Estate Agent discussion

Random Hero

Random Hero

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This weekend I spoke to someone telling me that becoming an estate agent was easy.

And apperantly they make a lot of money on their deals. about 7% of the sale. Which is insane because that means if you sell a house for R1,000,000 then you make R70,000.

Can anybody validate this?
 
It used to be easy (a simple test IIRC). My friend did this in uni just before they changed the requirements so he is a full fledged real estate agent but has never sold a house in his life.
 
Random Hero said:
This weekend I spoke to someone telling me that becoming an estate agent was easy.

And apperantly they make a lot of money on their deals. about 7% of the sale. Which is insane because that means if you sell a house for R1,000,000 then you make R70,000.

Can anybody validate this?
Click to expand...

Its not that easy anymore, and they don't make that kind of money...

The agency makes the 7%, they get maybe 30% of the commission figure if they're lucky.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Its not that easy anymore, and they don't make that kind of money...

The agency makes the 7%, they get maybe 30% of the commission figure if they're lucky.
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Then who takes the 93%?

and what is a IIRC?

I have a degree. id it possible for me to become one? I was told its not that hard work and its mostly flexible hours which would work great for me because i am currently busy with my honours. but I have no income which suck as I earned R15 000 last year.
 
If it was an easy way to make money then everyone would be doing it.

There is no such thing as easy money - unless you sell drugs.
 
Random Hero said:
Then who takes the 93%?

and what is a IIRC?

I have a degree. id it possible for me to become one? I was told its not that hard work and its mostly flexible hours which would work great for me because i am currently busy with my honours. but I have no income which suck as I earned R15 000 last year.
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The bank...

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly.

The agency gets 7% of the R 1 000 000. That = R 70 000. The agent gets 30% of the R 70 000. That = R21 000

These are top of the range figures.
 
gregmcc said:
If it was an easy way to make money then everyone would be doing it.

There is no such thing as easy money - unless you sell drugs.
Click to expand...

Thats also not that easy because you could get screwed by the cops or a rival dealer could cap you.. lol
 
MightyQuin said:
The bank...

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly.

The agency gets 7% of the R 1 000 000. That = R 70 000. The agent gets 30% of the R 70 000. That = R21 000

These are top of the range figures.
Click to expand...

I see? interesting.. The guy that sold my cousin his house in Silver lakes. he told me the guy was a bit of a goof and did not seem like the most proficient guy to buy a house from. and this oke went to Italy for two weeks. so yeah...

I don't know, I consider myself as an intelligent person. and I can learn how to do things quickly, such as the system of how things work in a company. Seems like something I could adapt to quickly.
 
It is hard work and requires good interpersonal skills. Also very dependent on the economic climate. I don't think it is an easy job at all.
 
Random Hero said:
I see? interesting.. The guy that sold my cousin his house in Silver lakes. he told me the guy was a bit of a goof and did not seem like the most proficient guy to buy a house from. and this oke went to Italy for two weeks. so yeah...

I don't know, I consider myself as an intelligent person. and I can learn how to do things quickly, such as the system of how things work in a company. Seems like something I could adapt to quickly.
Click to expand...

You have to spend your Sundays doing show houses (and not studying for your honours degree).
You have to make yourself available during the week to meet buyers and sellers.
There's a fair bit of pre and post sale admin to do.
And there is, I'd guess, a huge volume of time wasters from a buying and selling point of view.

Flexible doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of hours to put in.
 
Random Hero said:
I see? interesting.. The guy that sold my cousin his house in Silver lakes. he told me the guy was a bit of a goof and did not seem like the most proficient guy to buy a house from. and this oke went to Italy for two weeks. so yeah...

I don't know, I consider myself as an intelligent person. and I can learn how to do things quickly, such as the system of how things work in a company. Seems like something I could adapt to quickly.
Click to expand...

You have to get a job at a reputable agency....not easy as they prefer top sellers with lists of clients.
You will have no free time.
You must be an unashamed, bald faced liar.

If you are studying law, it should be a shoo-in on the last requirement......
 
Also, even if you get R70k from a R1M sale, it doesn't help if you sell one house a year.
Ie. It's not a R70k per month income, unless you sell a R1M house every single month. And I doubt that's an easy thing to do.
 
Last edited:
Was just about to say what Pienats said. Just because you might make R30k on a sale doesn't mean you'll get rich. Most of the time you're competing with other agents too and you might sell one house in 6 months. Or you might spend a whole weekend driving people around to look at available properties just to have them go buy the first property they see from another agent.

There's a lot of factors to consider.
 
Yes, young man, in life, love, career and toileting, nothing is "easy".
But this you will learn in time.
 
Being an estate agent is one thing I could never do , mainly because I have integrity, but also because its nothing more than a different breed of used car sales people. You basically have to be a good liar or at least very convincing.
 
The_MAC said:
Being an estate agent is one thing I could never do , mainly because I have integrity, but also because its nothing more than a different breed of used car sales people. You basically have to be a good liar or at least very convincing.
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Why a good liar? do they lie?
 
Private Property now offers you everything you need to sell your house privately from only R1300. I think more and more people will start doing this. I certainly can't afford to pay R70k fee if I sell my house. If you do some research there's really little need for estate agents.
 
loc said:
Private Property now offers you everything you need to sell your house privately from only R1300. I think more and more people will start doing this. I certainly can't afford to pay R70k fee if I sell my house. If you do some research there's really little need for estate agents.
Click to expand...

When I bought my first property I was totally oblivious to the whole process, with my second one I now know what is involved. The agent literally just negotiates between the sellers and buyers until an Offer to Purchase is signed, and might have to amend the contract as the deal unfolds. Thereafter they sit back, probe the lawyers when there is a delay, wait for bond approval or payment of money if a cash sale, and wait for the transfer to take place.

I sold a property recently privately to a family member, we both saved money by not involving an agent, the lawyers handled the Deed of Sale.
 
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