Is a career in Real Estate a good choice?

City Boi · 04-02-2011 04:05AM #1

I have a huge interest in this industry, but everyone i know have told me that everyone in the industry are crooks. But isn't neaarly every industry corrupt?

But it put me off considering a career in it.

COuld anyone give me some info?

If you have any experience or know about the industry and how to break into it that would be great help

tenchi-fan · 04-02-2011 05:19AM

Are you serious?

I don't think there's a career in real estate at present. Seriously, do you read the news?

As for whether they are crooks.. They pretend to act in the buyer's interests, however they're being paid by the seller. They may relay the seller's dishonesty, including the decision to gazump. And some employ tricks which can be seen to be underhanded....

But crooks? No!

bubbaloo · 04-02-2011 01:15PM

Oh God - have you been living under a rock for the past two years? There's a global recession - nobody can sell property! I don't think you'd have much of a chance of getting a job in that industry at the moment.
And I second what Tenchi-fan says about them being crooks! It's all about playing one off against the other so that they can get the highest amount of commission possible.

bladespin · 04-02-2011 01:23PM

Houses are still selling alebit at a vastly reduced rate, fact is they always will, people need places to live. TBH I doubt if salary would be good right now, especially for commission based employees but if you could give yourself a year or two to learn the ropes I'd be hopefull the market would have picked up to a reasonable rate (not crazy as per the boom though).

Like any sales job, there are crooks and honest brokers, I'd hope most of the crooks had been washed away by now

whatnext · 04-02-2011 02:49PM

Real Estate is a massive industry - It’s not all what is known as estate Agency.

On the General Practice side it can be split down as follows:
Agency:
Residential Agency
Retail Agency
Commercial or Office Agency
Industrial Agency
and Development Agency.
There are also what is known as Investment Agents, who act on behalf of Investment and Pension Funds.
Acquisition Surveyors

Professional Services:
Management Surveyors (split between Residential / Commercial / Shopping Centre / Institutional (eg for a large property fund or land owner like CIE or the HSE)
Rating Surveyor
Valuation Surveyor
and Facilities Management.

You will find some interesting reading here
http://www.rics.org/professionalgroups

Qualifications are important for the more interesting types of work
See http://www.lit.ie/departments/Builtenv/LC481.html
http://www.dit.ie/colleges/collegeofengineeringbuiltenvironment/realestate/
http://www.cem.ac.uk/

I think there are other courses in CIT and GMIT also

Eoin · 04-02-2011 03:57PM

tenchi-fan wrote: »

As for whether they are crooks.. They pretend to act in the buyer's interests, however they're being paid by the seller. They may relay the seller's dishonesty, including the decision to gazump. And some employ tricks which can be seen to be underhanded....

I've never found that they try to even pretend to act in the buyer's interest; and a buyer would be a fool to assume they were. It's quite obvious who they represent.

bubbaloo wrote:

It's all about playing one off against the other so that they can get the highest amount of commission possible.

Of course it is! I'd be very annoyed if my estate agent wasn't trying to get me the best price. That's not being a crook; as they're clearly not acting as an impartial party.

Anyway, emotive language aside, it's an appalling time to get into that industry.

Snakeblood · 04-02-2011 05:58PM

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Are you serious?

I don't think there's a career in real estate at present. Seriously, do you read the news?

As for whether they are crooks.. They pretend to act in the buyer's interests, however they're being paid by the seller. They may relay the seller's dishonesty, including the decision to gazump. And some employ tricks which can be seen to be underhanded....

But crooks? No!

They're not interested in the seller either. THey're interested in the commission they can get. I've personal experience of being lied to today by an estate agent in the hopes of getting a higher commission on the property he sold for me.

Pablo Sanchez · 04-02-2011 07:44PM

Forget about getting into the business, for the time being anyway.

Estate agents are obliged to get the highest price possible for the seller, if they do not then they are open to legal action. If people are under the impression that they are acting in the interest of the buyer then you are naive.

They are however there to facilitate the sale and negotiate effectivly, this can sometimes involve reccomending offers lower then expected to sellers, they are after all being paid to know their area and to know when an offer really is as high and solid as a seller can expect.

richard2010 · 04-02-2011 08:29PM

City Boi wrote: »

I have a huge interest in this industry, but everyone i know have told me that everyone in the industry are crooks. But isn't neaarly every industry corrupt?

But it put me off considering a career in it.

COuld anyone give me some info?

If you have any experience or know about the industry and how to break into it that would be great help

Hi City Boi,

I am currently in the second year of this program: http://www.dit.ie/study/undergraduate/programmes/auctioneeringvaluationestateagencydt104/
and while jobs are scarce on the ground companies are hiring. While the current economic climate is not as stable as it was, there is still a market for well located and keenly priced property. Im currently working casually with a well-renowned firm of estate agents and last week we sale agreed a property in malahide which had been on the market less than week for slightly under the asking price. So the market is moving out there, slowly though!

Whoever told you everyone in the industry are crooks, is talking complete and utter bollocks!!! I will admit there are some crooks out there. For future refercence only go with agents who are IAVI accredited members as they do have to complete a course before they can get membership.

In order to ensure you like the industry go to local estate agent and ask them for some work experience, I must point out that this experience will be generally unpaid. By doing so you will be able to see first hand what the industry is like.

I have no idea what pay rates are at the moment so you would have to source that infromation out for yourself.

Hope that helps!

