Young People in the Property Industry 2: Young, in charge and dealing with Dragons

With over 2.2 million people forecasted to be working in the property industry by 2020 (ONS), and new businesses and branches popping up all over the country, today's young estate agents are presented with more opportunities than ever before.

In a five part series exclusive to Industry Views, EAT goes behind the scenes to investigate why an industry that struggles with its public image remains such an attractive career path for young people.

Last week we focused on the training opportunities available to young agents. The second part focuses on one of estate agency's young success stories.

You might be familiar with Tom Harrington, the 24 year old owner and founder of House Tree and We Sold recently appeared on BBC2's Dragons' Den. We met up with Tom to record a video interview which can be seen at the bottom of the article.

The young entrepreneur is looking to change the way estate agencies operate and wants to create innovative alternatives for people looking to sell or let a property. The inflexibility of some business models, Harrington says, is one of the main things holding young agents back.

It's hard for young agents to express what they think should be done in the industry. It's rare for senior management to give young people the chance to try something new, and to say, look, I think we should do it this way, this sounds like a better way of doing it.

On the subject of training, Harrington feels it's difficult to gauge if enough training is being offered. Many young agents are being trained by people who have been in the industry for decades, and they're teaching the way it's been done for many years.

The only way is the traditional way is an outdated mantra, according to Harrington. He practices what he preaches by employing two young, like-minded people to be part of the team that helps him keep on top of his various ventures. The trio are constantly looking at ways the estate agency industry can be changed, rather than merely sticking to the status quo or what the received wisdom has been in the past.

Thinking outside the box is what helped establish House Tree and We Sold in the first place. We had a bootstrap marketing budget at first, so we had to work out how to get customers on board with just a very small number of properties.

After graduating with a 1st in Business with Entrepreneurship from Kingston University, Harrington tried a few different ventures before focusing on property. Having seen the benefits of online estate agents first hand when he used one himself, he decided to launch We Sold; the first ever pay per view online estate agent, a concept that still remains 100% unique to the industry. From this came House Tree, working from the same infrastructure as We Sold, but offering a more conventional agency service.

Being so young, we were keen to find out if Tom had ever experienced any negative attitudes towards his age. Not a severe negative attitude to my age, he answers. I think people are often surprised when they hear I run my own online estate agents at 24 - but a lot of people appreciate that we're going into an industry and trying to change it for the better.

So he hasn't ever been looked down upon or dismissed because of his age You get criticism and scepticism in any industry. For someone to criticise a business just because its founder is youngis quite sad I think. But luckily it doesn't seem to happen too much.

Harrington also believes the commission-driven nature of estate agency is another major challenge facing young agents. Some young people are so focused on commission and what they can earn, he explains. The challenge is to attract people that aren't 100% devoted to what commission they're earning, to really bring innovation to the market.

Despite this, Harrington believes young estate agents do possess some advantages over their older colleagues. As well as being brought up in the technological age, he observes that the very nature of being a young agent is the perfect antidote to professional inertia. Just because it's worked up until now, doesn't necessarily mean you don't need to change something. Young people should be changing how things are done, looking at how other industries are evolving and bringing this to estate agency.

We can't let Harrington leave without asking him about his Dragons' Den appearance. Despite not getting the investment he craved, he found it a fun, exciting but nervous experience'. The most interesting aspect for him was all five Dragons agreeing that the industry has to and will change. For that to come from five very successful business people is very important, Harrington enthuses. Online estate agents will continue to take market share from high street agents, there's no doubt about that.

Harrington agrees that there will always be a market for high street agents, but argues that it will be the pioneering, well-branded ones that will thrive. Over the next two years he predicts there will be a significant sea change for estate agency as we know it.

Whether this prediction is proved correct remains to be seen, but one thing's for certain, Tom Harrington has shown that young people in the property industry can go a long way on their own.