Estate agents believe the sky is the limit
A career in real estate is about a lifelong commitment and passion.
“To choose real estate as a career path, a person needs to be ambitious and diligent,” says Terry Shead, principal at a local estate agency.
According to him a person who wants to work in an environment where they can be independent and self-motivated, can be a successful property professional.
The professional education and training requirements of this profession is to achieve a Nation Qualification Framework (NFQ) level four or five to complete a 12-month internship.
The costs involved with these studies are approximately R4 000.
This will be under the mentorship of an experienced estate agent and to write a professional designate exam at the end of the internship.
Terry recommends mathematics and accounting as a good subject choice for Grade 12 learners who are interested in this line of work.
He claims to make a good agent a person needs to have strong ethical values, hardworking, pursuable and have a positive attitude as risk reward factors play a huge role.
Success depends on the agent because an agent needs to be prepared to work very hard.
“A top agent average between 60 and 70 hours a week taking into consideration the job is commissioned only based.”
The industry is by no means limited to buying and selling but also about managing and problem solving.
According to him risk reward factors play a huge role.
Terry says although the average age of an agent is 57 years, there is a huge potential for younger people to get involved in the industry.
An aspirant estate agent can do a course concurrently with the internship so the intern can learn while they earn.
The course duration can be anything from six months to a year, depending on the delivery that the training provider offers.
There are full-time, part-time and distance-learning options available to study towards the Further Training and Education Certificate (FETC).
Companies must be accredited to offer FETC by Services Seta, the Estate Agency Affairs Board and as a private FET college by the Department of Higher Education and Training.
The South African Real Estate Academy is fully accredited and
registered and the course fees range from R7 000 to R15 000 depending on the delivery model.
There is no typical day in the life of an estate agent, no monotony as it is not a boring job.
“The potential is huge for young people to get involved in the industry,” concludes Terry.
