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The 10 Best Paying Real Estate Jobs in 2023

Real estate careers span a wide range of fields, making it difficult to determine which one is best for you. With a nearly $3.7 trillion global market value, it is clear that there is a lot of money to be made in the real estate industry. If you want to know what the best paying real estate jobs in 2023 are, the following article will provide you with all the insights.

In our series of articles about real estate careers, you will also learn much more about the field than just the salary. In the upcoming weeks, we will help to choose a job that is matching to your interests and experience.

The 12 Best Paying Real Estate Jobs in 2023

To identify the jobs that provide the highest salary, we analysed different career portals (Indeed, Glassdoor, Salary.com) that have recently listed real estate jobs and searched through company websites. A large number of those are located in the US or UK, therefore we limited our research to these two countries. If you are looking for a job in another location salaries might be different but the overall ranking should still be the same.

Most of the jobs in this ranking are entry-level jobs or only require a limited amount of work experience. If you plan on staying in the field or even opening your own company, the compensation can go much higher towards the 7 figures – but there really is no limit.

Here are the top 12 best paying real estate jobs in 2023, from management and finance roles to legal and consulting positions.

Real Estate Professionals – Foto von Austin Distel auf Unsplash

1 | Real Estate Attorney – $158k

  • Salary Range: $120,000 – $190,000
  • Median Salary: $158,000

One of the best paying jobs in the real estate industry is the real estate attorney. Your responsibilities are related to the entire transaction process, which includes the transferring of titles, drafting legal documents, ensuring planning and zoning processes are in line with regulations, and closing the final sale. Furthermore, as a real estate attorney, you will advise your clients on legal concerns as well as help with other disputes that can occur during a property’s lifecycle.

2 | Civil Engineer – $122k

  • Salary Range: $66,000 – $177,000
  • Median Salary: $122,000

As a civil engineer, you are planning and designing different types of construction projects. These include buildings but also infrastructure such as highways, airports, power plants and more. Compared to architects, civil engineers are more directly involved with the structural aspects of a building and manage these in all construction phases.

Analysis of data, maps, and reports is another duty to make sure the development sticks to the predetermined strategy. Evaluation of any risks and costs that may arise unexpectedly will be crucial at this point as well.

3 | Real Estate Portfolio Manager – $112k

  • Salary Range: $96,000 – $134,000
  • Median Salary: $112,000

Another highly paying career in real estate is that of a real estate portfolio manager. In order to become successful in this job, you should be able to understand the financial performance and risks of different properties. Your duties will be to analyse new investment opportunities for a portfolio of buildings and determine whether to buy, hold, or sell them. 

Additionally, a portfolio manager will collaborate with other real estate professionals, such as asset and property managers, to find new opportunities as well as advantages or disadvantages within existing buildings. You might perform these tasks in a real estate investment company or advise clients on how to manage their own portfolios.

4 | Property Manager – $106k 

  • Salary Range: $88,000 – $122,000
  • Median Salary: $106,000

A property manager is actively managing buildings or units for real estate investors. You have a direct relation to tenants and collect rent, manage maintenance issues, work together with other businesses to resolve them, and will be the first contact person for any inquiries regarding a building. This means that you must be willing to work with a number of different people and help them regarding subjects like rent, maintenance, insurance, issues with neighbours, building rules, contracts, and more.

Furthermore, overseeing the financial situation of a property, as well as reporting its overall status to landlords or investors is an essential part of the job. To improve the building and help its investors to receive the desired return, a property manager must also help with finding new tenants, meeting them, and deciding which can be a good fit for the unit in terms of risk. Overall, this career will be concerned with many different aspects of a building’s lifecycle.

5 | Commercial Real Estate Agent – $105k

  • Salary Range: $88,000 – $118,000
  • Median Salary: $106,000

Another one of the best paying real estate jobs in 2023 is being a commercial real estate agent. While most wages fall between $88k and 118k, they truly rely on how many properties you can sell and at what price. This is because you earn a commission for each sale, which may significantly boost your pay but also result in poor base salaries if you don’t make any sales.

As a commercial real estate agent your responsibility is to find buyers for non-residential buildings, including offices, multifamily-housing, retail, industrial, hotels, and mixed-use properties. You will have to create the right sales strategy to market these types of buildings and show potential buyers around, emphasising the most important aspects of it. Additionally, a real estate agent will be involved in the due diligence of a transaction process, provide estimated market prices, and work together with other real estate professionals to finish the sale of a property.

