Own estate agency is just the job for Grace
MANY young people struggle to choose what career path to take once they leave school, but Grace Gilbert knew exactly what she wanted to do after spotting a ‘gap in the market’.
The 20-year-old from Bramhall, Stockport has been interested in property ever since she was young, and so, after finishing school, she started an apprenticeship in a local estate agents.
But after working in the high street shop for nearly two years, Grace decided she could ‘do better’. Despite having no savings, the passionate property entrepreneur quit her job and instead set out to open her own estate agency.
Grace set up her agency, Grace Estates, in 2022 at just 18 and officially opened its doors in July last year aged 20 – making her one of the youngest people to run an estate agency in the UK.
The savvy businesswoman has seen big success since launching her firm, having sold her first property within just three days of it being on the market.
Grace said: “I’ve always had an interest in property since I was really young. I love looking inside different homes and I also love meeting new people. In 2022, when I was 18, I was working for an estate agency but I just thought ‘I can do better than this’.
“Estate agents often have a reputation of being quite rude and having a lack of communication – and so I thought having more of a personal, one-toone approach would allow me to give better customer service.
“I also wasn’t impressed with how they did their marketing. A lot of them used their phones to take photos but with technology nowadays you can do really good quality video tours and even use drones to get different shots.”
After coming up with the idea to set up her own agency, Grace told her parents her plan. “I just went home after work one day and told my mum and dad what I wanted to do,” she said. “They were a bit confused at first because I had quite a good job, but my dad is self-employed as an accountant so he understood why I’d want to set something up on my own. They were both really supportive.”
Grace set up her agency as a limited company at 18 and, initially, wasn’t going to launch until she was 25. But she soon became eager to get started. “I wanted to get involved sooner rather than later. I didn’t really have a plan at first I just kind of winged it,” she said. “I started off doing property management for landlords and then I started doing sales towards the end of last year.”
And she’s had great success since, with the first property she took on in Wythenshawe selling within just three days.
Grace said: “The first house I sold I took over from another estate agents and it sold within three days and over the asking price as well. A few weeks ago I valued a home at £200,000 and the other estate agent had valued it at £140,000. In the end I sold it within five days over the asking price, which was 45 percent higher than what they wanted to market it at.”
The 20-yearold has been using social media as a way to attract new clients. “I’ve been using social media to get my name out there which has helped a lot. I haven’t got a shop on the high street so that’s how I’m attracting people through social media advertising,” she said.
“So far I’ve had all positive responses from clients. Everyone seems to love the idea of a more bespoke agency because they’ve dealt with agents in the area and they’ve just not really got on with them. The estate agents in the village nearby haven’t had a nice reaction to it I would say – it’s a very competitive industry.”
Grace said that it has been hard starting up a business on her own at a young age, but she is grateful to have had help and advice from her dad. “It’s definitely different as I’ve been used to working in an office environment around other people so it can be quite lonely, but I go to quite a lot of networking events which helps as I can meet new people in the industry, as well as meeting clients day-to-day” she said.
The young business owner added: “My dad has given me a lot of tips on working for myself and with him being an accountant, he knows business quite well so it’s been very, very helpful having him on my side. I don’t think I could do it without him.
“I’m very glad I’ve started this company as I’ve learnt lots of new things along the way. I’ve learnt more now than I think I ever would have done working for another estate agency.” As well as covering Warrington, Cheshire and Greater Manchester, Grace has plans to sell some houses internationally this year in Cyprus, and she is also in the midst of selling some holiday homes in Wales. “I started the discussion of selling overseas properties before Christmas, but I’m going out this month to have a look at all the developments and do the marketing for it,” she said.
“It’s good experience dealing with international markets and properties over there are all fantastic so it’s a great opportunity to showcase my work and what I can do with photography.”
Grace is currently still living with her parents, but hopes to get on the property ladder ‘as soon as possible’. “I’m hoping to buy my own home in the near future, probably next year I’ll start looking to buy my own place. I can’t wait, and hopefully all of my new experience in the industry will help,” she said.