Land Acquisition Professional Job Description, Career as a Land Acquisition Professional, Salary, Employment

Education and Training Bachelor’s degree and certification

Average Salary $79,000 per year

Job Outlook Good

Basic Job Description

Land acquisition professionals are experts in inspecting, appraising and assessing private and public property. They observe property to find damage, locate property owners, negotiate property settlements, and make sure properties meet legal requirements before being sold or rented out by new owners. They also negotiate lease agreements with landlords and owners and help determine the worth of a piece of property.

Education and Training Requirements

Land acquisition professionals usually have a Bachelor’s degree in real estate, business administration, finance, accounting or any other related field. Many land acquisition professionals are hired through a real estate company as an entry level employee, where they will gain more education and experience on the specifics of the job.

Professionals who plan to inspect property and negotiate lease agreements must be licensed to work in the real estate field through the federal government. In most states, students are required to work on the job for a certain number of hours before becoming qualified to take the state administered test to become certified. Once they are certified, a land acquisition professional can work with other real estate workers and developers to inspect properties.

Getting the Job

Land acquisition professionals must have excellent written and oral communication skills. They need to be able to speak with real estate agents and property owners regarding the condition of their land and estate, and be able to write up reports regarding the state and condition of the property. Land acquisition professionals must also be able to write up formal documents regarding price negotiations and appraisals that have been determined about the worth and value of property.

Land acquisition professionals are also trained to completely inspect homes and determine whether or not they have violated codes that prevent them from being suitable for living. They must be comfortable walking through someone’s property and taking notes regarding their living conditions and care toward the property.

Job Prospects, Employment Outlook and Career Development

Many land acquisition professionals start out working as assistants to real estate developers and other land acquisition professionals before working on their own. Working as an assistant will teach students all aspects of the real estate and land ownership field including maintaining a budget and finances, analyzing insurance plans, and collecting payments from tenants. Some may even start working as managers of apartment or office complexes before working deeper in the real estate field.

The career of a land acquisition professional usually grows as they work with larger and larger pieces of land. The more pieces of land and property a professional is able to inspect and handle at once, the more they will potentially make and the bigger they can develop their career.

Land acquisition professionals can also advance to owning property and keeping it well maintained after gaining experience and understanding of what it takes to keep properties in good condition and up to date. Property ownership is a good career move for anyone who wants to utilize their skills and experience and significantly supplement their income.

Employment outlook for land acquisition professionals is expected to be on the rise over the next several years as the housing market and economy is looking to recover. As more and more real estate agents and owners gain customers and have their career pick back up, they will look for the work of more land acquisition professionals to work with them and determine the value and condition of properties.

Working Conditions and Environment

Land acquisition professionals typically have an office in a real estate agency, but rarely spend time working at their desk. Most of their time is spent visiting properties and inspecting them for legal issues, value increases or decreases, and for ways to negotiate how much a house should be priced if it’s about to go on the market. They must be comfortable walking into random houses and throughout all different types of property. Some jobs may require them to get their hands dirty to inspect pipes, sewage or other parts of a property that can affect whether or not it is livable and ready to go on the market.

When land acquisition professionals are not on the road working, they are at their desks completing paperwork such as reports on housing conditions, price negotiation information, and recording any other notes they took after visits that day.

Land acquisition professionals need to be able to work in an environment that can get stressful and uncomfortable, as they may be walking through property that it is in bad condition while the residents are there. They may also have to work long hours that go into evenings or weekends if they have a large amount of houses to visit.

Salary and Benefits

The average salary for a land acquisition professional is about $79,000 per year. Salaries depend on the number of years the professional has been working in the real estate field, the size of the real estate agency they are working for, the size of the property they are working with, and the amount of properties they are looking over at any specific time.

Land acquisition professionals also receive health insurance benefits through the real estate agency they work with. They are usually full-time employees, so they will also receive vacation and sick leave allowances. Many land acquisition professionals have a large amount of property they have to observe and inspect in a week, so they will have to work vacation time around whether or not the agency is going through a busy time. If so, they will be bound to their work until everything is finished and it begins to slow down.

Where to Go for More Information

National Association of Realtors
500 New Jersey Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
(800) 874-6500
http://www.realtor.org

Air Commercial Real Estate Association
800 West 6th Street, Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 687-8777
http://www.airea.org

Real Estate Association
800 North State College Boulevard
Fullerton, CA 92831
www.realestateassociation.org