Estate agent Job Information | National Careers Service

Job profiles

Estate agent

Hours

35-40 per week
Starting salary

£12,000 + per year

Estate agents market and sell property for clients. As an estate agent, you would negotiate between buyers and sellers. You would use your knowledge of the local property market to get the best price for the seller. If you are interested in the property market and you enjoy meeting different people, this job could be perfect for you.

To be an estate agent, you should have good organisational and time-keeping skills. You should also be trustworthy.

Employers are usually more interested in your skills and experience than your formal qualifications.

The work

Your work would include:

viewing properties, and taking photos and measurements
advising clients about the buying and selling process
valuing properties
marketing and advertising properties for sale
showing potential buyers around properties
negotiating a price that is acceptable to the buyer and the seller
arranging conveyancing (legal sale and purchase documents)
managing rented properties and collecting rent.

A large part of the work involves residential sales, but in some agencies you could also deal with commercial property, lettings, property management and auctions.

Hours

In a full-time job you would normally work around 35 - 40 hours a week between Monday and Saturday. Part-time work is often available.

You would be based at an office or high street agency but would spend a lot of your time visiting properties to show people around and make valuations.

Income

You would usually earn a basic salary plus extra commission based on a percentage of your sales.

Starting salaries for trainees can be around £12,000 to £15,000 a year basic, plus commission.

With experience this can rise to £20,000 to £30,000 a year basic salary, plus commission.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

Employers are usually more interested in your skills and experience than your formal qualifications. You should have good people skills and sales skills, and it will help you if you have previous experience of customer service work.

You may be able to start as an administrator in an estate agency and work your way up as your experience grows. Some estate agents are qualified building surveyors, although this is not essential.

You may also be able to start in this job through a property services Apprenticeship. You will need to check which schemes are available in your area. For more information, see the Apprenticeships website.

Apprenticeships

You may need to have a driving licence.

Training and development

You would normally start as a trainee sales negotiator and learn on the job from experienced staff. You may also have the chance to gain industry-recognised qualifications such as National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP) Technical Awards (level 3) in:

Sale of Residential Property
Residential Letting and Property Management
Commercial Property Agency
Real Property Auctioneers.

You could study for these qualifications as a new or experienced estate agent.

With experience, you could progress to NFOPP Level 5 Diploma courses in:

Residential Estate Agency
Residential Letting and Management
Commercial Property Agency.

You can study for the NFOPP qualifications by distance learning, or part-time at some local colleges. See the NFOPP website for more details.

National Federation of Property Professionals

The National Association of Estate Agents also offers a range of short courses for professional development. See their website for details.

National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)

You could also choose to take further training to qualify as an energy assessor or surveyor. For more information, see the job profiles on this website.

Skills and knowledge

To be an estate agent, you should have:

excellent spoken and written communication skills
strong negotiation and sales skills
the ability to deal with people from all backgrounds
good business sense
an interest in property and the housing market
good organisational and time-keeping skills
a friendly, trustworthy and professional attitude
computer skills
the ability to work under pressure and meet sales targets.

More information

National Federation of Property Professionals (Opens new window)
Arbon House
6 Tournament Court
Edgehill Court
Warwick
CV34 6LG
0845 250 6008
www.nfopp.co.uk

National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) (Opens new window)
Arbon House
6 Tournament Court
Edgehill Drive
Warwick
CV34 6LG
www.naea.co.uk

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) (Opens new window)
Parliament Square
London
SW1P 3AD
Tel: 020 7334 3875
www.rics.org

Asset Skills (Opens new window)
2 The Courtyard
48 New North Road
Exeter
Devon
EX4 4EP
Tel: 01392 423399
Email: careers@assetskills.org
www.assetskills.org

Opportunities

Job prospects for estate agents will depend on the state of the property market, which can vary from region to region.

Jobs may be advertised in the local press, on employers' own websites, by specialist recruitment agencies and in trade magazines like Estate Agency News and The Negotiator.

With experience and a good track record of sales, you could be promoted from sales negotiator to senior negotiator and manager. The larger chains of estate agents may offer more opportunities for promotion.

You could also become self-employed as a partner in a firm, or set up your own agency.

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.

Related industry information

Industry summary

The property and planning industry is part of the facilities management, housing, cleaning and support services, and parking sector, represented by Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. The sector workforce, which has continued to grow since 1998, represents 3% of the total UK workforce.

The property and planning industry covers both the private and public sectors and includes: acquiring, planning, surveying and valuing of commercial and residential property; plus valuing, selling, letting and managing of commercial and residential property.

Key facts:

The property and planning industry includes key areas of commercial and residential sales and lettings and property management.
There are 155,300 people working in the property industry in 37,200 companies.
There are significantly more full‐time than part‐time employees in the industry.
96% of all housing and property organisations have 10 or less employees.

Jobs in the industry include: estate agent; letting agent; surveyor; town planner; auctioneer; residential property or block manager; domestic energy assessor; and emerging jobs such as commercial energy assessor, housing energy adviser and community energy adviser.