Working at a real estate agency

Starting a new job can be a daunting experience.

New people, new processes – it can be overwhelming.

Recently, I joined Ray White Byron Bay as a “marketing guy” (or the “new toy” as David puts it) in charge of advertising, social media and marketing in general. For the previous decade, I’d been a telecommunications engineer but had about 9 years of digital, online and social media, media and graphic art experience from working on my own side projects.

I’ve no experience in the real estate industry, beyond having a grandfather steeped in Victorian Real Estate industry experience. (Suffice to say, he was pretty chuffed when he found out I’d got a job in the industry.)

Ordinarily one might be a trifle nervous about starting a new job; new processes, systems, people, but I felt pretty comfortable with what was in store for me and was actually pretty excited.

After spending a decade working in large companies, I’m pretty over the red tape, pettiness and politics of ladder climbing, so I was pretty excited about working at Ray White Byron.

Here’s what I found in my first two weeks working at Ray White Byron Bay.

Agents are hard working!

Man, real estate agents sure are hard working. They’re just like everyone else, trying to make a living. However, they’re trying to do it in one of the toughest ways possible – selling. I am pretty sure “selling” would be the hardest way to make a living, so I don’t envy the agents.

My grandfather asked me when I’d sit for my license. “Never”, I retorted. He chuckled and remarked “Oh, yes, I’ve heard that before”.

Agencies are interesting

I recently bought my first house and always saw agents as a necessary “evil” so it’s great to get a countervailing point of view by looking from the inside out and seeing how things are on the other side.

In addition to having a sales department, we have a rather large holidays department which is pretty interesting as well. I’ve always been a share market type of person (possibly explaining why I never bought that dirt cheap Bayside unit in Hampton, Victoria, before the property bubble) but the past month has really opened my eyes to the possibility of bricks and mortar (particularly as an investment), especially in a holiday place like Byron.

Working in a place like this really gives you an insight into the possibilities of property.

Colleagues

Honestly, everyone in the office is awesome – I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a better bunch of people. Everyone is super nice and there is a lot of camaraderie and good-natured fun-poking.

I don’t know if it’s because we all work in Byron Bay, or because real estate agencies attract outgoing, gregarious personalities!

Anyway, if I was ever buying or selling a house, I’d want my colleagues to be handling the process; not because I work here, but because I’ve seen how hard they work.