Offshoring and automation have delivered short-term relief for real estate businesses facing rising costs and shrinking margins. But Belle Property CEO Nick Boyd warns there’s a long-term consequence to this cost-cutting that the industry is only beginning to confront: the disappearance of junior roles and the erosion of the talent pipeline.
While Nick is not opposed to offshoring in principle, he believes its unchecked expansion has created a structural weakness.
“I’m not completely anti-offshoring,” he says. “But it’s become a fundamental response to margin pressure. Personnel is the largest cost in most businesses, and reducing that cost is understandably tempting.”
However, the trade-off is stark. As more junior, entry-level roles are moved offshore or absorbed by AI, the local industry is left with fewer opportunities for new agents to gain foundational experience.
“Fast forward five years, and many businesses will be left with only a hyper-experienced workforce,” Nick says.
“But when those people move on, who’s stepping in? We’ve outsourced all the learning.”
This is a problem that’s already taking shape. He argues that the industry is widening the gap between top performers and everyone else, in part because fewer agents are being developed from the ground up.
“Look at the high-performing agents right now. That old 80/20 rule applies—the top 20 per cent are doing 80 per cent of the business,” he says.
“And that gap is getting bigger because we’re not bringing enough junior talent through meaningful career pathways.”
Nick sees the effects of this trend across every department, from sales to property management to BDM.
Many of the foundational tasks – data entry, CRM management, administrative input – have quietly disappeared from local job descriptions.
“In sales, a lot of the data input and CRM work is being offshored,” he explains. “That might seem like a smart decision now, but it’s those very tasks that teach people how the system actually works.”
He draws a distinction between having data and understanding it.
“You can be given a database of perfectly categorised contacts, but unless you’ve built it yourself – making calls, entering ownership records, doing the follow-up – you don’t really know how to use it. And that’s what creates capable agents.”
The same applies in property management. While AI products are increasingly capable of reading and auto-populating information from agency agreements, Nick questions what happens when those efficiencies come at the expense of hands-on learning.
“I get that AI is changing the game,” he says.
“But if we’re building a workforce that’s only made up of experienced professionals, what happens when they retire?”
The consequences of a hollow middle
Beyond the loss of knowledge, Nick says the bigger issue is the lack of structured progression.
“The jump from entering the industry to becoming a $2 million writer is enormous. But that’s not where the focus should be. The key career leap is from $200,000 to $500,000. That’s where people need the most support.”
He believes the industry has overlooked this middle ground, with damaging consequences.
“If we don’t invest in that phase of an agent’s development, we’ll continue to see a few elite performers rise, and everyone else stagnate or leave.”
In practice, a clear and consistent career path can start with two simple KPIs for assistant agents: making 30 connects a day and adding 20 ownership records to the CRM each week.
“Doing that for 10 months builds real momentum,” he says.
“You end up with 800 records. At a 5 per cent conversion, that’s 40 potential deals. And along the way, they’re learning the systems, the workflow, and developing the consistency that underpins success.”
Why leadership is the linchpin
So how can businesses address the widening talent gap without sacrificing financial stability? Nick believes the answer lies in leadership; specifically, clarity and consistency around lead generation.
“If you ask most business owners what their lead generation process is, I don’t think many could answer it clearly,” he says.
“Buying leads from a third party isn’t a lead generation strategy – it’s a sign you don’t have one.”
He argues that every business should be able to articulate a defined system for generating and converting leads, which then becomes the foundation for onboarding and developing staff.
“When someone joins a business, they should be able to see what the process is, where they fit in, and what their next two or three steps look like.”
That kind of structure doesn’t just benefit the business—it sets the entire team up for long-term success.
“When people can see their path, they stay longer, they invest more, and they grow faster.”
Looking ahead, Nick sees a future shaped by consolidation: fewer brands, fewer agents, but higher overall performance.
“We’ve always said it: fewer, better people,” he says. “It’s about doing more with less, and backing the ones who are all in.”
Super teams, such as EBUs with multiple support staff. will become increasingly standard.
“If a solo agent goes up against a team of three or four, the team will win nine times out of ten,” he says.
“Maybe not in the listing presentation, but definitely in the follow-up, speed to market, and client service.”
Still, he doesn’t believe the door is closing on new entrants. Instead, he says the bar is simply getting higher.
“It’ll always be hard to make it in real estate. That won’t change. But we need to get better at helping those who want to succeed actually find a path forward.”
Rethinking admin and repurposing talent
The automation of administrative tasks is another pressure point for businesses, but also an opportunity. “Admin is a capital-heavy area. And with AI, it’s going to change,” Nick says.
“But instead of eliminating roles, we should be asking: how can we repurpose great admin people into customer experience and retention roles?”
He believes the brands that thrive in the future will be those that retain not just staff, but clients.
“Just like families return to the same holiday spot every year, I think you’ll see consumers start sticking with brands. They’ll buy, sell, and maybe even holiday with the same company—if that company offers the right service.”
A practical talent strategy for the future
When asked what a sustainable talent strategy might look like, Nick returns to a concept he calls “money makers and money savers.”
“Money makers are your hunters – the people who bring in business. Money savers are your gatherers – the ones who manage and protect what’s been brought in,” he explains.
“Both are important. But high-performance cultures tend to have more hunters.”
To build the right mix, he recommends psychometric testing during recruitment.
“It’s not a perfect science, but it gives you insights. A great salesperson probably hates checklists. A property manager might hate being on the phone all day. That doesn’t make either of them wrong, it just means we need to hire based on what the role demands, not bend the role around the person.”
Ultimately, Nick believes the industry needs to return to intentional, long-term thinking about people, pathways and performance.
“If we want the industry to be sustainable, we need more than just great agents at the top. We need to be building the next generation.”
