On getting into real estate
I fell into real estate by starting in strata management back in 2003. I was not long out of school and was looking for a career. A job was advertised for an assistant strata manager, and I thought ‘I can do that’.
I lived in a unit at the time and had been to strata meetings with my mum so thought I’d give it a go. From there I changed to property management for about four years and went back to strata, now I’m back in property management.
The happiest moment in my career
I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping people. Whether it be to go out of my way to manage a large maintenance job, or just to help a tenant through paying their rent/working through a payment plan with them. I think it’s the little things that make an impression.
The most memorable moment
I recently leased a heritage listed home for a new client. It was an old station master’s cottage and the owner was very attached to it. Apart from having the privilege of leasing this property out and learning about its history, I also had to help the landlord (who had moved interstate) to catch her cat.
This proved hard, mainly because the cat only came back for food when no one was around. I had to borrow a possum trap and leave food in it. I caught her on the Thursday and the landlord had her booked on a flight on the Friday (no I didn’t have to take her to the airport).
Best advice he’s received
Never burn your bridges.
Biggest challenge
A lot of changes to legislation favouring the tenants and making it easier to break leases are already starting to make landlords second guess having investment properties. If the removal of negative gearing goes ahead and / or the market continues to drop, we will start to see less and less investors in the market.
Change for good?
I think the biggest thing we struggle with is support. Sometimes we need the answers to things, and to get a ‘legal’ answer we need to employ a solicitor, while there is free help for tenants in some states for tenancy advice. I’d like to see agents provided with better support, because we don’t all know everything.
‘Elite’ agent means
Someone who stands out from all the rest or just does their job, not even realising how good they actually are. They may not even be someone in the spotlight, they may be your unsung hero who doesn’t like the fame.
#WeAreRealEstate is a series of short interviews with 140 agents all over Australia exploring the industry’s hopes, concerns, future challenges, and what it really means to be an Elite Agent.
