is it crazy to give up a 100k P.A salary to become a property agent?
 

i'm currently holding a government-related job, earning 100k p.a all in. is it crazy to want to switch to selling property? are there any stats on median annual commission rates?

How can I gain access to selling landed property or do all agents need to start from selling smaller HDB flats?

I have a wealth of experience in sales, digital marketing, photography, videography and thought it'd be a good fit for the industry.

comments welcome!

Yes, it is crazy. You need to take work issues more lightly.

Go for an extended stay in a poor country or explore further studies if u need a break.

Change your mind and perception, all the best!

If you wish to join the property industry, find a mentor first. dont go head in without understanding the mechanics of running your "own business". Basically selling property is like doing your own business. You need to invest in marketing, advertising and also spend lots of time doing networking.

Maybe if you have friends already in the industry, ask them if you can tag along during their regular viewings so that you can see how they work.

Alternatively, go and enrol for the CEA course first.....attend the course and take the exam. During the course, you will be expose to the various rules and regulation as well as the procedure in selling as well as to have an opportunity to mingle with like-minded people.

If you are purely planning to go in for the money, my advise is not to start as full time....get the license and start part time to see if you like it.....BUT check your current job contract if they allow you to have a part time job........

DELA Long
 

yes you are crazy...

Life is short, why not? I see the flashy cars and penthouse condo unit that my property agent friend posted on facebook makes me want to give up my job and give that a try as well.

Please don't be insane. The property market is not as amazing as you think it is.

Lots of people take 50% to 70% payout to do what they like.

If you enjoy helping people to find their houses of their choice, then property agent is good.

Propety agents need to Work on weekends and nights. But what is work when you enjoy it.

The median pay is 50k per year. But as long as you like the job why not?

As a bonus, If you are the top 1percent, then you can easily exceed by current pay by twenty times.

Go for it if you like the nature of job, but do not expect a salary increase for first 3years. Expect depletion of your savings initially. This line needs hard work and luck.

20% of the agents make 80% of the deals.

what makes u think u can be in the top 20%?
do u have the network? do u have backdoor to the higher end market?

if no to both questions, jus stick to ur decent paying and stable job

Government and relevant agency should look into reducing the maximum allowed percentage for housing transaction to spur volume. Automation of the industry should also be studied widely by the government since the agent would not be able to digest numbers and provide insights as well as algorithm driven program. Most of the agent i met are just regurgitating or amplifying the effect of news article or announcement, not much substance involved to be honest in helping potential buyer to analyse their purchase.

Yes, you are crazy. 100k pa is a very good salary alrdy if u ask me. Of course there will be others earning much more but unless you are Jeff Bezos there will be someone else much richer than you.

Like someone else said median salary is 50k. Which is lower than ur current 100k. Yes agent have potential to make few hundred k to a million a year but that is like winning 4d. Media only potrays the top 1% earners.

Don't be silly. A property agent is a saleman. And like most other jobs in retail, well on the path of being made obsolete by changing times. If you are earning 100K as a civil servant or in a GLC, you are probably already mid-career. It's very risky to be starting from scratch again. In fact, the only way to earn a steady invome is to be a "mentor" and have lots of disciples, then you can take a cut from all the deals your disciple make.

If the job you are holding is not harming your health, just stay on.

Being experienced in skills does not necessarily mean you will be well fitted in the property industry.

Many factors come into play. Word of mouth, trust and commitment come a long way.

I bought a house from an agent not because of his knowledge. In fact he has no big photography or videography skills. He is just a simple down to earth person serving his clients.

Hi. I found this thread when doing my research. I am an active agent in one of the Largest Real Estate Company. I have been in this line for the past 6 years and I have seen a lot of agents joining this business and left without earning much commission. The hard truth is that top 20% are earning the 80% market share. I believe many people will be asking you not worth to try it because they don't see themselves belong to that top 20%.
In order to become the top 20%, You mustn't see yourself as salesperson and we are running it as a business. I would say I learnt a lot through this career and I still enjoy it everyday.

Regards
Alex
.AlexAgent.com

That sounds like a very good income. Not knowing how old you are but if you're young still, it's a great pity to leave an iron rice bowl and good pay isn't it?

some of my friends who joined the industry failed cos it's really very self-initiative driven. some do well and enjoy the trade cos they love meeting people. So it's all up to your own personality also..

i considered as well before but no guts to switch to no basic salary jobs.. bills to pay, mouths to feed.

You want to change jobs because you want to change job, or because you want to earn more?

If it's solely for the money, not worth it because of the uncertainty. Like others said, the property market is not as pretty as it looks. What you see on social media is only the manicured, "good part" of it. They don't show you the downsides.

But if you think your govt job sucks and you want to venture into sales for the sake of venturing into sales, for a change of environment, because you want to try something new, and with the non-guaranteed possibility of earning more, then go for it.

Let me try and provide some objective advice.

If you are still young, without a family to care for, and have a burning passion to succeed, then go for it. Don't waste your life away in civil service.

