What Can You Do With a Real Estate Degree in 2025

by Imed Bouchrika, Phd

Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist

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What can you do with a real estate degree in 2025?

A real estate degree opens multiple lanes beyond residential sales. Graduates move into 

• brokerage, 
• property management, 
• leasing, 
• appraisal, 
• investment analysis,
•  asset management, and 
• development. 

Numbers show real demand for operational roles: 

• about 238,600 property and community association managers, 
• 153,740 sales agents, and 
• 42,960 brokers in 2024. 

If you favor quantitative work, real estate analyst, acquisitions associate, or portfolio analyst roles let you apply finance, Excel, and valuation every day. 

Prefer projects? Development coordinators and construction-adjacent roles translate classroom feasibility analysis into real sites and schedules. 

Client-first personalities do well in sales and leasing, where negotiation, prospecting, and local market knowledge drive results. 

Finally, crossover paths are common: many agents transition into commercial brokerage, property management, or development once they build a book of business and understand underwriting. 

Your degree’s edge is breadth—you learn law, finance, and markets—so you can pivot as cycles shift and pursue the slice of the industry that fits your temperament and risk tolerance. This versatility is why what jobs can you get with a general studies degree often overlaps with real estate: the broad skill set prepares graduates for administrative, analytical, or client-facing roles, making it easier to enter real estate or adjacent industries.

Is a real estate degree worth it in 2025

The ROI depends on how you plan to use the degree. 

On the pay side, U.S. medians are competitive: real estate brokers earn about $72,280, sales agents $56,320, and the combined broker/agent median sits near $58,960. Growth is modest—about 2% through 2033—so the premium goes to grads who stack skills in finance, negotiation, and data, then plug into high-opportunity niches like industrial or multifamily. 

Tuition and time are real costs, but a degree can accelerate licensing readiness, internship access, and credibility with lenders or institutional owners. If flexibility matters, a real estate degree online lets you study while working in a related job, shadowing a brokerage, or building a referral base. 

Bottom line: the degree pays when you treat it like a launchpad—pair coursework with deals, mentors, and measurable pipeline, not just grades. Consider your endgame before enrolling: if you want commissions quickly, combine classes with part-time leasing or transaction coordination. If you’re targeting analysis or development, prioritize modeling, internships, and capstone projects that put you in front of hiring managers.

The chart below compares the salaries of roles in real estate. 

What jobs can you get with a real estate degree in 2025?

Common roles include residential or commercial sales agent, broker, property or community association manager, leasing consultant, transaction coordinator, real estate analyst, acquisitions associate, asset manager, appraiser, and development coordinator. Operational demand is sizable: in 2024 there were roughly 238,600 property/community association managers, 153,740 sales agents, and 42,960 brokers. Analytical tracks focus on underwriting, comps, rent rolls, cash flows, and cap rates; client tracks center on prospecting, showings, negotiations, and contracts. 

Graduates often start as assistants or leasing agents, then step into full production or team roles within a year. If you prefer finance and credit, explore origination and lending pathways—learning how to become a mortgage broker can pair your degree with licensing to place loans for purchases, refinances, or small-balance commercial deals. 

As you build experience, adjacent options include corporate real estate, site selection, or ESG-focused asset management in larger portfolios. Additionally, combining real estate expertise with digital marketing skills creates crossover opportunities—knowing what can you do with a social media degree can help you leverage platforms to generate leads, manage property branding, or run marketing campaigns for listings, giving you a competitive edge in client acquisition.

The throughline across jobs is deal flow: the more you can source, analyze, or close, the faster you move up—whether toward six-figure production, portfolio responsibility, or the principal side in development and investment.

How do real estate grads become agents, brokers, or property managers?

Here’s how real estate degree graduates become agents:

• complete state-approved pre-licensing coursework, 
• pass the exam, 
• background check, and 
• affiliate with a supervising broker. 

Spend your first months learning scripts, CRM hygiene, comps, and contract workflows; stack rental or buyer reps to build referrals. 

Here’s how to become brokers or property managers:

• Become brokers: after 1–3 years of active sales (state rules vary), complete additional education and a tougher exam to open your own shop or lead a team. 
• Property managers: many states don’t require a broker license for management, but large portfolios value credentials like CPM or ARM and experience with budgets, repairs, and tenant relations.

The labor market turns over steadily—about 46,000 openings a year through 2033—mostly from people switching industries, not net growth. If you’re drawn to development or facilities, pairing your degree with a construction management degree online builds fluency in budgets, schedules, and delivery methods that owners prize. Across paths, apprenticeships, transaction coordinator roles, or onsite leasing give faster exposure than waiting for the perfect listing..

