A career as an estate agent? Advice please!

Limana68

Hi there,
Are there any estate agents workers out there?
Wondered if you could advise me. I am considering a change in career to one in Estate agency, and was wondering the following.
a) Do you need any formal qualifications or are you able to train ' on the job'..
b) Whats the wage like( up north wages!).

Would really appreciate any help!

Thanks
L

Astaroth

Not an estate agent personal but have had friends that are.... they all trained on the job but typically started in lettings before moving on up to sales

Wages vary greatly, down south with a lot of agencies you get a choice of basic salary and % commission - lower the basic salary and you increase your commission rate. Most the people I knew were in the middle range agencies and were good at what they did so probably earned about £35k

kit

As mentioned above - I started in lettings and now deal with sales and lettings. Must say that I prefer lettings so thats my main role.

I think you need to be a certain type of person to work in an estate agents. I am not a real 'sales' person hence why I lean towards lettings.

You dont need any qualifications to get in to it in the first place; however you may have to start on fairly low wages. I have a low basic wage and get commission for the amount of sales and lettings the WHOLE office does. We do it this way to avoid unhealth competition between staff but I beieive most agencies do individual commission.
I also get individual commission for all mortgage and solicitor refferals i make but, as I am not a good sales person, I make nothing out of this!!

AndrewSmith

Cut your teeth with one of the larger corperate chains. Their training is second to none as they can afford the high initial investment in you.

An example. When I was Financial Services Manager with one of the bigger chains we used to employ negotiators and trainee negs in the branches an a package such as:

Basic £15,000
Commission 5% of all office bankings
Financial Services Commission £35 per successful referral.
Expensed Car / Car allowance of approx £300 per month.
Pension/Lifecover/Healthcare/Bupa/Sick Scheme etc

Not unusual for a trainee neg to earn inexcess of £20-25,000 a year plus approx £5-6,000 in FS referrals in an averagely performing office.

Such companies offer a relatively 'protected' enviroment in which to learn the job and the process' inside out.

I have contacts at some of the larger chains across the UK depending on where you are.

Andy

Jorgan_2

Personally I would advise you try & get in with one of the larger corporate/independant agents who will be able to offer you an induction & ongoing training.

It is also probably worth looking at something like the NAEA technical award in estate agency, this will give you a good grounding.

As for pay, speak to a number of the specialist EA recruitment companies to get an idea of what you can expect. Some company's will pay a low basic & high commission others pay a high basic with low commission. Some people I know are on basics of £6-10k with an OTE of £30-35k while others take the safer route of £15k basic with an OTE of £25-30k . Some also pay a % of the commission or a fixed rate per sale, say £50.

Don't forget to find out the hours & about weekend work.

Dead_Eye_Jones

One of the probs with the current system is that there are no formal qualifications required. Infact it seems that you just need to lack integrity and enjoy screwing people over.

That said the agent I eventually used was actually very good, so if you go for it, try and become one of the honest ones !

AndrewSmith

:beer: @ Jorgan,

Great Minds Think Alike

:rotfl:

Jorgan_2

AndrewSmith wrote:

:beer: @ Jorgan,

Great Minds Think Alike

:rotfl:

Don't know about that, I certainly don't have a geat mind. Were probably both from a similar sysytem tho, I'm sure our paths must have crossed Andrew, while you were at Platts, I was at GA & Your Move in Lower Earley.

Limana68

Thanks for all the replies, really helpful, there are a few larger chains near me( Bairstowe eves, Remax) so may pop in for a chat! Anyone know what they are like to work for?

I have moved house ALOT( on no 16 now) and have met some good ,some awful estate agents, and I would like to be a decent one.

I am on 30K at the mo, so dont want to drop too much, but I would rather be in a job I enjoy than be unhappy( which I am in my present job) and would be willing to be a trainee for less money.

L

Limana68

Andrew,
I am in North Yorks area, would you have any contacts that way?? If so would you PM me!!

Thanks

Jorgan,
Can you do the NAEA technical award In EA from home or is it a college type course. Sorry if I sound thick!
L

AndrewSmith

Hi,

I would suggest either William H Brown or Manners & Harrison, who are part of the Sequence group. They have recently over the last couple of years merged with COnnells who are owned by Skipton Group, so are a good solid company.

Unfortunately I don't personally know anyone in these branches but the company ethic and proceedure is pretty much the same throughout.

A good company will appreciate someone who is enthusiastic and approaches them pro-actively seeking to work in one of their offices.

Best of luck

Andy