Having seen many people come and go throughout my 25 years in the industry, I think the only question I can ask is “Why?”, not why would you want to do that; but why do YOU want to be an estate agent?

Maybe you have a passion for property garnered from watching countless TV programmes based on interior design or the selling of homes or you already have a sales background, or maybe this is your first venture into employment and the thought of dealing with properties excites you.

The ‘job’ may look easy when you are on the outside looking in, but in reality everyday is a challenge, goals are set which need to be achieved, company targets are there to be met and all this whilst dealing with clients who are entrusting you with their biggest asset. Whilst there is a lot of hard work that goes in, the rewards are fantastic and I don’t mean cars and money, I mean the lift you get each day when you agree an offer that allows your client to move, when your client exchanges contracts or when they come in and say thank you for everything that you have done on moving day – knowing that you made a difference and knowing that you did the very best you could to help.

At present you don’t need any qualifications to become an estate agent but that doesn’t mean this job is open for everyone, quite the opposite in fact. Due to the tasks that you will need to perform and the situations that you will find yourself in, your individual qualities must be wide and varied from ‘go getter’ to ‘expert listener’.

“Estate agents sell houses”, whilst I cant argue with that, you as the agent will never speak to a house! Instead you will spend your time dealing with clients and customers, so initially the quality that any company would look for is an ability to communicate with professionalism, swiftly followed up with your personal presentation (You will project the image of the company that you work for).

Do research on the company that you are going to either interview with or work for to find out what their niche is, obviously every estate agent sells houses (I told you I couldn’t argue with that) but that is their service, you need to find out how they do it, what makes them different from the other agents in the area and mould yourself around that niche.

Go through the property portals and see what that agent is offering for sale, look at the details and photographs and see how they present themselves and where they stand in this competitive market place. Spend time on their company website, reading through how the company was started, who the directors and staff are and in particular any mission statement they have.

A good company will offer you all the training that you need to grow in this industry and ensure that you never fall foul of the laws and regulations that exist, always listen and always learn.

GOOD LUCK.