If you are mid career and married, please spare a thought for your family. Do you think you have what it takes to quit and succeed in the property business? What if it doesn't work out? Is your wife working or do you have enough savings to provide for your family for a few years? If not, just stick to your current job.

Monthly advertising is around $8000. Cars is important to drive clients from property to property. Clothing must present an air of success. Constant competition from veterans and newbies as entry level is so low. Just the monthly upkeep of this business is intense. Breaking into the circle of the rich is also extremely difficult, which leaves you with the upper middle-class clients. After all the networking, you will most likely earn one commission from them and that is it.

My classmate has to do 3 jobs to survive this industry. He is still trying to build up his network. Grab driving to cover the car, tuition to cover expenses, and property agent with the hopes of making it big. It is not an easy line.

Ya correct. The advertising is insane. Google ads, property gurus, fb, . + traditional flyers.

Very tough work. Those that succeed earns big bucks though

Luck plays a part too. Some clients are time waster. Some just buy on first viewing

First of all you need to ensure you can survive, feed yourself and your family, and pay your bills.
These are necessities. Don't mix your wants with the needs. We work to minimally meet our needs. The wants should come from extra remaining after deduct the portion for savings.

If the needs are manageable financially, then you are free to choose whatever career you want. Most importantly, don't regret your decision. That is, should you switch, don't regret it even if it fail. Should you choose to stay on, don't regret later in life that you did not make the switch. In short, make the decision that you will not regret (while ensuring you can meet your needs).

not worth the downgrade in status bro.. property agent no prestige no respect no status.. even if got cash is through breaking relationships and family ties. worth meh... 100k can promote and climb, do further studies. property agent no fixed income and worse is you need to deal with ah beng ah lian smokers, not a work environment. plus all the directors and managers all high one, think they damn good damn satki but go out to the real world all cannot perform... only can talk.

If ts don’t like your current job, I suggest target to work for 5 to 6 more years first and invest to build up a steady stream of passive income. If you want more money, can always do sideline jobs on weekends like grab or tuition to boost income. Continue to save aggressively and invest. You can decide if you want to resign in years time when you have built up solid passive income. After that you can look for a lower stress job with lower pay.

Ya i think its kind of like start-ups - a survivorship bias scenario where you hear only of the successful onesand not those who failed after spending alot of money or effort..
Then the few who make it are glamorised repeatedly until everyone thinks its is so easy. Do only if you are so passionate to enter to learn or willing to grind it out..

5-6 years to invest to build up steady stream of passive income?

Passive income building requires hard work. Don't sell him a false hope of 5-6 years :P

The only way to get passive income is to get is super high paying bank job for 5-10years.
Then resist the urge to buy conti cars. And spend v little
Then quit ur job to do full time investing with the 1.5mill capital u have.

What you just describe is not passive income??

Why not? At least better than be insurance agents who go around begging people ... at least house agents are approached by eager buyers or sellers? Create more value to society?

Go for it. I know of property agent that earns two to three million per year.
If u sell a 80million gcb and get a 3% that is 2.4million, worth 24 years of your work

Maybe top 1% only get this

If I were you, I won't do it. Because selling real estate is a hell of a problem. Did you try to do it on your own? I had a house in Coventry, UK. And I didn't succeed. I didn't sell it on my own. I don't know why. People came to me, saw my house and never came back. Then one of my friends has found this https://www.thepropertybuyingcompany.co.uk company, I contacted them, and they made a miracle - they finally found a man which sold my house. I guess selling property is a sort of vocation. Don't risk your job if you don't have talent for this.

Talk is easy. Investing carries risk. You could very well lose your capital. Forget about the gains.

Not top 1%. Top 1% means 300 agents making 2 to 3 million which sounds too many.

Maybe top 0.1% or less.

If you're a fresh grad earning 100k pa, then you have a lot of upside potential. However, if you've already been working for over 3 years and still drawing 100k pa and then the corporate world might not be for you. You might want to go for real estate for better paying potential, I've seen a lot of successful real estate agents earning good money and buying rolexes with their weekend paycheck on instagram.

govt sector not even possible to earn 100k per annum in the first three years lol

I already exceeded that in my 2nd year at a statboard

Ok bro. Cringe 😬

Lol up to you if you choose to stick your head in the ground

im not the guy u replying to, but think about it, u commenting on an anon forum, while also disclosing no useful information at all

if you would like to be helpful, u could start by sharing ur TC and which statboard for starters

otherwise u are literally flexing to anon ppl on an anon forum while saying nth lol

Govtech, Dsta, Dso engineers easily hit that amount in 2 years

Nope, i have friends working there but they are no where hitting that amount. May i know which sector of engineers are you talking about? Software engineers? Cyber Security Engineers?

I’m not the original poster, but quite a lot of public engineers earning that in second year.

In the second year, your salary is around $6k.

Total package for the year:
Standard Work - 12 mths
PB - 2 mths (for avg performer)
AWS - 1 mth
Mid/end year bonus - 1.5 mths

Total already around $100k