Ever wondered how much money you could earn working as an estate agent?
There are plenty of estate agent jobs where you get paid to nose around other people’s properties, and gain an inside advantage of new housing developments and properties in your area.
If you love working with people and negotiating, a career as an estate agent could be perfect for you. The role offers a mix of desk-based work and being out, showing people around properties.
Estate Agent salaries vary according to the area and the properties you deal with. Jobs in London and the South East tend to pay better and you could earn up to £250k for a global property company in London, but this is really at the high end of the market.
Here we look at the different entry levels, skills and salaries available throughout the UK.
What is an Estate Agent?
These are the first people you meet and deal with when renting, selling or buying a property. Estate Agent’s act as the ‘go-between’ negotiators between the parties involved.
Do Estate Agents make good money in the UK?
Estate Agents tend to make fairly good money, with the potential to increase their earnings with commission and perks to the job – such as company cars and prizes.
According to figures from unitedpropertyconnect.com, UK residential Estate Agents make an average salary of £41,392, that’s much higher than the UK average salary.
With years of experience under their belts, successful and experienced sales and letting agents can earn anything between £50,000- £100,000.
There are a number of Estate Agent recruitment agencies throughout the UK. Here are just a few London based agencies:
https://kingspermanentrecruitment.co.uk/
https://www.propertypersonnel.co.uk/
https://www.curtisandmayfair.com/
Is an Estate Agent a good job in the UK?
Estate Agents do offer good salaries – although many Estate Agents only get a basic salary, there is a chance to earn some serious commission on each sale made.
Depending on your role you may specialise in sales or lettings of either residential or commercial properties, businesses or land on behalf of your clients. You’ll value and market properties, with the aim of negotiating the best price for your client. A good business and sales background will give you an advantage over others.
How to get a job as an Estate Agent?
There aren’t any specific entry requirements to work as an estate agent, but plenty of desirable qualifications and experience to give you an advantage in this career.
Typical areas of experience include:
- Business and law
- Urban/land developments.
- Sales and negotiation.
- Admin experience – there’s a lot of paperwork with legal biases.
You’ll have an advantage if you can demonstrate good business skills, maths, English and negotiation and sales experience.
You can get into this job through a number of routes:
- a university course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- training offered by a professional body
You could start by taking qualifications offered by an industry body like NAEA Propertymark. A full clean driving licence is also an advantage so you can access properties.
Skills to become an Estate Agent
You’ll need:
- customer service skills
- the ability to sell products and services
- the ability to work on your own
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- persistence and determination
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently.
Local knowledge of the area is also an advantage so you can give information about schools, transport and demographics.
What do you do as an Estate Agent?
You may:
- Value properties and visit sellers and landlords.
- communicate regularly with potential buyers and tenants to share details of properties that meet their requirements.
- arrange viewing appointments and show properties to buyers or renters.
- get feedback on viewings and pass these on to the seller.
- Act as a negotiator between parities.
- generate sales leads for mortgages and sales.
- deal in person, on the telephone and through email with solicitors, financial advisers and surveyors.
- manage auction sales.
- work to meet sales targets.
- update computer records.
Career prospects and salaries as an Estate Agent:
With experience and a good sales record, you could be promoted from sales negotiator to senior negotiator and then branch manager.
Larger chains of estate agents may offer more opportunities for promotion than smaller companies.
You could also become self-employed as a partner in a firm, or set up your own agency.
A quick look at Reed.co.uk recruitment website had the following jobs:
- Full-time sales negotiator at a branch in Rotherham – salary between £16k-£22k depending on experience.
- Estate Agents Sales Negotiator in Oxford with a salary of between £25k – £35k plus commission.
- A London based Estate Agent for a global property company with a salary of between £50 and £250k per annum.
- According to TotalJobs.co.uk the average salary for an Estate Agent in London is £37,500, Branch Manager jobs average around £40k.
- But this salary can dip to around £22,000 in Birmingham and £25k in Manchester.
You will see jobs advertised with on-target earnings (OTE) projection which is a projection of your basic salary plus commission you could earn.
Commission is a fee that is added to the price of a sale, expressed as a percentage. This commission can go partly to the agency and or the agent who made the sale.
This commission can either be based on your personal sales figures, or on the office sales figures, or on both. In total, you should earn somewhere between £18,000 and £25,000 in your first year, although many trainees have earned much more. Ultimately, you control how much you earn, as your sales ability will be reflected in your salary.
Typical working hours for an estate agent.
This is a service industry so you’ll need to be prepared to work some unsociable hours to deal with the general public for property viewings. Office hours could be between 8.30 am – 6 pm with some evening or weekend appointments necessary. You find your work on a rota for these hours.
Perks of the job:
A negotiator may also be given a company car or a car allowance. This will sometimes be given on the first day, although usually, it is an incentive that can be earned within the first year.
Some of our clients offer other incentives such as private health care, mobile phones, pension schemes and extended holiday entitlements.
Many companies not only reward their high achievers with excellent bonuses and commissions but also better quality cars, holidays abroad and other such prizes.
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