaneously to Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
• Caption everything; 80 % of viewers watch with the sound off.
• Track engagement in your CRM and retarget high-intent viewers with ads or personalized messages.