Do I need a license or certification after getting a real estate degree?

Yes—most client-facing roles require a state license even if you hold a degree. 

• For sales agents, expect pre-licensing education, fingerprinting, and a state exam covering property law, agency, contracts, finance, and ethics. 
• To become a broker, you’ll log supervised experience as an agent plus extra coursework and a separate exam; rules and hour counts differ by state. 
• Property and community association managers may not need a broker license, but certifications such as CPM (IREM) or CAM/CMCA signal competence to owners and HOAs. 

Specialized tracks often add credentials: 

• appraisers progress through trainee, licensed, and certified levels; 
• analysts benefit from ARGUS or modeling certificates. 

If your interest leans toward development or owner’s-rep work, an accelerated construction management degree can complement your license with scheduling, estimating, and risk skills. 

Bottom line: your degree shortens the learning curve, but licensure and targeted credentials are the tickets to supervised work, commission eligibility, and trust with clients.

How much do real estate degree holders earn in different careers?

Earnings vary wildly by role, market, and deal flow. On wages, recent BLS medians show brokers around $72,280, sales agents $56,320, and brokers/sales agents combined at $58,960. Compensation often includes commissions and bonuses, so total pay climbs with production: recent estimates show median total pay around $185K for high-performing agents at larger firms. 

Career stage matters: entry-level agents average about $56,221, early-career $59,561, with mid-career and late-career trending roughly 7% above the median. Top metros and teams materially out-earn averages, while part-time or low-lead environments sit well below them. 

Interested in planning or public-sector development? Pairing your degree with an urban planning online degree can open salaried roles in zoning, community development, and infrastructure that trade commission volatility for steadier pay and benefits. 

Across surveys, the 10th to 90th percentile base pay spans roughly $31,000 to $130,000, with commissions adding meaningful upside in hot cycles. Expect a ramp: most new agents earn modestly until pipelines stabilize; analysts and managers start steadier but grow through promotions and portfolio scale.

The chart below compares the salaries for different career states with estimates calculated for mid/late/experienced stages based on reported percentage changes.

What emerging real estate careers are growing in 2025?

Three themes are reshaping hiring in 2025. 

First, industrial and multifamily stay resilient: industry surveys expect average rent growth of about 5.1% for industrial and 4.3% for multifamily, supporting demand for acquisitions, development, and asset-management talent. 

Second, sustainability and ESG are maturing into real job families—think portfolio decarbonization, utility benchmarking, and green-lease strategy. 

Third, proptech keeps eating back-office friction: firms want ops pros who can implement PMS/CRM stacks and automate reporting. Markets with top investment prospects—Dallas–Fort Worth, Nashville, Austin, Miami, and Atlanta—continue to pull capital and headcount. 

If you’re aiming at leadership in these areas, stacking real-estate core with online business degree programs helps with budgeting, org design, and P&L accountability. Survey data (shown in the image below) also points to slight rebounds in capital flows—transaction volume forecasts tick up roughly +4% for industrial and +3% for multifamily—and modestly improved capital availability ratings versus 2024. Those signals favor analysts who can source off-market deals and operators who can squeeze NOI with tech and energy upgrades.

Is real estate school more than just learning to sell houses?

Yes—programs that only teach scripts and open houses miss where employers actually hire. Job postings overweight nuts-and-bolts skills such as 

• lease agreements (about 18.75%), 
• communication (13.95%), and 
• commercial real estate knowledge (11.34%). 

Resumes tell a similar story: 

• customer service (21.71%), 
• communication (11.78%), and 
• holding an active license (9.93%) dominate. 

Well-built courses therefore weave law, contracts, valuation, Excel modeling, marketing analytics, and negotiations with live market work—think property tours, underwriting assignments, and client role-plays. Capstone projects that underwrite a small multifamily or analyze an industrial acquisition beat theoretical essays because they mirror hiring tasks. 

If your program offers team-based case competitions or pro-bono site analysis for local nonprofits, take them—those reps generate portfolio pieces and talking points for interviews, even if you never plan to cold call. Finally, tech and ESG literacy are no longer optional. Learn a modern CRM, a property management system, and basic energy benchmarking. Graduates who can translate legal constraints, numbers, and stakeholder needs into clear memos and models become the go-to operators inside lean teams.

Interestingly, the analytical, research, and cultural interpretation skills emphasized in real estate mirror those valued in other fields. For example, anthropology degree jobs often leverage similar competencies—qualitative research, data synthesis, and understanding human behavior—demonstrating that versatile skill sets can open doors in both social science and business-focused careers.

What should I know before starting a real estate degree or school?

