What is real estate?

This article was written for EG’s Starting Out in Real Estate guide, click here to view the digital edition >> The real estate profession is important on every level in our society. Most of the country’s wealth is tied up in real estate for investment or occupation. It has an enormous impact, economically and physically. This means the real estate profession has huge reach. Real estate covers everything in the built environment. Asset classes Asset classes are the types of real estate that surveyors supply advice on. Surveyors can specialise by asset class or by real estate activity. For example, a surveyor may work in an industrial team and carry out acquisitions, disposals and property management. Bear in mind that most prime commercial real estate is owned as an investment by financial institutions such as pension funds, by companies that use real estate for production or manufacturing such as Rolls-Royce or smaller investors and occupiers. These are the companies and corporate entities that surveyors advise. What is a real estate company? A real estate company is a business that supplies real estate advice to clients. Its business is real estate expertise. They can be large multi-disciplinary global corporations like, for example, CBRE, or UK-focused medium-sized companies like Stiles Harold Williams. They may have a specialism, in addition to being multi-disciplinary, like Allsop (auctioneer). I have given examples in each sector (see box). The large companies like JLL, Savills, Knight Frank and CBRE have a wealth of useful real estate market sentiment reports on their websites. The large and medium real estate organisations offer a structured training scheme supporting candidates with an accredited real estate degree to chartered membership of RICS. Some companies take on non-cognate degrees and support a conversion. The large and medium-sized companies usually offer apprenticeships leading to MRICS. Some of the residential-focused businesses (eg esurv) focus on the AssocRICS qualification, which does not require a degree. Smaller companies offer bespoke training and development on a person-by-person basis. Real estate companies are not the only place to find a role as a graduate surveyor. Surveyors are also employed in property teams by non-real estate companies that do not outsource real estate expertise. Surveyors are often employed in a corporate context, like, for example, at Tesco, where they support the core business of retail with strategic real estate. Financial organisations that manage funds also employ surveyors for asset management, such as Barwood Capital and the real estate investment trusts like Landsec. Public sector The public sector can also be a good place to start a real estate career and offers positions nationwide in central and local government. For example, the Valuation Office Agency has a large graduate scheme, in addition to offering apprenticeships. Local authorities often have significant mixed portfolios and can offer diverse experience across a range of competencies. The level of support can vary; for example, the property team at Birmingham City Council has a fully-funded formal graduate scheme. Finding a job Large companies are the easiest to find because they usually attend university careers fairs and have well-publicised graduate schemes with big cohorts and high levels of success at RICS APC. They have positions nationwide but are concentrated in London. Medium-sized firms also offer a good level of support on smaller graduate schemes. These are also concentrated in London, with offices in other major real estate centres such as Manchester. These medium-sized firms are often characterised by a limited liability partnership (LLP) structure. Small firms should not be discounted as they often offer bespoke support for each candidate and can be located closer to home. Some recruitment agencies – for example, Macdonald & Company – specialise in real estate and know the job market intimately. Check out the websites of the businesses referenced in this article; they generally have recruitment pages. Do some research on the company website and follow it on LinkedIn to get a feel for the company values. Attend careers fairs at university and elsewhere to see who is actively recruiting and follow all the companies you are interested in on LinkedIn. Some companies, for example Allsop, hold events for potential recruits to get to know the company. These are publicised at universities and on the company website. Most companies are keen to widen the pool of potential talent and increase diversity and inclusion within the profession. What to expect An entry-level job in real estate is usually titled “assistant surveyor” or “graduate surveyor.” It takes a minimum of two years to become qualified on a graduate scheme. There is a progression in most organisations to surveyor, senior surveyor, associate, senior associate, and finally partner. Salaries start at around £30,000, plus potential bonus, for a graduate or assistant-level employee in real estate and progress rapidly on qualification with an associate salary of around £61,000, plus potential bonus. It is a great profession and I love it. The profession is a blend of people, property and pounds – and there is something for everyone. Kate Taylor FRICS is the author of Commercial Real Estate Revision Guide for RICS APC (a coaching manual). The 8th edition will publish in early 2024: www.apctaylormade.co.uk View more early career content at EG’s Evolve & Grow hub