Tim Waring asks: would you really want to be an estate agent

Watches and cars immediately come to mind but for the large majority, a home is the most expensive asset they own.

Therefore, when it comes to selling their pride and joy, there is often an expectation that others will think the same. However, the practical reality can be somewhat different.

Witness potential buyers discussing when viewing which walls they would remove and the decorations they would change, all within earshot of owners who have lovingly spent significant time and money creating their dream home.

So, the first piece of advice to my student was acceptance that humans can be complicated characters which means estate agents do require large doses of empathy and patience, whatever one’s personal opinion might be.

The second piece of advice was to accept that no two sellers and no two buyers are the same and no two properties are the same though they may be the same house type on the same street.

As a result estate agency is an interesting profession where no two days are the same. It is also a very reactionary business where the legacy of Covid and Amazon seem to have made an increasing number of individuals quite selfish.

I just don’t get the potential buyers who call at 12 noon demanding a viewing at 3pm the same day, and who then complain when told it was not possible at such short notice.

The fact they had to sell to buy and did not have their existing house on the market was deemed irrelevant. Deep breathing is a useful estate agent’s attribute as well.

I mentioned empathy and patience earlier. Perhaps not surprisingly, the manner by which property is sold in England and Wales can seriously test both on a regular basis.

Whilst the fundamentals of the legal process have changed little in decades, one would have thought technology might have found ways to streamline the process and yet the actual procedure seems to take just as long and estate agents regularly have sellers questioning why, especially if they have already sold, are living temporarily with relatives and genuinely have cash sat in the bank.

The answer is simple. The process is a function of the weakest link and this is where agents nowadays have to spend so much time chasing, persuading and cajoling the various stakeholders involved.

When you multiple the number of individuals participating where there is a chain of say four properties, it is no mean feat.

I was beginning to wonder whether my student was regretting even asking the question, let alone pursuing estate agency as a career.

However, there does appear to be interest from someone who came across as patient, empathetic, thorough and determined. All the right credentials to be an estate agent.