Starting on the ground floor in property

IF you enjoy looking at flats for sale, can't resist estate agents' windows and have fun looking around stately homes, you may be a property junkie.

Getting a buzz out of bricks and mortar means a job as a property PA could be just the fix you need, involving an interesting cocktail of legal work, marketing and customer service. There is, of course, a difference between residential property, where clients are looking for homes, and commercial property, where office blocks are bought and sold, but the essential PA skills are similar.

Working for six months in Barbados was a great perk for Julia O'Keefe, PA to Jeremy Priestley, who is managing director of Hamptons's estates department, which deals with all aspects of residential properties: selling, letting and managing.

O'Keefe says: "I began five years ago as a float secretary with the company, moved up through different departments and was then invited to set up the office in Barbados."

O'Keefe, 36, works long hours, 8am to 6.30pm, and sometimes chooses to make the trip from her Ealing home to the office in Sloane Square on a Saturday to keep her files up to date.

Making frequent travel arrangements for her boss, dealing with email, managing the diary and preparing property reports are key to the job. "But I am always happy to help on reception over lunch," she adds.

The hard work is rewarded with a sociable office and a good salary. She earns between pounds 25,000 and pounds 30,000 with a twice-yearly bonus and says: "Most of the offices - there are 13 in Greater London and we have a chain of 53 in the UK - open a bottle of wine on a Friday afternoon. It could be champagne when they have pulled off a big deal. It's work hard and play hard."

Amanda Moore, PA to Charles Osborne, partner at Humbert's commercial section, entered the commercial property world as a temp. The section deals with only office-block and business accommodation, selling, letting and management.

"I had several temping jobs with Humbert's and they liked me, so I stayed," says Moore, 30. "That was three years ago."

She lives in north London and is at her office in Grosvenor Street well before her official starting time of 9am.

"I look after 10 large office blocks, some in Oxford Street," she says. "I have to be ready to respond quickly if, for example, a lift breaks down or the heating doesn't come on at a workplace.

"I have contacts with all our contractors and can get someone out to an office emergency within 15 minutes. It's an important part of my job."

Moore earns about pounds 24,000 and enjoys perks such as private health care, a seasonticket loan for travel and free training.

"In three years I have picked up most of the terminology for commercial property," she says.

"Working in the commercial field is different to residential; clients are buying or renting a property for business, so there is less of the emotional appeal.

They can be demanding, and rightly so."

Moore runs Osborne's diary and deals with corporate hospitality. "I am arranging the box and menus for a day out at Sandown now."

Augusta Boyt, 31, is PA to the managing director of Aylesford and Co, a small residential property firm with offices in Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Kensington.

Boyt's is the first voice people hear when they have complaints and she admits: "I do sometimes take my work worries home with me.

"It's important for me to be ultra polite and to take down all the details.

It can be stressful as sometimes people may be angry; buying and selling a home is such a worrying time."

THERE are good rewards for her, though, including a percentage of every property sold, and she earns more than pounds 25,000. "We are a small company, just 20 people, and good to work for. Everyone, secretaries and receptionists included, gets a share of each sale. It's a thank you as well as an incentive. Then there is free coffee, tea and Coke, and we usually have drinks at a wine bar on a Friday."

Boyt likes to visit properties in Chelsea and Knightsbridge if possible. "It is much easier to write a description of a place and to talk about it with clients if you have seen it," she says.

Her responsibilities include making appointments and briefing the photographers who take pictures for property catalogues and leaflets. She always has 20 or 30 property projects on the go.

"I also arrange property launches," she adds. "We may open a house that is fresh on the market for two hours and invite a lot of possible buyers and property colleagues.

"The last launch I did was a beautiful Georgian house in Earl's Court, with wonderful interior design. I sent out all the invitations and arranged wine and nibbles.

"I attend the launches myself and talk to guests, answering their questions about the property."

Her long-term career plan is to move up to being a negotiator. "You can start on the ground floor in property and move up. Being a PA is a good stepping stone.

"I was a PA in interior design before, which is useful background. I love this job, despite the stress."

Pitman Training can tailor its secretarial diploma for the property PA.

Call 0800 220454 for details.

Do you have what it takes to be a property PA?

It's not a job for the shy

Error-proof typing and grammar is a must

Good grooming and smart clothes are expected

Buying and selling property is a high-stress time and customer contact reflects this

Most London property offices work longer hours than other businesses, often 10-hour days

Knowledge of property is not vital because you pick up the terminology quickly

A flexible attitude is important

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.