Aussie who makes $300k a year reveals how you could too with a three-day course - but the job is a lot harder than what many think
Ethan Forbes, who is based in Baringa on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, was stopped while on the beach and asked how much he makes in his role.
He said he 'accidentally fell' into real estate, joking that it was for the 'wrong reasons'.
'I had a mate who was in it. He had the watch, the car, and I was like, I just want to be like that,' he said.
Mr Forbes, who works for LJ Hooker's branch in Caloundra, said he took home $130,000 in his first year as an agent.
'[I earned] $291,000 in GIC [Gross Commission Income] so probably took home $130,000, but that was working six to seven days a week, 12-hour days, with no holidays,' he said.
'Literally, right now, I'm on my holidays for the first time in two years.'
He also described the 'pretty easy' training he opted for to get into the real estate industry.
'It's a six-month course or a three-day course, depending on which one you go with,' he said, adding the short one was in person while the months-long one was online.
When asked why someone would choose the longer course, Mr Forbes told the interviewer that it was cheaper.
'So the three days (is) like three grand, the other one's like $500.'
During the interview, Mr Forbes said the hardest thing about being a real estate agent is 'emotions with your clients', adding that he is an 'emotional sponge'.
'You got to take everything on and also talking to people that don't want to talk to you,' he siad.
'It's prospecting. 80 per cent of it is like we're glorified telemarketers.'
Mr Forbes said the most expensive property he sold was $1.302 million which would suggest his commission might have been within the range of $26,040 and $52,080.
The average earnings for real estate agents in Australia vary depending on experience, location, and commission structures.
According to SEEK, real estate agents typically earn between $75,000 and $95,000 per year.
The bulk of this income comes from commissions which usually range from 2 per cent to 4 per cent of the property's sale price, as noted by RealEstate.com.au.
Because of this commission-based structure, only top-performing agents are likely to earn over $100,000 annually.
In Queensland, the minimum requirement to begin working in real estate is obtaining a Real Estate Registration Certificate.
Once certified, an individual is allowed to work as a real estate agent, but only under the supervision of a fully licensed agent.
Rules on how long someone must train to become a licensed agent vary depending on which territory or state someone is in.
But it is generally understood that, before applying for a licence, someone must complete an approved real estate course and have at least 12 months of full-time work experience.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Get early retirees off the golf course and back to work – why early retirement isn't good for UK plc
Early retirement is a wealthy indulgence that needs to be discouraged. As a minimum, ministers should strip away any inducement offered by the tax system for people who want to retire in their 50s. Every western country needs their more mature workers to keep going, if not full time, then part time. And if not paid work, then unpaid voluntary work that acknowledges the luck that flows from being a 21st-century baby boomer in good health. Communities, regions and countries cannot afford for older people to pack up and head for the golf course, or worse, book a permanent cruise and spend their cash in international waters. Last week, the government convened a pensions commission to consider a narrow question: how to boost the incomes of lower-paid workers in retirement. It is understandable that the government is worried about the increasing numbers of low-income workers who will soon spend a long retirement struggling to make ends meet. This is a genuine concern and a subject worthy of a commission. Yet there is a need to address a far wider question, which is how society will thrive when the age pyramid is inverted, with only a smattering of young people holding up a mountain of retirees. Retirement has its origins in the Industrial Revolution and the need to prevent older people from ending their years in abject poverty, not to fulfil a bucket list of expensive desires. The commission should ask why anyone in the 21st century should think they can put their feet up seven days a week when they are fit and well, and able to participate in economic life. Yet a prosperous retirement is the aim of so many – and not only when they are approaching their 60s. If you look at the strike record of full-time university lecturers you would think they obsess about their pensions every day. Council staff spend precious hours scrolling through WhatsApp groups discussing the most mundane changes to their retirement plans with a degree of attentiveness that, to give them credit, is in line with the generosity of their benefits. Company boardrooms are no different. Executives will set aside huge amounts of time to manage their complex and stunningly generous pensions. Having a financial consultant ready and available on the phone to talk about their retirement plans has become a must-have demand in the corporate world. Maybe its the lure of sailing on the Adriatic or cruising the Caribbean that captivates so many, or less positively, the frustration and anxiety from working near, with or for incompetent or venal managers in a succession of modestly paid jobs. Still, whatever the reason, too many people want to cash out of the economy, trading their pension and property gains for a long period of rest, with only the stress of remembering what day it is to bump their heart rate. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Some economists have argued that this moment – when boomers are no longer participating in the workplace – will trigger a profound shift in the economy. Those workers still in the labour market will bid up their wages, pushing up prices and making high inflation a permanent feature. Governments will find it harder to borrow money, in part because pension funds, after decades of growth, will have a declining need to buy their bonds. There are also extra bills to pay. In its latest report on the UK, the International Monetary Fund says the effects of population ageing on health and pension costs will account for a further 8% of GDP by 2050 compared with an extra 5.5% of GDP, on average, in other advanced European economies. These are important issues connected with the nation's finances. So, too, are the ways better-off baby boomers insulate themselves. First, they take most of the pension money and invest it abroad where the gains are much higher, either because their workforces are young, dynamic and more productive or because the companies are American and enjoy monopolistic strangleholds in their respective markets. Investing abroad gives the boomer a ring-fenced income no matter how clapped out the economy they call home. The second track is to import young workers from abroad, boosting the labour supply as boomers make their exit. Financial insulation is understandable when government finances are under strain. Yet one of the reasons the wheels are coming off the modern liberal state is because baby boomers, who by sheer force of numbers and their better education spurred the postwar recovery, are causing the downturn by bailing out. Worse, they are cashing out, too. Without a debate about what it means to be old and the responsibilities that come with receiving a pension, the government's commission will be left to merely tinker. We are only a few years away from the baby boomer generation all reaching retirement age. Everyone born in the years up to 1964 will be eligible to collect the state pension in 2031. It's a turning point that everyone should be preparing for, especially when all the Pimm's-drinking early retirees are added to the list. The commission's remit should be wider.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Report: Home values drop by millions in Greater Toronto Area
