Fresh out of school, into real estate game

Juggling school while studying to become a real estate agent isn’t exactly high on every 18-year-old’s priority list.

However, Blake Habib from New Plymouth had dreamed of selling luxury homes since he was just 15 years old.

‘‘Nobody should be interested in real estate at 15, but I was for some reason,’’ he said. ’’I used to watch that show Million Dollar Listing and dream of doing that.’’

Now his love of the industry has evolved into something quite different. The smartly-dressed articulate young man said he now valued the people he met and the thrill of the commission-only industry.

While Habib still can’t sign sales and purchase agreements for another six months due to Real Estate Institute of New Zealand regulations, he’s already onto his second sale in just four weeks.

Although he qualified at the start of July, Habib had been doing work experience with TSB realtor Kim Fever for the last 12 months, all while still at school, and now the two have formed an unlikely partnership.

Habib began a gateway programme at Francis Douglas Memorial College where he met Fever and she began teaching him the ins and outs of the industry.

From there he studied for his real estate salesperson’s licence and eventually landed a job at TSB four weeks ago where he and Fever partnered up.

Habib said he always thought the real estate industry was a bit scary with the stress of living from commission to commission.

‘‘But I didn’t want to have a job where I was inside all day, I wanted to be people,’’ he said.

‘‘And the chase of the contract is a factor I can’t stay away from.’’

Fever said the pair were ’’very much equals’’.

‘‘The 30-year age gap is more of an asset.

She said despite Habib’s age, hiring him wasn’t a risk.

‘‘When he came in on the first day, he had his head buried in a property magazine.’’ out talking to