Moving on up
Does becoming a realtor increase your chances of marrying well? Andre Cooray takes a look
A growing number of young women are choosing to become realtors, attracted not by love of the job or the high commission but by the opportunity to meet wealthy husbands. At least that’s what a property developer in the mainland told Bloomberg recently. The developer also said that buyers themselves were hunting for more than a just a home, and that successful partnerships had been made as evidenced to him by the high rate of beautiful female agents leaving the profession soon after joining.
It’s an interesting theory but is there any truth in it? “Actually, there are no figures on why people join the profession. It is something personal that we would not ask or have evidence of. Each individual will have their own reasons for becoming a real-estate agent,” says Denys Kwan, president of the Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents Ltd, in response to the mainland developer’s statement.
Kwan says that successful real-estate agents are outgoing, knowledgeable about property and financial markets, sensitive to clients’ needs and extremely hardworking. He also says that greed is a good driving factor because you have to love making money. In other words, putting in the hard work pays off, as the potential to earn a lot of money is high.
“Individuals have their own choice in pursuing career aspirations, so it’s hard to say why an individual likes to work as a property agent. Nevertheless, this profession requires individuals with strong entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge about the macro and micro economy, capability to achieve goals and an excellent analytical mind to identify clients’ needs, as well as good knowledge of different industries,” says Lancy Chui, general manager of Hong Kong and Macau operations at recruitment agency, Manpower Services (HK) Ltd.
According to Chui, opportunities in professions such as the real-estate industry exist despite the current global financial turmoil. She believes that if job seekers have the required skills and key traits to drive business then they will do well in sales. Basically, she says, it’s no one’s business why individuals join a specific profession as long as they have the ability and motivation to achieve and create a career path.
“Women in Hong Kong mostly have higher academic qualifications compared to men and they often achieve greater career success than men. Due to the unbalanced ratio of males to females, one can understand that it’s hard for women to find their Prince Charming. I respect those women who make an effort to meet professional men,” says Dennis Ho, events organiser at dating agency, Justmatch Hong Kong.
Ho is not surprised by the mainland developer’s comments but believes that there are better ways of meeting potential husbands than becoming a realtor. He says that signing up with a professional dating agency or attending special dating events will increase these women’s chances of meeting men from a variety of professions.
On 8 October 2003, the Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, the heir to one of the world’s oldest monarchies, married Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, a middle-class girl from Tasmania, Australia, who worked at an up-market real-estate agency in Sydney. However, there’s little chance of this modern-day fairytale reoccurring anytime soon. At the end of the day, if pretty female real-estate agents have joined the profession to search for wealthy husbands, it’s their prerogative – and you never know, they may end up earning lots of commission, enjoying what they do and signing up with a dating agency to boot.
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