Start with costs and fit. At the master’s level, average tuition and fees run roughly $36,349 at private universities and $33,072 at public schools (2025). Undergrad programs vary widely by state and campus, so audit syllabi and ask about internship pipelines, alumni networks, and local industry partners. 

Students most commonly major in business (about 30.2%) or real estate (17.2%), but you’ll also see pathways from marketing, accounting, and psychology—use electives to close gaps in modeling or law. These combinations highlight how versatile skill sets can be applied across fields; in fact, many of the analytical, communication, and project-management competencies developed in real estate programs align with interdisciplinary studies careers, where graduates draw from multiple disciplines to solve complex problems in business, education, or public policy.

Time to value matters: if you want commissions fast, match classes with part-time leasing; if you want analysis or development, chase internships and capstones with real datasets. 

Finally, check your state’s licensing rules up front so coursework aligns with pre-licensing hours and exam content; you’ll save time and avoid duplicated classes. Program delivery matters too: hybrid and online formats make it easier to work in a brokerage or management office while studying. Ask whether instructors have recent deal experience, whether they teach ARGUS or similar tools, and how many graduates place into paid internships each term.

What skills and personality traits do successful real estate professionals need?

Skills that consistently show up in hiring data: 

• customer service, 
• communication, 
• detail orientation, and 
• real estate license status. 

Here are some thing that will help you understand the skills you need better:

• Resume analyses put customer service near 21.71% of listed skills, with communication around 11.78% and license references about 9.93%. 
• From employer postings, lease agreements (~18.75%), communication (~13.95%), and commercial real estate (~11.34%) dominate. 
• Personality-wise, you need resilience under rejection, comfort with ambiguity, and organized follow-through. 
• Analytical tracks reward curiosity, spreadsheet fluency, and clean writing; client tracks reward pipeline discipline, empathy, and negotiation. 
• Across roles, the fastest risers are proactive learners who call owners, tour sites, and update models without being asked—because they want the answer first. 
• Network stamina matters more than charisma: consistent outbound calls, lender coffees, and broker breakfasts beat one flashy pitch. 
• Integrity is non-negotiable—you’ll handle escrow funds and confidential data. 

If you’re unsure where you fit, start in leasing or analysis to sample both sides; each builds core competencies you can carry into brokerage, asset management, or development leadership.

How hard is it to pass the real estate licensing exam?

The exam isn’t conceptually hard, but it’s unforgiving on details. Expect two parts: 

• national (principles, law, finance, ethics) and 
• state-specific (licensing, disclosures, contracts). 

Questions are scenario-based and deliberately tricky—wording flips like “voidable vs. void,” “fee simple determinable vs. condition subsequent,” or “lien priority” cause misses. 

Plan a cadence: 

• finish pre-licensing, 
• then do 1–2 timed practice tests daily for a week, logging misses by topic and drilling weak sections. 
• Use a modern test bank that mirrors your state’s outline, and learn calculator keystrokes for proration and interest questions. 

Most first-time failures come from rushing, not content gaps. Slow down, underline verbs, and answer what’s asked—not what you assume. Afterward, be ready for fingerprints and background checks, then activate your license under a broker. 

If you miss by a few points, retake windows are short in many states; keep your momentum and rebook immediately while the content is fresh.

Here's What Graduates Have to Say About Their Real Estate Degree Program

Other Things You Should Know About a/an Real Estate Degree

Do I need prior sales experience to succeed?

No. Sales skills help, but analysis, writing, and project management are just as valuable. Many grads start in leasing, transaction coordination, or research—roles that build market knowledge and systems literacy without cold-calling on day one. After six to twelve months, you’ll know whether to double down on production or pivot to analysis.

How volatile is income in the first two years?

If you’re commission-only, expect volatility until you have repeat/referral business. Keep a cash buffer and treat lead generation like a daily workout. Alternatively, salaried analyst or property management roles provide steadier pay while you learn underwriting, reporting, and operations—skills that travel well if you switch to brokerage later.

What software should I learn before graduating?

For analysis: Excel (advanced), ARGUS, and a valuation model you can explain. For operations: a property management system and a modern CRM. Basic GIS and data-viz skills help with site selection and investor updates. Employers prize candidates who can automate recurring reports and produce clean, defensible numbers quickly.

Where are hiring hotspots right now?

Markets with top investment prospects include Dallas–Fort Worth, Nashville, Austin, Miami, and Atlanta. Industrial and multifamily remain more active than office. If you’re mobile, follow capital and logistics corridors; if not, become the local expert—tour submarkets weekly and compile rent rolls, sales comps, and small-owner contact lists.