Young Aussie Rakes In $300K Yearly — Here's What It's Really Like

A young Aussie worker has shared how he went from not making a cent for six months to earning close to $300,000 a year . The real estate industry can be an extremely lucrative one, but it involves a huge amount of sacrifice and hustle before you can see the big bucks.

Ethan Forbes has been working as a real estate agent on the Sunshine Coast for the past two years. The 24-year-old told Yahoo Finance he earned $300,000 last financial year, including superannuation and taxes, but it was a tough ride to get to where he is now.

“I wasn’t making any money for six months and I was basically broke, had no money to my name,” he said.

RELATED

• Aussie earning $300,000 a year in job after completing three day course

• Woolworths payment change hits dozens of supermarkets today

• Superannuation 'red alert' for millions as $1 billion in retirement savings feared lost

Forbes completed a three-day course to get into the industry. While he said this initial course was "pretty easy", the work it takes to stay in the industry and move up wasn't.

Forbes worked 12-hour days, seven days a week, for the first year of his real estate career. He said his job involved a lot of rejection and knocking on doors for hours to put himself out there and try and find sellers.

“I went really hard in that first year. That was the year that I was like, I’ve got to make this work and I was working seven days,” he said.

Unlike most jobs where you receive a base salary for your work , real estate agents are paid on commission, so if you don’t list or sell anything, you don’t make money.

“I love it like that. Because for me, if I’m not getting a base salary, if I don’t get my ass into gear and work then I’m going to starve,” he said.

“It’s more risk and more reward.”

Forbes ran his own lawn mowing business after he finished school and said this was what gave him the work ethic and drive he needed to become successful in the real estate industry.

While Forbes said the long hours meant his family, friends, hobbies, and health had to “take a backseat”, he said his sacrifice was now starting to pay off.

“I’m only now starting to see the fruits of the labour from all the days where I was just out for 12 hours knocking on doors and no one knew who I was,” he said.

Aussies stunned by $300,000 a year salary

Forbes recently went viral after sharing he was earning nearly $300,000 a year after only being a real estate agent for two years.

For this financial year, he said he brought more than $500,000 in gross commission income, which he splits with his agency LJ Hooker.

“It’s insane for me. This is the most money I have ever earned in my entire life this year. It’s quite mind-boggling,” he said.

Forbes’ average sale price is between $800,000 and $850,000, with his most expensive sale being $1.302 million. The average number of properties he has sold per year is 28.

Commissions vary and are negotiable, with Forbes noting his commissions usually sit between 1.95 to 2.7 per cent.

Forbes said his income varied hugely month to month .

In December last year, for example, he generated $250,000 in sales after listing 12 properties. From that, he took home $125,000.

"[December] was the best month I've ever had in a long shot, probably by like three or four times," he said.

"But then the first three months of 2025, I brought in $0."

Aussie warns about burnout from 12-hour days

While Forbes said he is happy all his sacrifices have now paid off, he said he did experience burnout while trying to get ahead and the work took its toll on his mental health.

“You lose a listing here and there and you might not sell one, or it’ll withdraw. A lot of that plays on your mental health and you’ve got to be really careful,” he said.

“Then it’s the constant rejection. You’re constantly talking to people who don’t want to talk to you. There are a lot of negative things. You go through really high moments and really low moments as well.”

Forbes said things had slowed down a little bit now and he was trying to strike a better work-life balance and do the best job he could for clients, while also being there for his family, friends and self.

He is still working six days a week from Monday to Saturday and is available to clients 24/7. But he said he isn't putting in 12-hour days anymore, and instead tries to work between eight and nine hours.

Forbes said he has made a conscious effort to try and be honest and transparent with people.

“My least favourite thing about being a real estate agent is that I'm a real estate agent," he said.

"A lot of people don't like real estate agents, and I get it. You see the standard one, they are everywhere, the dude in the suit and tie who is a bit uppity and arrogant.

“I understand that. I’m a larrakin, I'm just a bloke, I’m 24 years old and I’m just here to help people.”

Get the latest Yahoo Finance news - follow us on Facebook , LinkedIn and Instagram .

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Finance AU at https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/young-aussie-earning-300000-a-year-in-job-reveals-reality-of-mind-boggling-salary-044150876.html