Opening an Estate Agency: One Consultant’s Authorisation Certificate

Serkan’s nine years

Serkan worked nine years as a consultant in an estate agency. He knew which building went up in which year on which street, and had learned by experience what to look for at the land registry.

He had a portfolio, his phone rang, and his office trusted him. When he decided to open his own place the plan was plain: a small office in the same district, one desk, one young consultant beside him.

The decision to put up his own sign

He made it one winter morning. The real reason was not how commission was split at the office he worked under; it was the wish to build his own portfolio in his own name.

He began looking and found a suitable shop within a fortnight. He agreed the rent, shook hands with the owner and had the signage measured. At that point he held a lease and an opening date.

The day the certificate question came up

At the district municipality they asked for his description of activity. Serkan said he would act as an intermediary in the sale and letting of property.

The answer was short: that activity brought the real estate trading authorisation certificate, issued by the Ministry of Trade, into play. Serkan had done this work nine years but never thought of the certificate in his own name; the office he worked under held one, and he worked beneath it.

The distinction he had not expected

What he learned that day: working as a consultant in an office and owning that office do not stand in the same place on the paperwork side.

The authorisation certificate sought in the business’s name and the vocational qualification certificate (MYK) that may be sought from the person working ran as two separate lines. He had to learn clearly which was asked of him, and in what scope.

What Serkan did

Rather than bringing the opening forward, he changed the order. He held back the signage, put off the furniture and turned straight to the Ministry of Trade.

Describing his position, he asked which conditions were sought for the certificate, how the application was made and how his nine years would count. He asked for the answer in writing. Because the conditions and procedure are set and updated under the legislation, he wanted information current to his own period.

The three months spent on vocational qualification

The second line was vocational qualification. Serkan had the experience; on paper he had no certificate.

Learning the examination timetable, he fell between two sittings. The certificate process took three months in his file. That span is not a rule but the result of where Serkan crossed the calendar; in another period it could have been shorter. He opened at the end of those three months, because he had applied in the week he signed the lease.

Document table for an estate agency

The table shows the headings Serkan met in his own file, not a closed list. On the certificate side, ask the Ministry of Trade directly and in writing for the exact conditions and timings.

The record system inside the office

The order Serkan built came out of one observation: disagreement here usually arises from who said what, and when.

• Written authorisation from the owner for every property in the portfolio
• A record of every viewing with date and property
• The commission rate and moment of collection written plainly into the contract
• Statements on title and building details noted together with their source
• A list of which portfolios his consultants are authorised on

The fourth item came out of his first argument. A customer claimed the floor level he was told did not match the listing; from that day Serkan wrote the source beside the statement.

Three things he learned in the first six months

Once the doors opened, items he had not reckoned with surfaced. He knew the work; the business he was learning.

First, the habit of written authorisation

At his old office written authorisation was routine; in his own he gave it no time at first. After losing two portfolios he tightened the system.

Second, the paperwork side of hiring

The scope in which the young consultant would work, and which certificate would be sought from him, was a separate matter. He asked in writing in his second month.

Third, the weight of listing quality

His telephone traffic did not come from where he expected. The sign brought little; the photograph and description of the portfolio brought a great deal.

Looking back today

Serkan says delaying the opening three months was the right call. Putting the sign up before the paperwork was done would, he thinks, have caused a far bigger problem early on.

The one thing he regrets is ordering the furniture and signage early. He applied for the certificate in the same week as the lease, but the office was ready long before the paperwork. For three months he paid rent on an empty room.

Three notes for a consultant thinking of the same road

1. Apply for the certificate before you take premises. The certificate of the office you worked under does not pass to you
2. Plan the authorisation certificate and the vocational qualification as two separate lines; their calendars run differently
3. Tie the fitting-out to the paperwork calendar; rent on an empty office is the quietest cost of all

One sentence back to the reader

Knowing how to show a house is the easy part. Seeing in advance the calendar of becoming authorised in your own name is the hard part. Set the order the wrong way round and you wait for papers in a finished office.

There is no quoting one number for licence and signage items: each municipality runs its own tariff, reset at the start of the year. You can follow the order of the authorities in the business licence roadmap; what an office of this size costs to run month by month sits on our business services sector page. If you mean to shoot the portfolio photographs yourself, our photography and studio article follows on; so does our online service sales article if you take the service online.

In Short

• Here the real estate trading authorisation certificate sits atop the licence list
• The authority for that certificate is the Ministry of Trade
• The certificate of the office you worked under does not pass to you
• The business certificate and the personal qualification are two lines
• Conditions and procedure are set by legislation and updated
• Applying before you take premises shortens the calendar
• Written authorisation on a portfolio property is the basic record
• Writing down the source of a statement heads off disagreement
• A hired consultant’s certificate position is a separate heading
• Telephone traffic comes from presentation, not the sign
• Fitting-out has to follow the paperwork calendar

Quick Glossary

Real estate trading authorisation certificate: the document issued by the Ministry of Trade and sought in businesses intermediating the sale and letting of property. Authorisation agreement: the text by which an owner gives an office written authority to market a property. Portfolio: the whole of the properties an office may market. Responsible estate consultant: the person carrying professional responsibility for the office’s transactions.

Next Step

Let us set your paperwork calendar and opening order together: consultation request form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated: September 2026