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A Real Estate Business straw poll has revealed almost one in five real estate agents wish they were working in a different career.
The poll asked the question: Is life as a real estate agent what you thought it would be when you started out?
Around 19 per cent of respondents divulged they wished they were working in a different career to real estate, and 43 per cent claimed being an agent was what they expected in some ways, but not in others.
Only 26.5 per cent of the poll respondents stated their career as a real estate agent had fulfilled all their expectations.
Real Estate Business contacted industry thought leaders to discuss the poll findings and garner their opinion on how it reflects on the real estate industry.
Prominent real estate trainer and coach Tom Panos said people who are not involved in the real estate industry believe it is all about showing beautiful houses, meeting great people and driving nice cars.
“When in fact, six months into the job you begin to realise the houses and people are not as beautiful as you thought before you got into the job,” he said.
“The main job is that you don’t tell people what they want to hear, you actually tell them what they need to hear, and that for many people is a challenge. Most people are people pleasers, when in fact in real estate, what you need is a problem solver.
“I think one of the reasons one in five agents wish they were in a different career is that they struggle with the concept of delayed gratification, which is you do something now but you won’t get rewarded for it now,” he added.
Harcourts Victoria chief executive Sadhana Smiles said the poll results were “interesting and concerning” that nearly 20 per cent of agents wish they were going down another career path.
“People don’t leave businesses, they leave managers. There is a lot of research to support this,” she said.
“Perhaps this 20 per cent are not being managed - the performance of an individual is directly linked to how they are managed.
“It would be interesting to drill down into how the career of agents has not met expectations,” she added.
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