Estate agents market and sell property for clients. Agents negotiate between buyers and sellers, and use their knowledge of the local property market to get the best price for the seller or client.

Their work usually includes:

• 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
• negotiating a price that is acceptable to the buyer and the seller
• arranging conveyancing
• managing rented properties and collecting rent.

Most high street estate agents deal mainly with residential sales. Some agents are also involved in selling business and commercial property, lettings and property management, auctions and selling land.

Hours and Environment

As an estate agent you will usually work around 40 hours a week, normally between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Some agencies also open later in the evening or on Sundays. Part-time work may be available.

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

Skills and Interests

To be an estate agent you need:

• 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.

A driving licence is useful and sometimes essential.

Entry

You do not usually need any particular qualifications to become an estate agent. Most employers are more interested in your skills and experience than formal qualifications. 

You should have good 'people skills', sales skills and be computer literate. You will find it useful to have previous experience of customer service and sales.

Some estate agents are qualified building surveyors - see the Surveyor profiles for more information.

You may be able to get into this job through a property services apprenticeship scheme. Funding for apprenticeships is available for 16-24 year olds and some over-25s. To find out more, visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk. For information about apprenticeships in other parts of the UK, see Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Training

You will usually start as a trainee sales negotiator and learn on the job from experienced agents.

As a trainee, you may be able to work towards approved qualifications from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), such as NVQ Levels 2 and 3 in Sale of Residential Property.

The NAEA also offers separate Level 3 Technical Awards in:

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

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

With experience, you can progress to NAEA Level 5 Diploma courses in:

• Residential Estate Agency
• Residential Letting and Management
• Commercial Property Agency.

You can study for the NAEA qualifications by distance learning, or part-time at some local colleges. See the NAEA website (in Further Information below) for more details.

The NAEA also offers a range of short courses for both new and experienced estate agents.

Opportunities

You could work as an estate agent all over the UK. Prospects are currently good, although demand for estate agents depends 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 The Estate Agent, Estate Agency News and The Negotiator.

You could be promoted from sales negotiator to senior negotiator and management jobs. The larger chains of estate agents may offer more opportunities for promotion. With experience, you could become self-employed as a partner in a firm, or set up your own agency.

You could also choose to take further training to qualify as a home inspector, domestic energy assessor or surveyor. For more information, see the relevant job profiles or visit the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) website (see Further Information for contact details).

Annual Income

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Trainee estate agents can start on around £12,000 to £15,000 a year basic salary.
Experienced estate agents can earn £20,000 to £30,000 a year basic.

Estate agents usually earn a basic salary, plus extra commission based on a percentage of the sales they make for the agency.

Further information

Surveyor Court
Westwood Way
Coventry
CV4 8JE
Tel: 0870 333 1600 2 The Courtyard
48 New North Road
Exeter
Devon
EX4 4EP
Helpline: 08000 567160 Arbon House
21 Jury Street
Warwick
CV34 4EH
Tel: 01926 496800