On getting into real estate
I chose real estate when I was a 16 year old kid. I remember driving around with my family looking at properties with an agent, getting in the car afterwards and my older brother saying the agent has a tough job dealing with people all day and only making money when he makes a sale, he’d never do that job. At that stage I was thinking to myself, this is what I’m going to do. Something in my gut was always telling me I would be a real estate agent.
The happiest moment in my career
The day I completed my certificate IV in Property. I still remember receiving my results in the mail like it was yesterday, shortly and after I started RE/MAX Property Specialists in Dandenong. We definitely changed the landscape on how agents were paid in our local area and flexibility in agent marketing. Traditionally agents were paid 35 per cent, now this has increased to 50 per cent with some local offices. We were the first real estate office in the South Eastern Suburbs to introduce the concept of “You’re in business for yourself but not by yourself”.
The most memorable moment
This sale will be with me till the day I die. I remember appraising a property when I was an agent in Clayton, I was called in by the mother who had three young daughters and her husband had passed away a few years before and they were alone having to make some very big decisions. It was very similar situation my mother had when I was a very young boy, so it was close to home. I was up against two other local agents, they felt I prepared the best plan of attack to sell their property and, most of all, they had trust in me very early on. I estimated a sale price of $300,000-$310,000, which everyone was happy with, and our plan of attack was a five-week auction marketing campaign For Sale Now or at Auction. I remember we were quoting offers over $300,000, and the home was a little different to other homes as there was a private retreat at the rear of the home. As soon as the home hit the market, calls were coming in left, right and centre. To cut a long story short, I ended up with five offers, the first starting at $315,000 and the highest being $373,500. I could not believe it myself. When I presented the offers one by one starting with $315,000, I remember how excited they all were, they were talking about how they could now all go on a holiday together, then I kept on saying hang on, if I negotiated you an extra $15,000 would you be happy? I kept on going with that till we got to the offer at $365,000. I remember putting the contract on the table and mum was saying “where do I sign”, she could not wait to get pen to paper. I looked at her and smiled and said, why would you want to sign that contract when I have another offer here? I still remember the emotional tears of joy and sadness as she knew the family was leaving the home where they had so many memories, however her goal was to get financial stability for the family, which she achieved.
Best advice he’s received
My first week in real estate, the senior property manager walked up to me and said, “Jack! Do you want to know what the secret is to being a successful real agent?” I said, “of course, what is it?” Hard Work was the reply.
Biggest challenge
Not being able to build relationships with new future clients as we are all interviewed on the internet before we get to speak to them. If you do not have a great web presence, it doesn’t matter how great you are as an agent, good chance you will not get in the door. For the new agent trying to get into real estate, I believe this will be quite difficult, as now, there are a number of platforms which provide agent reviews which potential clients research, so for the new agent in town not having a sale under his/her belt, trying to break in will be a daunting task.
Change for good?
The reason I chose RE/MAX was because of its flexibility. Flexibility on where you could trade as an office or agent, flexibility in the hours you worked, flexibility in the way you promoted your vendors and yourself, and the flexibility on commission structures. Over the past five to eight years, flexibility on ways you can employ or contract agents has changed dramatically. I would like to see some more flexibility in the way we can employ agents, as some agents want to take care of their own finances and run their own business within a business and over the past few years, our hands have been tied on how we can help people get into the industry.
‘Elite’ agent means
I believe an elite agent is one who can move with the times, is able to re-invent themselves, stay in-tune with new technologies, and know how to deal with different generations and cultures.
#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.
