Thursday, 17.05.2007
Monopoly for Grown-ups
When I recently asked a friend what he thought of estate agents, his retort was: "Put it this way, they make accountants look like Rock Stars!" By that, I felt he meant that a career in this profession was not exactly fraught with excitement and by the average Joe Soap's standards; auctioneers were hardly revered, rather, in most cases reviled. But, as with quite a number of seemingly tedious professions, the reality is usually far removed from the generally held perception.
For one thing, estate agency training can be particularly intense and can go all the way up to degree level and secondly, although rather morbidly, they are like undertakers in that we will all use their services at some stage in our lives and we rely on them to help us through the difficult transition from one property to the next. It is widely established that moving house in all its manifestations is probably one the most traumatic experiences we will encounter and the much lampooned estate agent is right in the middle of this process, so mock not!
If you have ever harbored a desire to become an estate agent, you may have kept it to yourself, maybe moved onto something else or else jettisoned the idea altogether. Well, maybe now it's about time to rekindle those hopes and dreams once more and get into a field that produces professionals who will always find work as our need to buy and sell property grows ever more intense as the Celtic Tiger prowls on.
It seems inconceivable to me that a layperson would joke about someone who could be pivotal in the biggest transaction of his life. There is, of course, another side to the estate agent that is as attributable as eggs are to bacon - and that is ruthlessness. Because most auctioneers are on commission, they are more likely to wangle the deal to their best advantage, so an ability to handle the sale well yet still retain your cut and not feel guilty would obviously help.
If the idiosyncrasies of estate agency don't daunt you, then you'll be pleased to hear that the academic side is straightforward. By that I mean that as long as you have at least five passes in the Leaving Certificate - which must include Mathematics and English or Irish -there's one major centre of study; DIT. You can start with a Certificate in Auctioneering, Valuation and Estate Agency and if you go on, you can do the Diploma and then go the whole hog and do the Degree (two, three and four years respectively).
The courses provide an education in the financial, legal, planning and construction aspects of property in the context of the investment markets in general and they provide students with a thorough understanding of the economic functioning of property. Eventually, as an auctioneer and/or estate agent, you will be involved in the sales, lettings, management and valuation of property. Generally, you will work either in partnerships or practice on your own.
So for those interested in playing monopoly, there is finally a way to continue it into your adult life. If you do not pass "go" you do not collect £200!
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