Young People in the Property Industry 3: The diary of a young estate agent

With over 2.2 million people forecasted to be working in the property industry by 2020 (ONS), and new businesses and branches popping up all over the country, today's young estate agents are presented with more opportunities than ever before.

In a six part series exclusive to Industry Views, EAT goes behind the scenes to investigate why an industry that struggles with its public image remains such an attractive career path for young people.

With GCSE and A-level results published this month, many school leavers across the country will be considering entering the world of estate agency to kick-start a career in the property industry.

In a job where it is common to advise couples in their 30s and 40s on one of the most important decisions of their lives, being taken seriously can be very challenging for young estate agents.

Meet Chris Collins. At the age of 18, after a post-school trip travelling around the globe, he decided to become an estate agent. He turned down five offers to study Law at university, instead jumping at the chance of some unpaid work experience at a local estate agency in Norwich.

Chris's next step, while still 18, was to join the team at TW Gaze - an established two-office agency in Norfolk - as a Trainee Valuer. For two years Chris learnt on the job, taking photos, doing floor plans and providing content for brochures. Working for TW Gaze through his late teens, Chris encountered various hurdles and obstacles with fellow colleagues, property professionals and clients, which brought him great frustration.

He has very kindly given EAT access to three diary entries detailing some of these highs, lows and in-betweens while learning to be an estate agent on the job.

Entry 1: Being young is a fault that diminishes daily'

During my training, I would attend valuations with senior residential figure at TW Gaze, Rowena Youngson. While on these valuations, I would have to convince potential clients that I was capable to comment on the value of their home. This is probably the greatest challenge young people should prepare themselves to face when working in the industry. I've often thought that no matter what I say to a client, I will always be hindered by the fact I look 15! I would consider redecorating this room, Mrs Smith or I would possibly think about de-cluttering before you come to market, Mr Jones are examples of advice I would give on a daily basis to clients. This was often met with a dismissive look and hushed tones. However, if Rowena echoed the same points; Oh that's an excellent idea, Rowena, I would never have thought of that, would be the client's usual reply. Rowena and I used to discuss this problem at great length and she would tell me to have self-belief and not to worry. I had to have enough confidence in myself in order to give the clients a reason not to consider my age as an issue. Failing that, Rowena's main advice was to grow a beard to make myself look older - believe me, I tried!

Entry 2: Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter'

After a while I started to conduct valuations and market take on's by myself. On a few instances it led to a phone call from the client to residential director, Mike Sarson, asking why he had sent a kid' round to advise them how best to present their house! Old head on young shoulders or If I didn't trust him I wouldn't have sent him out would be Mike's normal replies. The client's comments would really affect me and knocked my confidence considerably. I have only recently learnt to ignore these comments about my age, it used to really annoy me but Mike showed great faith in me and I will always be grateful for that. These days, it's just a case of taking the criticism on the chin and getting on with the job in hand. I would give the same advice to any young person experiencing similar problems. Oh, and to look the part. A good quality shirt goes a long way!

Entry 3: Technology does not drive change - it enables change'

As TW Gaze's youngest ever employee, my upbringing in a technological world has been an invaluable tool to the agency as a whole. Helping the team out with technological tasks is an important role for young agents and can make them a great asset for their business. Whether it be something as simple as helping a colleague sort out their email inbox or something more inventive like suggesting the implementation of an iPad app, I feel I took on this role effectively. During visits, all the valuers had iPads that had a few brochures of previous sales loaded onto them. I suggested it was time for a new idea to keep up with the times. I helped develop an iPad app which linked up to our archive system and provided a live link to all of our previous sales and current market listings in order to give the client a better idea on where their home stood in value. I would like to think this benefitted the agency on many levels when out on a valuation.

Now 21, Chris is currently taking some time out of the estate agency industry to take a RICS-affiliated BA(Hons) degree in Property Development at the University of Portsmouth. After overcoming many of the obstacles mentioned above, Chris still felt that the addition of a few letters to his name would really benefit his professional reputation among clients.

Next year, he will re-enter the world of estate agency with hands-on experience and a professional qualification. For Chris, a fusion of older and younger colleagues really does create the most dynamic and effective sales team. He believes support from older members of staff and the trust and backing of an established brand can make all the difference in becoming a success.

*Chris would be happy to help any young agents currently experiencing similar problems to those he faced. He can be contacted on: chris.collins08@gmail.com.