Home values have dropped by millions of dollars over the last three years in the Greater Toronto Area, a new analysis found. Ten neighborhoods saw the median sale price of a single-family home fall by 40 percent or more since 2022, according to new research by Wahi, a Canadian real estate listing website and app. Houses in Canada reached their peak values in April 2022, after two years of historically low supply and rock-bottom interest rates spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Prices for single-family homes have held up better than condos, but Wahi's latest analysis shows how much market trends can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood,' Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen said in a statement. Four neighborhoods in Brampton, the third largest Toronto suburb, were in the top ten in terms of largest percentage drops in value. They included Huttonville (-53 percent), Vales of Humber (-50 percent), Northwood (-44 percent), and Westgate (-40 percent). These areas are among the hardest hit, but the downward trajectory is widespread, with 289 of the 344 neighborhoods that Wahi analyzed having lower prices this year than in April 2022. Windfields, an upper-middle class area northeast of downtown Toronto, had the biggest home price decline as a raw number. The median sale price of a Windfields home declined by $3.1 million since 2022, when a property cost a whopping $6.3 million. Windfields saw a $1 million bigger drop than Wanless Park, the next biggest loser at a $2.2 million decrease over the same period. Some experts view these price cuts as the market coming back down to earth from an artificial pandemic-era boost caused by quantitative easing. Between 2020 and March 2022, home values across the nation surged by about 65 percent. This didn't last because the Bank of Canada, like the US Federal Reserve and most other central banks around the world, raised interest rates to stifle inflation. Higher interest rates make it harder for home buyers to obtain favorable mortgage terms, while also incentivizing home owners to stay in their current residence. Although Canada has been gradually lowering rates since June of last year, the market is not expected to experience same historic levels of price growth as it did in the pandemic, according to a report from the Bank of Montreal . In March 2025, Bank of Montreal Senior Economist Robert Kavcic said that even though resale prices have found a floor in many markets, it will take years before homes return to their 2022 peak values. Assuming there is a stable economy, steady wage growth and neutral interest rates, the investment bank predicts the market will return to 2022 highs in 2029. A recent report from TD , the second largest consumer bank in Canada, offered a rosier outlook on the housing market going into 2026. 'There's been a cloud of uncertainty that has contributed to the negative buying sentiment that's weighed on the housing market,' TD Economist Rishi Sondhi said. 'TD Economics thinks some of that uncertainty should wane in the back half of this year and dissipate even further into 2026.' Sondhi acknowledged that condos in Toronto have declined and said they will likely continue to do so through to the end of the year. The bank forecasts that condo prices will have dropped by 15 to 20 percent since 2023. The ebb in prices doesn't have to be a bad thing, Sondhi added, saying it could be a signal for a resurgence just around the corner. 'Affordability in the GTA condo space has improved because we have seen declining prices since the third quarter of 2023,' he said.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
House price drop imminent across America
Buyers are walking away from home purchases in record numbers, causing complete chaos in the US housing market . In June, over 57,000 home sales across the country were abruptly canceled , equaling a staggering 14.9 percent of homes that went under contract, according to a report from Redfin. That number is an uptick from 13.9 percent of sales which collapsed this time last year. It's also the highest June figure ever recorded since Redfin began tracking cancellations in 2017, and the Sun Belt has become ground zero for cancelled deals. It's all down to the buyers, who currently hold the power in the real estate market. With a surplus of sellers flooding the market and far fewer buyers, Americans looking to buy now have the upper hand, and it seems they're taking full advantage of it. The soaring cost of homes, home repair and near-record mortgage payments are also giving Americans cold feet. Some buyers simply balk when they see the reality of their future monthly bills. 'I've also heard of some buyers backing out because they're hoping home prices or mortgage rates are going to plummet soon, even though that's unlikely,' Zschirnt said. There are also budding homebuyers rattled by bigger picture issues like economic uncertainty, tariffs, stubborn inflation and fears of a looming recession. Meanwhile, sellers are scrambling to keep deals alive. 'Sellers are willing to make deals because in today's buyer's market, they don't want to lose out on a sale once they have a buyer under contract,' said Van Welborn, a Redfin Premier agent in Phoenix. 'A few years ago, when the market was more competitive, sellers were able to tell buyers to move on rather than pay for repairs found during the inspection period. 'Now, sellers are doing whatever they can to close the deal. I have one buyer who discovered a septic issue on an ultra-luxury home and was able to talk the seller into reducing the price by $1 million.' The majority of cancelled deals are found in the Sun Belt. Redfin links the spike to heavy new construction in those regions - meaning even more choices for buyers - as well as skyrocketing insurance costs driven by natural disasters. At the other end of the spectrum, Nassau County, New York, saw just 5.4 percent of deals fall through, making it the lowest in the country. That was followed by Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with 6.8 percent of cancellations and Milwaukee with 8.2 percent. Despite those areas remaining strong, cancellations are rising nearly everywhere else across the US. Only seven metro areas saw a drop compared to last year, but the changes were minimal. Fort Lauderdale had the biggest decline, with 16.5 percent of deals canceled down from 17.7 percent, followed by Denver with 16.2 percent down from 17.2 percent.
