‘Stand there and take it’: Young property officer reveals shocking abuse she has to deal with

A young Aussie early on in her real estate career has been left in disbelief after a brutal encounter with a woman during a recent rental inspection.

A young property manager has revealed her disbelief at the way some Australians treat people who work in real estate.

Maeve Ryan has only been in the industry for a year, but she has already had her fair share of rude encounters.

The 22-year-old is a property officer in Sydney at Richardson & Wrench Mosman/Neutral Bay and has been sharing her career journey online, including the not-so-glamorous side of working in real estate.

In a recent TikTok video, Ms Ryan spoke about an encounter she had while out completing rental inspections.

“I cannot believe some people can be so rude to others. This just happened to me,” she said, explaining that she can sometimes have up to 12 inspections in a day, with very little time in-between.

One of these inspections had gone 10 minutes over because she had stayed back to answer questions for some of the potential new renters.

As she was getting in her car to drive to the next inspection, a woman “screamed out” asking if she was there to show a particular rental property.

Ms Ryan informed her that she was but the inspection had finished 10 minutes prior, but informed her that there would be another in a few days and she could take down her contact information to text her the details.

The 22-year-old said this set the woman off, with the potential renter yelling profanities and claiming real estate agents don’t “care about anyone else”.

“She just kept yelling and yelling and yelling at me and abusing me from across the street. I literally just had to stand there and take it,” Ms Ryan said.

“Moral of the story, be nice to everyone and be on time for your inspections. If you are mean to your property manager, you are probably not going to get the property.”

This is far from the only confronting encounter the young property officer has had, telling news.com.au that she used to work as a pub manager and she has experienced “ten times more rude encounters in this job than I ever did behind the bar”.

“It has been quite astonishing really,” she said.

MORE: How to avoid real estate scams

Maeve Ryan has been working in the real estate industry for 12 months. Picture: Maeve Ryan/Supplied

The 22-year-old loves her job but has been shocked by how much abuse she has to deal with. Picture: Maeve Ryan/Supplied

Going into this job, Ms Ryan knew that there were people who “hated” real estate agents and understands there are some people in the industry who give others a bad name.

“I am just starting in the industry and I feel like I am ridiculed based on that reputation. People assume I am out to get them,” she said.

“To be honest in my role now I have little to no impact on the landlords. I am at the bottom of the food chain and yet I still get abused during inspections and open homes as if I am the reason something is happening to them.”

Ms Ryan is a renter herself and understands the current rental market, particularly in Sydney, is difficult. But she doesn’t believe that gives people the right to attack her for doing her job.

When Ms Ryan decided to start her real estate career 12 months ago, she didn’t know anyone in the industry, describing it as a “big leap of faith”.

She started out as a receptionist and sales administrator, before being promoted to property officer and business development manager.

Her day-to-day consists of “running around” doing routine inspections, ingoing and outgoing reports, dealing with repairs and other tenant concerns and speaking with landlords.

Ms Ryan’s favourite part of the job is when she gets to tell people they have been approved for properties.

MORE: How to protect yourself from rental scams

Ms Ryan loves being able to tell people when they have been approved for a property. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

That part of her job makes her feel “fulfilled” and reminds her of why she got into the industry in the first place.

When she first joined, she was surprised by how “intense” the job was.

“I thought the job and industry were very relaxed, you see people on shows and online driving around in fancy cars and having heaps of money while they are barely at work. My goodness, was I wrong,” Ms Ryan said.

“It is constant and demanding. The market is constantly changing and issues don’t stop just because it is your day off. There are always a million things to do.”

Since she has started sharing her journey online, the young professional said the hate she receives has only increased.

For every video she posts, there is always at least one commenter saying how much they “hate real estate agents” or even that Ms Ryan is the “reason someone is homeless”.

This, understandably, has a considerable impact, with the property officer saying she is still trying to navigate the negative connotations that come with her job.

“The only thing I can do is control my own actions and, hopefully, I can make the interactions I personally have with tenants, landlords, buyers, and sellers a positive one,” she said, adding that she hopes other people in the industry share this outlook.

“At the end of the day, we aren’t all bad people, most of us are good people are trying to do our best to make sure everyone is happy,” Ms Ryan said.

“In saying that, even with the not-so-great interactions I have had, my overall experience in the industry has been amazing.

“I love the people I work with; everyone in the office enjoys being there, they have an insane amount of knowledge that I can pick their brains on, and they truly are good and real people.”