Name: Nathan King
Title: Senior property consultant, City & Counties Commercial
What I do: I sell commercial and development sites, ranging from pubs, offices and churches to industrial units, nurseries, land and development opportunities – everything apart from flats and houses.
Why I got into property: I always had an interest in property, but I didn’t want a career in it. It was going to be a side hustle. I wanted to be a professional footballer and played for several professional clubs up to the age of 18. At that age I started pursuing a plan B and took a part-time job in property – in property management. That part-time job became a full-time career.
How I got into it: I had a mentor, who was advising me on my career. At the time, I was a football coach and worked for a professional club. I also had a property-related job where I was managing a school after school hours. I wanted to quit those jobs to go full-time into property, so I applied for several jobs. Only one of them responded and that was in property management.
My first proper job: Managing HMOs for an individual who was in the rent-to-rent sector, which is an entry way of getting into property.
The biggest challenge I’ve encountered to date: When I started in commercial and development, the first year was extremely hard. There is a lot to learn. You never know everything. Working for a small company, we had to pursue a lot of business at the start. It wasn’t coming to us. The market wasn’t great either. I took a pay cut and spent a whole year learning and not getting much reward financially for it. I could see light at the end of the tunnel, though, and I trusted my director who supported and mentored me through the process.
My greatest achievement to date: I did a significant number of deals in one year, including several large transactions within a very short period of time. It marked a turning point in my career.
My biggest screw-up to date: I don’t know if I’ve made a big mistake. I’ve made a lot of small mistakes, but nothing big as far as I can recall. Any mistake I’ve made, I’ve fixed it. Most of the time, it is not my screw-up, it is someone else’s and cleaning up issues is just part of the job.
The biggest misconception about the property industry: One misconception is that you need lots of money to get into property and that you have to buy property to make money from it. Another is that you have to go to university to study real estate to know what you’re doing. Neither of those are true. I did A-levels and went to Brunel University, but I didn’t study real estate – I studied business. I definitely didn’t have lots of money. I was living on next to nothing. All my food came from my grandma. I had tuna and pasta every day whilst at university! But there are definitely opportunities within property regardless of your background, financial stratus or experience.
My biggest bugbear about the industry: The lack of diversity in terms of the professionals in the industry. I’m not referring to owners. I’m talking about the surveyors, specifically in my sector of commercial and development.
The one big thing I would like to see change in the industry: I’d like to see more diversity in my sector. People from diverse backgrounds do not know about this sector. They need to find out about the opportunities earlier, not at university when it is too late – they need to find out at school or college age. The majority of people who are in the sector from a diverse background, has been shown the opportunities by someone. It’s all about insight, exposure and opportunity.
Why I’m so passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion: I grew up in Croydon and it wasn’t easy. There were quite a lot of gangs. People are just in survival mode. They are not given the same opportunities. They have to fight for them. There is a big difference between fighting for opportunities and being given them. I’m passionate about DE&I because that’s where I’m coming from myself.
My top priorities right now: Our company is going through a rebrand. I’m heavily involved in helping with that and supporting new agents. I am also setting up my own programme to provide more opportunities to people from diverse backgrounds within my industry.
Where I’d like to be in five years’ time in my career: I don’t know about five years, but I just did my two-year plan, which is to build a diversity and inclusion programme that helps a significant number of people get jobs and provides them with opportunities within our sector. Within my company, I would like to be playing a significant role in its progress as well as banking significant numbers and continuing to be the top earner.
What I do in my downtime: I spend time with my wife, I still play football for fun and I go to church.
The job I’d be doing if I was not doing this: I’d be in a different type of sales role or pursuing a business idea.
My advice to someone just starting out: Be willing to approach people within various sectors and be prepared to work for free, just to learn. Put yourself out there and try different opportunities because they are there. I worked for free and put myself out there to find my path. Opportunities don’t just fall on your lap.
My motto/mantra: I’ve got two. One is “if it’s not happening, make it happen”. The other is “because everyone’s going down that path, it doesn’t mean that you have to as well”.
