The real estate industry is impervious to the labor shortage that is felt throughout the economy. Both school enrollment and the number of practicing brokers are on the rise. What attracts all these beautiful people?
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
master of his destiny
“I’m super happy in my new job,” exclaims Sonia Lafrance, RE/MAX du Cartier real estate broker. I feel that I am making a difference in people’s lives. That was my goal. I take the time to do things right. »
Mme Lafrance entered the industry in November 2020, in the midst of a pandemic. She came from the education sector where she was a remedial teacher and educational consultant for 25 years. It had become difficult for him to do his job well following the cuts to student support measures.
At age 50, she chose a career change and returned to full-time studies for six intensive months at CEI College. Why become a real estate broker?
“It’s a job similar to what I did in education, where I did a lot of support with families, school principals and teachers. Even if the result is not the same in the end, [le courtage immobilier] remains a tight accompaniment. We build a relationship of trust with our customers. That’s what I had been doing for the last 25 years of my life. I thought it was a logical continuation for a second career. »
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Sonia Lafrance, RE/MAX du Cartier real estate broker
The rookie says he is very satisfied with his first year. She says she took advantage of her personal network developed during her previous career. It can be more difficult for younger people entering the profession, she believes. She has obtained three listings of properties for sale in addition to carrying out buyer representation mandates. “I am happy with my choice. I was there in my life. »
In the unpleasant aspects of the profession, she was surprised by the omnipresence of one-upmanship – “I didn’t know anything else”, she specifies. These higher bids bring their share of disappointments, especially for buyers.
I spend many hours working with my clients. You don’t have a traditional schedule when you’re a broker. We can sometimes work 80 hours a week. It will depend on the time of year.
Sonia Lafrance, real estate broker at RE/MAX du Cartier
Humble beginnings
Becoming a real estate broker is like starting a business, insists Patrice St-Amour, director of communications and marketing at the Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers of Quebec (APCIQ). “The first three years, a broker will have very few transactions and income. When brokers come out of school, they have to set aside $30,000 a year in a contingency fund to get through it,” he advises. This amount is used to cover fixed costs: professional membership fees, brand fees, rent and advertising.
The council does not discourage newcomers. The sector is absolutely not suffering from the shortage of personnel that prevails everywhere else.
There is always this attraction towards the profession of broker, recognizes Mr. St-Amour, of the APCIQ. “Real estate is a sector that is talked about everywhere and is getting a lot of attention and interest,” he says.
The boom in the number and value of transactions since 2019 is also turning heads.
Since 2019, the number of transactions carried out with the assistance of brokers has increased by 10% per year, reaching 108,000 transactions in 2021, according to the Desjardins economic team. Boosted by rising values, business volume jumped 56% in two years, reaching $47.5 billion in Quebec.
Based on the weighted average price of $444,000 per housing unit, a 5% commission split between the buyer’s broker and the seller’s broker brings in more than $11,000 per broker.
The APCIQ has had an average of 16,300 brokers over the past six years. Seven out of ten practice in the Montreal region. The turnover rate is 3% per year. Brokers have an annual gross income before expenses of $80,000 to $100,000 on average, according to St-Amour.
Educational institutions are overflowing
“We had more than 1,500 students in 2021, 60% more than before COVID-19,” says Sonia Béliveau, director general of the Collège de l’immobilier du Québec, a private educational institution owned by the APCIQ.
“Our fastest growing segment is the 25 to 34 age group,” she points out. These people, with COVID-19, found themselves with a surplus of money from the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit, or even saw their field, such as tourism, operate in slow motion with the pandemic. They chose to take the leap.
In the private sector, the 400-hour training delivered in five or six months full-time costs nearly $5,000. Some public CEGEPs, such as Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, offer an attestation of college studies in real estate brokerage in seven months at very little cost.
Number of brokerage license holders (residential and commercial) active in Québec
As of December 31, 2021: 15,830
2020: 14,772
2019: 14,662
Source: Quebec Real Estate Brokerage Self-Regulatory Organization
Mortgage brokerage attracts recruits
Formally only around ten years old, the mortgage brokerage profession came out of the shadows during the pandemic. The express training, the low barriers to entry, the prospect of running your own business and the possibility of earning a good income have convinced many candidates looking for new challenges.
