Overseas work experience

Anita Sano from Ray White Surry Hills, who has just transitioned from a property management role into sales in inner Sydney, is a Londoner born and bred and first entered real estate at 21 years old in the city's south-west.

“Hearing about a friend's experience with a big agency, it sounded awesome so armed with my resume and charm, I visited the popular agencies along Clapham and Balham High Streets,” Anita said.

Anita had five interviews and received job offers from four, though she felt they were all quite male-dominated and a bit intimidating, particularly since she didn't know much about property.

“I picked the one that felt right and jumped in. Turns out, I loved it! My manager told me "just go out in the car and get lost,” she said.

“I loved meeting people from different walks of life, closing deals, looking at cool (and some not so cool) properties. But after two years of crazy hours and no weekends, I switched to property management, handling a portfolio of approximately 100 properties in south-west London.”

Anita said unlike in Australia at the time, open homes weren’t the norm. She instead chauffeured prospective buyers and tenants individually from property to property.

“It was an inefficient and potentially unsafe practice,” she said.

“Additionally, the organisational structure varied considerably, with property management and leasing sometimes handled separately by different agencies, including an external party handling the ingoing and outgoing condition reports.

“Regarding legislation and accreditation, while I'm uncertain of the current landscape, reflecting on the early 2000s reveals a notably lax entry into the real estate profession. At that time, having a driver's licence alone could secure a position within a real estate agency.”

Anita hadn’t planned on staying in Australia for as long as she did. She had been on a gap year living in New Zealand in 2013, came to Sydney for a long weekend and fell in love with the city.

Three months later she was back in Sydney and seeking out real estate opportunities!