Commercial agents need to know more about a property’s financial situation and demographics than residential ones do because they will be working with investors and businesses. It is the agent’s duty to identify buildings that satisfy these interests, which are very different from those of residential buyers.

Real Estate Agent – Foto von Kindel Media: https://www.pexels.com/de-de/foto/menschen-manner-haus-wohnung-7578901/

6 | Real Estate Consultant – $103k

  • Salary Range: $78,000 – $138,000
  • Median Salary: $103,000

A real estate consultant has a wide range of responsibilities, as their main task is to advise clients on property projects. In this career, you can work on tasks that are relevant for the entire building life cycle, from the transaction process to redevelopments and new strategies to revive an old property. A significant amount of time will be used to communicate with clients and discuss their ideas in order to find the right solutions.

With the requirements in hand, a real estate consultant will conduct market research, analyse important documents, assess the status and characteristics of a property, and also find potential buyers for a client’s building. After the research and consultation phase has ended, you will create reports and presentations to showcase the finding to your client.

7 | Real Estate Development Manager – $95k

  • Salary Range: $80,000 – $108,000
  • Median Salary: $95,000

If you are interested in managing the entire real estate development process from planning to the final handover, then a career as a real estate development manager is right for you. Your responsibility will be to create business plans for new investment opportunities, as well as conduct market research and manage financial budgets. The development manager is involved in the whole construction process and has to communicate with all different stakeholders, from contractors to architects, planners, engineers, lawyers, agents, and more.

This career will involve frequent site visits to ensure that the development is following the created path. You must be able to build properties that are in line with the risk and return requirements of investors. 

8 | Real Estate Analyst – $95k

  • Salary Range: $66,000 – $130,000
  • Median Salary: $96,000

A real estate analyst is helping to create financial plans and property valuations for investors, agencies, or developers. They conduct market research, analyse comparable buildings, find reports, create valuation models, and estimate the value of a building or unit. In times of big data, analysts are also helping to manage these large amounts of data and try to find trends that can impact investment decisions.

You will also help with due diligence and assist managers or agents in collecting all the necessary documents to go through the transaction process. This is necessary in order to minimize the risk in these procedures.

9 | Architect – $89k

  • Salary Range: $79,000 – $99,000
  • Median Salary: $89,000

One of the most popular careers in real estate is architecture. In the United States alone, there are more than 140 thousand people working as architects. Most of your work in this field will be related to the planning phase of a construction project. One main responsibility includes the creation of drawings related to aspects of a building, these are either done by hand or with computer-aided design (CAD) software. It is also very important to have regular meetings with clients in order to understand their requirements and create projects that fulfil them. 

In addition to these tasks, an architect will also conduct research on the proposed construction site, collaborate with planning and engineering professionals, assess environmental concerns, and make sure that construction costs stay within the budget. You will also be required to go to the construction itself and monitor the process from start till the handover.

10 | Asset Manager – $89k

  • Salary Range: $78,000 – $103,000
  • Median Salary: $89,000

Another one of the best paying real estate jobs in 2023 is the asset manager. In this career, you are helping clients to manage properties in their investment portfolio by trying to find new ways to increase value and mitigate risk. Compared to a property manager, you are not directly involved in the day-to-day tasks of a single building like managing tenants and maintenance issues. An asset manager generally oversees the overall financial performance and helps to maximise returns.

If you decide to start a career in this field you must also conduct market research in the property sector, understand economic trends, and work together with investors, portfolio managers, and property managers to ensure the entire investment is going in the right direction.

Conclusion

All in all, there are many different career paths that you can take in the real estate industry. If you are looking for the best paying real estate jobs in 2023, then it might be worth taking a look into the careers we have been highlighting in our article. For someone that is more interested in the financial aspects of real estate, being an analyst or portfolio manager might be the right decision. On the other hand, if design and technical knowledge are some of your skills, then you might fit into the role of an architect or civil engineer. Whichever job you end up applying for, make sure to understand your responsibilities and requirements so that you will have a great experience and career journey.

If you want to learn more about the future of commercial real estate, including topics such as sustainability & ESG, PropTech, architecture, development and investment, feel free to take a look at our other articles on Smart CRE. Here you will also find insights into the job market and how to start a career in real estate.

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