Working as an estate agent

Kcgc

Hi All,

Just a quick one. I have an interview soon for a position as an estate agent. The basic salary is £12k with commision. The hiring manager has said that most people earn between £16-£24k with their commision.

I am currently earning £22k, so the basic is a massive decrease for me. I just wanted to know, is it poss to get commission every month? or am i likely to just meet the basic?

Thanks

NAR

Will depend on your sales. Business is slow at present, so I would have thought commission will be very little until market picks up.

belfastgirl23

Ask a friend to phone up posing as a house seller and get info on how many houses they have sold in the last few months...then see if you can figure out how many estate agents are in the office - that should give you a starting point.

but agree with NAR I wouldn't be depending on the commission at the minute!

tanith

My grandson tried at two different Estate Agents because he really liked the job but he never earnt much more than the basic and sometimes it was less and as he was 'last in' he got all the leafletting to do so was out of the shop a lot of the time and consequently all the viewings went to the senior staff..... there were deductions for use of the car and then if he didn't get his quota of viewings he didn't get a monthly bonus to get him up to a minimum wage , I'm sure they were acting illegally some of the time but he didn't want to rock the boat... I'm sure there are Companies that do pay a living wage but I'd beware if I were you , especially as you are earning a heck of a lot more as you are... he eventually gave up the idea as a career choice but has struggled to find anything other than driving..

ukjoel

I know that whenever we advertised for car salesman we used to get lots of estate agents applying because the commissions came through faster.

With a used car it sells and you earn your commission that month.

A new car sells and it can vary from earning commission that month to 3-4 months later but average it out as 8 weeks.

A house sale involving a chain can take a lot lot longer and more likely to fall out of bed for no fault of yours than a car someone has put a deposit on.

Pay structure was similar with basics of 8k-12k but I would say the totals were higher with 30k being the minimum anticipated amount they would earn with the better ones with more experience (and more repeat customers pulling in up to double that.

May be worth a look at cars.
Remember though with both houses and cars its a 7 day a week business that starts at 8am and finishes at 8pm. Divorce rate is among the highest in any business and in my experience the t*sser factor is very high as well with far to many egos and testosterone flying about (and the women are even worse).

kat74

I've never been an EA, but have had a few commission-based roles and fallen foul of some of the pitfalls before.

Questions to ask...
- I assume you'll have at target of some sort?
- What is this target based on (e.g should you try to sell 5 cheap houses, or 1 expensive one)?
- Are there different targets for different things - (e.g. selling property, recruiting new vendors, getting new buyers on your books etc.)? Are you comfortable doing these different things?
- Is it 'all or nothing' - (e.g. if a sales falls though, do you get nothing for it, even if you've done everything correct up to the last minute when the buyer gets hit by a bus)
- Will this target be low to begin with, whilst you get experience?
- How many people in the office hit this target, or over/under acheive?
- Do the people who hit / over achieve generally do this within their normal hours, or does it generally take overtime to achieve this?
- At what point does the comission kick in? (if you only get 10% of your target, will you earn basic + 10% of commission? - I've worked in places where there is no commission until you hit 75% of target)
- Is it realistic that you will hit target in the first month/quarter?
- Will it take a few months to build up a customer base before you hit target?
- If so, will the company protect your earnings until you should realistically be hitting target (e.g. pay you basic + 25% commission for 3 months)?
- Is there a flat corrolation between % target hit and commission (if you hit 80% target, will you get 80% commission - I've been in places where 80% target = 60% commission).
- Equally, what about over acheivement? Does 120% of target mean 120% of commission, or are there more incentives for over acheiving?
- Is commission capped?
- Do they include a pension / other benefits in your package?
- What %age of target is this based on (in my industry pensions and benefits are usually based on basic + 50% of target).
- Bear in mind that if you apply for a mortgage or similar, they will not count all your commission as earnings.
- Is commission paid monthly? Some places pay it quarterly, which could have an impact on your budgeting as it is quite a big drop from what you're used to earning.
- And is it paid 'next month' so if you get 100% in july, will you see this commission in Aug's paycheck? You need to be able to clearly understand what you will be bringing home and when.
- Are targets adjusted to accommodate seasonal fluctuations in the propery market?

As I say, I have no experience of being an estate agent, these are just questions I've learnt the hard way to ask!

Counting_Pennies_2

Bad time for house selling, and it is predicted to get much worse.

Not necessarily the best option for commission.

MissMotivation

Do not depend on commission as one quiet month means no commission 2/3 months down the line.

Assume that you will earn no commission until month 3/4 as you will need to build up your pipeline, most companies only pay commission on completion of the sale and when they have been paid by the Solicitor.

Not sure what area the job is in but in this area there are few (experienced) EA's earning £24,000 OTE, let alone someone that is new to the business.

Like all sales roles you get back what you put into it but even that is sometimes jeopardised by how the market is performing.

Jinx

Hi KcGc

I was an estate agent for 2 years before the housing crash although I was completely self-employed. I made a LOT less money than I expected, mainly due to the housing market going into decline. Its easy to get the houses listed, getting them settled is a whole other story. And I was the in the top 3 listers in my franchise as I worked my a**e off!! My own experience was that it took 4-5 months to get the first settlement, because even if you list in your first week, it takes (in scotland where i am) around 12 weeks conveyancing and the solicitor pays you. Assuming they pay promptly! And I doubt youd get the commission until it had cleared the offices accounts. On the upside I had noone setting targets or conditions but I had no basic either. And office fees were payable.

Even with the downsides, its a job I loved and I would return to it if I could find a position with a basic salary. A supportive other half and or savings are a good cushion And if you can survive now then you will be well placed when the market bounces back....

caris

Kcgc wrote: »

Hi All,

Just a quick one. I have an interview soon for a position as an estate agent. The basic salary is £12k with commision. The hiring manager has said that most people earn between £16-£24k with their commision.

I am currently earning £22k, so the basic is a massive decrease for me. I just wanted to know, is it poss to get commission every month? or am i likely to just meet the basic?

Thanks

Why are you going for the job in the first place when you say the basic is such a massive decrease from what yo are already earning??

Lillibet_2

Was an EA years ago, worked for both a small independent (2 branches in Wimbledon) & a huge corporate chain (branch in every town, village & hamlet). Never came close to earning my target, really long hours for little thanks, when I did hit my selling targets the next month my targets were raised. It was a seriously cut throat business and no perks!
I moved to residental lettings, much nicer less stressed environment, faster turn around of more steady comission, similar sort of money.
Hope this helps?:)