Estate agent
Estate agents sell or let residential or commercial properties, businesses or land for their clients. The role generally involves valuing properties, which includes looking at the property’s conditions and comparing it with others in the area to get the best price for the client. They also market the property and negotiate deals on behalf of their clients.
Residential estate agents deal with the sale and purchase of houses, flats and land. Many also manage rental properties, which has been a growth area. Commercial estate agents deal with a wide range of business properties including offices, shops, leisure facilities, hotels and restaurants. Rural estate agents specialise in land and rural businesses.
An increasing number of homes and commercial/industrial lots are sold by auction, so involvement in property auctioning is becoming more widespread, particularly in England and Wales.
Increased interest in overseas relocation or second-home purchase abroad is also a growth area during times of economic buoyancy.
Estate agents often have to liaise with banks, building societies, mortgage brokers, surveyors, solicitors and other estate agencies during transactions.
Property sales are dealt with in different ways in the UK depending on the nation. Property legislation in England and Wales is different to that in Scotland and Northern Ireland. For example, in Scotland sales are usually handled by solicitors.
There are also differences in the types of work carried out depending on the specialism of the agency. Despite this, there are common tasks involved and typical work activities tend to include:
Those who work in the lettings area of estate agency also:
Salary data from the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFoPP). Salary figures are intended as a guide only.
Personality, skills and experience are as important as academic achievement and a lot of people in the occupation are not graduates. However, while a degree is not an essential entry requirement, increasing competition for employment means that taking a degree, foundation degree or HND in one of the following subjects may give you an advantage:
A postgraduate qualification is not required; professional examinations can be taken in-service and many people start their careers as trainees.
While pre-entry experience is not essential, a sales or administrative background is very useful as it can demonstrate that you have the required skills. A customer service background can also show that you have good communication skills. There are increasing amounts of legislation applicable to property transactions, which have to be understood by entrants into the profession, so experience of legal work may also be an advantage.
Candidates need to show evidence of the following personal qualities and skills:
It may be possible to enter the profession at an administrator level and then progress to an estate agent with experience.
Competition for entry varies according to the state of the economy, particularly the property market. Finding vacancies in buoyant times is relatively easy, but positions may not always be advertised so there is a need to make general enquiries on an informal basis.
For more information, see work experience and internships and search courses and research.
Training takes place on the job and in-house. Most new recruits have an in-house induction, which may last one or two weeks, giving them an insight into the running of the business and the legislation attached to estate agency work.
Professional qualifications are also available and the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFoPP) Awarding Body offers a range of relevant qualifications which are available at different levels. This includes the Sale of Residential Property qualification, which is available at Technical Award, Certificate and Diploma level. A Scottish version of the qualification is also available. Both have been developed in consultation with the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and so meet the requirements for NAEA membership. The qualifications can be taken through flexible distance learning methods.
The NFoPP also separately offers a range of other courses on topics such as:
The NAEA also has a wide range of short training courses which run across the UK. The training can include areas such as:
The NAEA encourages continuing professional development (CPD) and a full one day course equals seven hours of CPD while a half day course equals three and a half hours of CPD.
Some jobs in commercial property will require qualification and membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) .
You may start work in a secretarial or administrative post and then work your way up to become a sales or lettings agent. Alternatively, you may start straight away as a trainee or assistant sales or lettings negotiator.
From here, you could progress to a senior sales or lettings negotiator. Gaining experience of selling different types of properties, letting properties for customers and the selling of land are all ways in which an estate agent can increase their promotion prospects.
Promotion to a senior level may involve having to move branches or companies, so mobility may sometimes be necessary for career development. With further experience, you may be promoted to the position of branch manager of a small area office. This will involve managing staff in branch, acting as a senior sales negotiator and also as mentor to junior sales negotiators. After branch manager, there is often a bottleneck in promotion opportunities.
With substantial experience, you could consider self-employment, becoming a partner or sole principal of your own firm. There are opportunities to study for professional qualifications and the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) offers a range of short courses. Some of these may be useful if you are thinking of setting up your own company.
The majority of estate agents work in independent, private estate agency practices. These companies can range in size from small one-branch agencies to larger companies with multiple offices. The majority of estate agency businesses are classed as SMEs. Larger companies often have specialist divisions in commercial, rural, corporate or residential property, planning, surveying and property investment.
There has been an increase in the number of graduate recruitment schemes within estate agency, although these are mainly within the larger firms which have many branches.
Vacancies in this area depend largely on the state of the property market. When the economy is buoyant there are usually vacancies within sales and commercial property, and during times of recession the majority of vacancies in estate agency are within the residential lettings business.
Recruitment agencies commonly handle vacancies and there are a number of specialised agencies that deal with estate agency. Search the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) for details of relevant agencies.
Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.
Tweet