How To Become A Real Estate Agent or Property Agent in 2023?
If you are reading this now, I guess you are keen to become a property agent or real estate agent aka Real Estate Salesperson.
You should have heard that some property agents earn more than a million dollars a year. While that is true but there are also many people that did not make the grade.
Every property agent would know that sealing a deal is not an easy task. There is so much more to do than bringing potential clients to view the property. It requires tremendous time and effort devoted to prospecting, planning, researching, generating reports, analysing customers’ profile, coming up and executing marketing plans and many other nitty gritty tasks.
You will encounter setbacks along the way, but there are also countless perks that a property agent can enjoy such as having the freedom to chart your business and potentially earning 5 to 6-figure monthly commissions.
Read on if you are still keen to know how you can be a property agent. I will share with you the steps of getting the real estate salesperson licence and register with a real estate agency.
1. Real Estate Salesperson (RES) course
To be a real estate agent or property agent in Singapore, first you must meet the following CEA requirements
- Singaporean or Permanent Resident
- At least 21 years old
- Minimum have 4 GCE ‘O’ level passes or equivalent (WPLN)
- Must pass CEA fit and proper criteria
Then you need to attend the Real Estate Salesperson course before you register for the exams. This course usually cost around $750. You can use your SkillsFuture Credit of up to $500 and can also enjoy another $250 UTAP subsidy if you are an NTUC member,.
In this course, you will learn the principles of real estate marketing, financial calculations, rules and regulation of property agency work and practices, basics laws in the buying, selling and renting of various residential, industrial properties and commercial business spaces.
Below are some of the CEA approved course providers (in alphabetical order) that you can take your Real Estate Salesperson Course. Some of them have night classes or weekend classes for those who are have a regular full time job. And for those who want to do it as quickly as you can, you can attend the express day classes. To receive the Certificate of Completion for RES Course, you need to complete the RES course with a minimum 75% attendance record.
List of CEA approved RES course providers
Hastor (https://www.hastor.com.sg/)
190 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #02-514, Toa Payoh Central S310190
Institute of Estate Agents (www.iea.sg)
480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #07-01 HDB Hub East Wing S310480
Real Centre Network Pte Ltd (www.realcentrenetwork.com)
490 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #09-16 HDB Hub Biz 3 S310490
(They have branches in Jurong and Tampines too)
Singapore Estate Agents Association (www.seaa.org.sg)
60 Paya Lebar Square #13-23 Paya Lebar Road S409051
2. Real Estate Salesperson Exams
After you completed the RES course, you need to register for the RES Exams. There are two papers you need to take and pass. The costs for this exam is $417.30.
The exams are held three times a year during February, June and October. You will be notified of your results one month after the exam. You must pass the RES exams within two years from the date of the Certificate of Completion of RES Course.
If you failed one of the papers, you can retake that paper in the next exam. If you did not pass any remaining papers within the 2-year time frame, you will have to retake the RES course and sit for the full RES examination (both papers) again.
If you fail one or both papers, you can submit an appeal to review your exam paper within 5 working days from the date of the notification of examination results. This will cost you $64.20 for each exam paper.
3. Register with an real estate agency
After passing the exams, you have up to one year to register with a licensed real estate agency. You will be required to pay the CEA registration fee of $283.50, one year of professional Indemnity insurance of about $100-$120 and some miscellaneous fees of about $300 for ID tag, name cards, start-up course and admin fees.
There are some joining promotion from time to time where all or most of these fees will be absorbed by the agency. You can contact me to find out more.
You can also attend some of the agency recruitment talks to find out which property agency is more suitable for you. The size of the real estate agency is NOT the most important criteria but it should have at least a certain size (1000 agents and above) so you can have access to more marketing platforms and training programs. As of now, there are five agencies that meet this requirement and they are SRI, Huttons, OrangeTee, ERA and Propnex.
You also need to find a group within that property agency you choose to join. Look for a group that has a culture where their leaders selflessly share their expertise. It will be even better if the group is able to support you with a good marketing platform so you will have a higher chance of succeeding.
Another important thing to take note is finding a mentor to guide you. One of the biggest mistake is to join someone you are close with but not able to provide guidance to you.
At this point of your business, you need a committed mentor to coach you. A good coach can change your game. A good mentor can change your life. Take your time to talk to some of the leaders in the market and choose one that have a good proven record and is willing to groom you.
Within 4-6 weeks of submitting your application, you will receive a notification of CEA's approval. Congratulations, you are now ready to kick off your real estate agent career.
If you would like to look for a proven mentor to shorten your learning curve or attend our OrangeTee recruitment talk, you can Whatsapp me. Otherwise you can schedule a 45 min consultation with me too.
All the best to your new career and hope to see you soon!
** Please share this article if you find it useful or know someone who can benefit from it. Thank You.
To Your Success,
Gary Chua is the co-founder of Navis Living Group
—A 1300 agents-strong division with Huttons real estate agency, and the fastest growing group in this competitive industry. Gary is also a mentor to many real estate agents and team builders, for two decades and counting.
Before devoting his work full-time to grooming realtors, Gary was himself a distinguished real estate salesperson. He first stepped into the industry at age 30 in Year 2000 and having been Top 50 Achievers in his 5 years of sales, he understands the hurdles and challenges facing both new and experienced agents, and is thus equipped with a wealth of knowledge to aid and teach the property agents whom he takes under his wings.
In 2005, Gary realised that his true calling was to groom and coach the next generation of real estate agents. It was also the year that he consciously diverted almost all of his time and effort into recruitment activities, putting his personal sales aside and taking a hit in his bottom line.
Through sheer grit and determination, Gary's vision took hold as his team expanded, eventually growing to become the largest division in its agency, and also one of the largest in Singapore. It cultivated numerous top producers and achievers throughout the decade—some of whom have clocked in more than S$1,000,000 in commission in a single year, broken many sales records, won many local and international awards, and helped many real estate agents achieve outstanding results and realise their financial freedom.
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