Kishan Patel, 19, is one of the youngest real estate agents in the country. PHOTO/ELI HILL
ELI HILL
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At an age when many teenagers are leaving home, Kishan Patel has already sold his first house.
Patel, 19, of Property Brokers Masterton, became a licensed real estate agent in November last year.
In the three months since, he’s sold one house in Lansdowne and has 10 listings on the go.
The former Rathkeale College student had been studying commerce at Massey University in Wellington – but after three months, he decided it wasn’t for him.
“It was a hard decision because I wanted to come out with a degree, but when I went there it just wasn’t for me really.”
“My parents have a background in real estate – they have a portfolio – so I was quite into that already.”
Patel wanted a job that had a mixture of office and outdoors work and said real estate was perfect for it.
After a few months completing his real estate agent papers, Patel joined the team at Property Brokers Masterton.
“It was challenging at first as real estate isn’t the easiest thing, but the more hours you put in, the more you get out really.”
At the moment, he’s in the office at 7am and usually leaves between 6.30pm and 7pm at night.
“My main goal for this year is to do the best I can and make as much as I can for the year because the first year can be pretty hard.
“The goal for next year will be to sell at least 15 houses if not more.”
Patel also planned to study accounting papers at some point to save money by doing his own books.
His advice for young people looking to get into the real estate business was to prepare for a challenge.
“It’s not the easiest thing, you might not make anything – or might not get a listing to sell in your first year.
“I was lucky enough here; the whole team has been helping me so there’s a lot of support.”