As a young mother, Laura Delarosbil, a medical representative in orthopedics for 15 years, wanted increased flexibility in her work schedule. “I had the big salary and the big car paid. But I had come far enough in my life,” she said in an interview. She became a mortgage broker in May 2021.
For those who don’t know, a mortgage broker works to find the best mortgage loan for his client by submitting his file to several lenders. Among these are several virtual institutions, but also TD, Scotia, National and Desjardins. The service is free of charge for the consumer. Its activities have been under the supervision of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) since 1er May 2020.
Laura is far from the only one who has recently been attracted to the profession, if we are to believe the words of Sylvain Mantha, general manager of M3, parent company of Multi-Prêts Hypothèques, a leader in Quebec. “In 2019, we welcomed 74 newcomers to the profession. This number increased to 126 in 2020 and then to 161 in 2021,” he says. Historically, Multi-Prêts has recruited from competitors or from the mortgage representatives of financial institutions.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Laura Delarosbil, Mortgage Broker at Multi-Prêts Hypothèques Distinction Team
In Laura’s case, it was an encounter with a mortgage broker while she was buying a house that made her want to become self-employed. “It looked really cool, what he was doing. I was super interested in mortgages because my spouse and I have buildings. I wanted to know more. I asked him what the course was. I took distance learning at CEI College during my maternity leave,” she told The Press.
Training
The training consists of two courses: mortgage brokerage law and mortgage credit management. Lasting up to 15 weeks each, the two courses cost a total of around $4,000 at this private college. You must then pass the examination of the regulatory body, which has been the AMF since 1er May 2020. Added after a 12-week internship of 28 hours per week supervised by a broker with a minimum of 2 years of experience.
Becoming a mortgage broker is like starting a business. My first year was like the others, it was quite difficult. But I’m in an amazing team that gives me so much support, including an in-house coach.
Laura Delarosbil, Mortgage Broker at Multi-Prêts Hypothèques Distinction Team
His colleague on the Distinction team, former professional hockey player Jean-François Jacques, traded in his stick and skates for a laptop three years ago. “The profession brought together everything I wanted to do in life: help customers, talk with them, find solutions for their needs. I’ve always been a fan of math and numbers,” explains the man who played 166 games for the Edmonton Oilers before playing in Europe.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Jean-François Jacques, former professional hockey player now mortgage real estate broker
His new career looks promising. A three-season veteran, the 36-year-old broker facilitated 89 mortgages in 2021, up 37% year-on-year. And to think that Mr. Jacques had not even known the bad luck of the second year.
An average annual gross income of $100,000
Mr. Jacques and Laura Delarosbil are among the 2,000 mortgage brokerage license holders listed by the AMF. Of the number, 330 have been added since 1er May 2020.
President of the Association of Mortgage Brokers of Quebec, Sylvain Poirier estimates the number of active brokers at 1,400 and points out that the market share of brokers continues to increase. He recalls that the title of mortgage broker did not exist before 2009.
Just how much does an active broker earn? At M3, owner of the Multi-Prêts and Mortgage Intelligence brands in Quebec – bringing together 540 brokers in total in 2022 – a broker concludes 35 mortgage loan contracts on average per year for an annual volume of $10 million. The commission is usually equivalent to 1% of the loan amount. The average value of mortgage loans was $285,000 in Quebec in 2021, which amounts to a gross income of approximately $100,000 per broker. Then the owner has to pay the expenses: brand fees, credit bureau fees, advertising, office fees and, sometimes, an administrative assistant.
At the virtual mortgage broker Nesto, brokers are employees and not self-employed as elsewhere. They earn a base salary of approximately $50,000 plus performance bonuses. “We expect 75% of our brokers to make at least $100,000 in 2022,” says Malik Yacoubi, co-founder and CEO. It is preparing to hire 100 brokers by May, including 40 in Quebec.