I’m relatively new to Real Estate after spending a majority of my career in IT. I’m now starting to get questions from other people who are also thinking of making a career change, about what I did and how I did it.
For my entire adult life I’ve been interested in property. I bought my first house when I was 19 thanks to a huge amount of encouragement from my mother and financial help from my boyfriend’s mother. We bought a tiny one bedroom terrace in Zetland, next to a factory, which was in truly original condition. The whole family helped us do it up and for five years it was my pride and joy.
That was the start of my love for anything and everything property. Unfortunately my day job in IT paid way too well for me to consider leaving. So I bought and sold houses, read everything there was to read on design, decoration and property investing, and stuck with the career that paid but didn’t stimulate.
When I was lucky enough to get a redundancy from my IT job, I decided that this was the time to make a big change and start doing what I was passionate about. Rather than jump in head first, I took a part time IT contract which would cover the bills, joined the Real Estate Institute of NSW and gained my certificate in real estate.
One-North Eden showflat will offer the best services to get the desire results. The availability of the certificate is there with the online platform. The real estate will offer the required results to the clients and individuals. The contract is excellent to offer the right results.
I then started working part time at a Real Estate agency as a casual. Learning the ropes in a small agency meant that I was involved in many aspects of the business from leasing and property management to marketing and sales. This gave me a great insight into the entire business and allowed me to work out what it was that I loved best. After a few months I did the accelerated license course to get my full real estate license. I sold a couple of houses and absolutely loved it.
Once I was nearing the end of my IT contract, I started looking for a permanent role in sales in a larger office. I searched domain.com.au for all the real estate agencies in the area I wanted to work, then approached the ones who had made the most sales that year. I also spoke to the three major real estate recruitment agencies so that they could represent me. I met with several of the agencies, and found that Payne Pacific seemed to be the best cultural fit for me.
Choosing The Right Employer
When looking for an employer, it’s easy to think just about whether you are going to be accepted by them, but it’s equally important for you to decide whether it’s the sort of place you would feel comfortable. Investigate whether they will support your career growth, whether they are reputable and whether they have good training and processes. There is a lot of turnover in the real estate industry. If you already have maturity and experience from a previous career, this will be a real advantage and will make you an attractive prospect. If you are also passionate about property, you’ve got it made.
I’m lucky because my husband and family completely support me making this change, despite the fact that it was difficult at first financially until I built my client base. They can all see the happiness on my face whenever anyone starts me talking about my job, and they know it’s what I should be doing.
I’ve also been amazed at the support I’ve had from the real estate industry as a whole. I joined some Facebook real estate groups early on and found them to be an invaluable source of help and advice. I know that real estate agents have a bad reputation, somewhere slightly higher than used car salesmen, but this is not the impression I have received. The people I’ve met have been a lot of hard working professional people who are trying to make a difference to the industry and its perception by the public. My boss is the president of the REINSW, so he is one of the best examples of the modern day estate agent. He does things by the book and leads his team to do the highest quality job possible.
My only regret is that I didn’t do this sooner – I would certainly advise anyone who asked me, to make that change, jump into that deep water, and do what you love.