Richard

mrgardener · 04-02-2011 08:39PM

richard2010 wrote: »

Hi City Boi,

I am currently in the second year of this program: http://www.dit.ie/study/undergraduate/programmes/auctioneeringvaluationestateagencydt104/
and while jobs are scarce on the ground companies are hiring. While the current economic climate is not as stable as it was, there is still a market for well located and keenly priced property. Im currently working casually with a well-renowned firm of estate agents and last week we sale agreed a property in malahide which had been on the market less than week for slightly under the asking price. So the market is moving out there, slowly though!

Whoever told you everyone in the industry are crooks, is talking complete and utter bollocks!!! I will admit there are some crooks out there. For future refercence only go with agents who are IAVI accredited members as they do have to complete a course before they can get membership.

In order to ensure you like the industry go to local estate agent and ask them for some work experience, I must point out that this experience will be generally unpaid. By doing so you will be able to see first hand what the industry is like.

I have no idea what pay rates are at the moment so you would have to source that infromation out for yourself.

Hope that helps!

Richard

Whats to stop the "crooks" from doing this course?

Pablo Sanchez · 04-02-2011 08:52PM

mrgardener wrote: »

Whats to stop the "crooks" from doing this course?

Not a thing, yes there are plenty of crooks, but you will always be safe with the reputible and larger agencies.

City Boi · 05-02-2011 02:45AM

bubbaloo wrote: »

Oh God - have you been living under a rock for the past two years? There's a global recession - nobody can sell property! I don't think you'd have much of a chance of getting a job in that industry at the moment.
And I second what Tenchi-fan says about them being crooks! It's all about playing one off against the other so that they can get the highest amount of commission possible.

No I wasn't living under a rock, I was living on Mars, I had no idea that there was a global recession going on, you'd think they would have told us..... My question was merely about real estate in general, I wasn't saying I was just going to apply for a job as an estate agent tomorrow. Why can't anybody ask a question on here without people getting all snappy with their answers? If I'd wanted answers like 'there's a recession' then I wouldn't have asked the question at all. As i said it was a general question, no need to get all preachy about it. You learn things by asking and thankfully after reading some of the other answers, there are some people on here with no attitude

Voodoo_rasher · 18-05-2011 11:49AM

it could turn you into an unlikeable, miserable git ).

Delancey · 18-05-2011 09:27PM

An Esate Agents handshake is worth a whores kiss

gigino · 29-05-2011 10:56PM

mrgardener wrote: »

Whats to stop the "crooks" from doing this course?

most of the crooks have done that "course".

In my experience estate agents will lie through their teeth and be extremely unscruplous in order to get a sale. Over the past decade they + their iavi have done untold damage to the economy.

Pablo Sanchez · 29-05-2011 11:14PM

gigino wrote: »

most of the crooks have done that "course".

In my experience estate agents will lie through their teeth and be extremely unscruplous in order to get a sale. Over the past decade they + their iavi have done untold damage to the economy.

Estate agents are obliged by law to push for the best price possible on any property. Caveat Emptor applies here, its the buyers responsability to ensure that any details are as described and the price they paid is a fair one.

If you sell your house for 100k more than what you thought you would get then i dare say your opinion of their role in a sale would take on another complexion.

homeless student · 05-10-2012 11:36AM

what law subjects will help me in getting a job in property

Hi, I have an ord degree in real estate and an honours degree in business and just after starting a postgrad in law and am just wondering which law subjects i should do in order to help me gain employment in the real estate area, particulary in the field of property valuation.

i have to do core legal skills along with 5 other subjects which are
company law
property law
contract law
constitutional law
Eu law
criminal law
torts
equity
law and society

Brian2850 · 05-10-2012 12:41PM

OP, there are some fantastic opportunities in real estate and I wouldnt discount the industry based on the obvious problems with the sector. The fact of the matter is that "real estate" is one of the broadest sectors you could find yourself in and accounting firms, banks, law firms etc all have real estate teams. Irish people tend to hear Estate Agent when you say career in real estate. I have worked in the industry for almost 10 years and have never sold a house...

I know this might sound a bit obvious but I would have a good think about what section of real estate you want to end up in before making the decision about whether to pursue a career in it. Depending on your answer, I would consider whether its a better idea to do a primary degree in something else and a further qualification in real esate. The fact of the matter is that every sector in Ireland has some exporsure to real estate.....

If you do want to go into the estate agent sector, I wouldn't be rushing into that one because I can't see any growth in that industry here for quite a while...

whatnext · 05-10-2012 04:55PM

homeless student wrote: »

what law subjects will help me in getting a job in property

Hi, I have an ord degree in real estate and an honours degree in business and just after starting a postgrad in law and am just wondering which law subjects i should do in order to help me gain employment in the real estate area, particulary in the field of property valuation.

i have to do core legal skills along with 5 other subjects which are
company law
property law
contract law
constitutional law
Eu law
criminal law
torts
equity
law and society

your primary degree should give you access to talk to the education officer of the SCSI or IAVI. They are your best bet for good advice

simon94bob · 04-10-2017 06:31AM

hi..
Yes, it is a great choice of selected a real estate as your career.Real estate is a good business.In this business you will become an independent person only if you will get the best training for how to handle clients individually and if your training is not good then it could be difficult for you to start your career in real estate and however if your honest, dedicated, hardworking then you will enjoy increasing your network.

Stheno · 04-10-2017 12:05PM

Zombie thread - closed

Is a career in Real Estate a good choice?

Comments