Working as a Real Estate Agent
Industry Overview
The real estate industry offers a wide variety of jobs including sales, rental property management, strata management, appraisal, mortgage financing, and more. The real estate market directly affects employment in this career. When property sales go up or down, the number of jobs for real estate agents and salespersons follows that trend a few months later.
The BC Financial Services Authority cautions that you should carefully explore the industry before making your decision to undertake a career in real estate. Each year many individuals spend time, effort and money to enter the profession only to discover that they cannot complete the required licensing course and examination or after doing so, they are not suited to the work.
Job Outlook in BC
Chart from WorkBC
WorkBC provides job openings in BC regions from 2022-2032:
| Region | Employment in 2022 |
Average Annual Employment Growth |
Expected Number of Job Openings |
| Vancouver Island | 2,440 | 1.2% | 1,050 |
| Lower Mainland / Southwest | 12,170 | 0.3% | 3,070 |
| Thompson-Okanagan | 1,900 | 1.5% | 660 |
| Kootenay | 230 | 1.6% | 110 |
| Cariboo | 280 | 0.0% | 10 |
| Northeast | 100 | 0.0% | 0 |
| North Coast & Nechako | 60 | 1.6% | 0 |
You can learn more about working as a real estate agent in BC from:
Types of Employers
Most real estate agents are self-employed, though you may be associated with a real estate agency.
You can also specialize in a variety of areas and work for companies such as:
- rental property management
- strata management
- mortgage financing
- commercial leasing services
- land development
- research organizations
Salary & Working Hours
The median annual salary for real estate agents working in BC is $54,354 a year. Most real estate salespeople work on a commission basis. Some specialty sectors such as rental property management are salary based.
If working on commission you have little or no guarantee of income level. Your earnings can be affected by your sales ability, people skills and hard work, or by the market conditions, region, property type and the commission structure.
In BC regions, you can expect to earn:
Source: Job Bank, Wage Report
Working Hours
Some real estate agents work part-time; others work full-time. At the beginning of your career you may have to work 50 or 60 hours a week just to build a client base. More experienced agents may only work 40 hours per week, or decide to work on a part-time basis.
You must have a very flexible schedule. Most real estate agents work evenings and weekends since clients are often only available at those times. When negotiating deals you may have to work late into the night.
Source: Career Cruising database
Working Hours
Some real estate agents work part-time; others work full-time. At the beginning of your career you may have to work 50 or 60 hours a week just to build a client base. More experienced agents may only work 40 hours per week, or decide to work on a part-time basis.
You must have a very flexible schedule. Most real estate agents work evenings and weekends since clients are often only available at those times. When negotiating deals you may have to work late into the night.
Source: Career Cruising database