A young real estate agent is pulling in $300,000 in his second year — and he only needed a three-day course to begin.
Ethan Forbes, who is based in Baringa on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, was stopped while on the beach and asked how much he makes in his role.
He said he ‘accidentally fell’ into real estate, joking that it was for the ‘wrong reasons’.
‘I had a mate who was in it. He had the watch, the car, and I was like, I just want to be like that,’ he said.
Mr Forbes, who works for LJ Hooker’s branch in Caloundra, said he took home $130,000 in his first year as an agent.
‘[I earned] $291,000 in GIC [Gross Commission Income] so probably took home $130,000, but that was working six to seven days a week, 12-hour days, with no holidays,’ he said.
‘Literally, right now, I’m on my holidays for the first time in two years.’
He also described the ‘pretty easy’ training he opted for to get into the real estate industry.
‘It’s a six-month course or a three-day course, depending on which one you go with,’ he said, adding the short one was in person while the months-long one was online.
When asked why someone would choose the longer course, Mr Forbes told the interviewer that it was cheaper.
‘So the three days (is) like three grand, the other one’s like $500.’
During the interview, Mr Forbes said the hardest thing about being a real estate agent is ’emotions with your clients’, adding that he is an ’emotional sponge’.
‘You got to take everything on and also talking to people that don’t want to talk to you,’ he siad.
‘It’s prospecting. 80 per cent of it is like we’re glorified telemarketers.’
Mr Forbes said the most expensive property he sold was $1.302 million which would suggest his commission might have been within the range of $26,040 and $52,080.
The average earnings for real estate agents in vary depending on experience, location, and commission structures.
According to SEEK, real estate agents typically earn between $75,000 and $95,000 per year.
The bulk of this income comes from commissions which usually range from 2 per cent to 4 per cent of the property’s sale price, as noted by RealEstate.com.au.
Because of this commission-based structure, only top-performing agents are likely to earn over $100,000 annually.
In Queensland, the minimum requirement to begin working in real estate is obtaining a Real Estate Registration Certificate.
Once certified, an individual is allowed to work as a real estate agent, but only under the supervision of a fully licensed agent.
Rules on how long someone must train to become a licensed agent vary depending on which territory or state someone is in.
But it is generally understood that, before applying for a licence, someone must complete an approved real estate course and have at least 12 months of full-time work experience.