Blog / Winning Business
Who made the A List? Queensland
Queensland’s real estate market has been one of the most volatile in Australia in the last decade. In the swings and roundabouts of the state’s market, some agents at the top of game have managed to grow their own businesses despite market adversity. We speak to the A List agents in the state - those most frequently chosen by vendors in their marketplaces - about their tips for success despite the market climate.
60% A List members finish work at 7pm Others finish between 6-8pm
100% Use a daily to-do list
4 of 5 A list members prefer Tag Heuer, Breitling Bentley and Citizen watches.
A LIst event draws top Queensland agents
List”, will be released next month as each of the leading agents come together for an A List-only event in Brisbane on 12 November. The agents from geographically diverse pockets of the state were identified based on their successes and stock volumes using information available on agent activity, listings, marketing and method of sale. The data was then verified by analysts. This is the first event of its kind in Queensland, given the list of agents has been compiled without agent input using stock numbers and results. Ordinarily, agents submit applications for similar awards. The leaders on the A List hold the lion’s share of activity in their local markets, such as Ben Chick from Harcourts in Mackay and Michael Willems of Ray White in Surfers Paradise who has sold $85million worth of property so far in 2013.
The members of the A List will attend an exclusive conference in November with a wealth of speakers including internationally renowned Michael Duff who works with elite performers in the business and sporting worlds. He helps people understand the traits of high performers and works with them to create performance breakthroughs.
President of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, Anton Kardash, will also present on the future of the state’s real estate industry.
thought-leaders at the top of the real estate industry. Two panels will be run featuring fellow A Listers including Byrony O’Neill from McGrath Paddington, Nyree Ewings of LJ Hooker Clevelend, Mark Mason of Remax in Alexandra Hills, Isaac Nguyen of All Properties Group in Brisbane, Ben Chick of Harcourts in Mackay and Heath Williams of Place in Newfarm.
With market variations, the figures allowed for city and country agents to make the exclusive ranks.
5 of 8 of the A list men wear a tie to work
13% Prefer Mercedes as vehicle of choice
30.33% of A List members took 1-2 weeks to sell their first home
A fall back or a way forward
Even for top performers in Queensland, the pathway to a career in real estate is unique to the individual. And their individual pathway helps shape their approach to clients and service too. For Jason Read, real estate was his fall back following on from life as a professional golfer and for Michele Hyde it was a way forward as a single mother battling illness. “I was driven by the fact that the more you work the more you earn. And the flexibility,” says Jason Read from Coomera on the Gold Coast. For Michele in Townsville her drive was survival. “I just wanted to earn $40,000 a year. I had been ill with breast cancer and had become a single mum looking after my three children,” Michele said, “It was more lucrative than I’d initially thoughts and there was much more technology than there was in the 1970s when I was watching my dad do it.” She was surprised to see the way agents treated each other, “shafting” their listings and degrading their ability. Michele succeeded by keeping her eye on the prize and discussion away from price. “Keep out of the way of price and do the job of transacting the sale,” she advises. “Only good agents survive in this market. Finance is hard and the market is challenging. You need to work differently.” Julie Mahoney (pictured), a similarly successful agent in Townsville, agrees with Michele’s observations on the market. “In Townsville the market has been challenged with the downturn of the mining industry as well as state government redundancies and pending federal job losses. Job security is a concern for purchasers which in turn affects their ability to feel confident when committing to purchase,” Julie says.
Julie had been involved in transactions of a different nature before real estate. She’d traded fruit and vegetables from New Zealand to Japan and quickly became a skilled negotiator. “Life experience definitely helped when I started in real estate. I have had businesses; the good, the bad and the ugly!” Julie has always had a genuine interest in real estate and recognises herself in clients. “It’s important to be genuine and grounded, and be able to relate to people and their life experience when selling their most precious asset.” So what about Julie’s advice on combating a tough market? “Never assume anyone’s situation and be persistent - you have to be passionate about both people and property.” Jason, on the other hand, needed a career beyond golf. For him, the career path looked like a breeze from the outside. “It looked easy. I soon learnt you must work long hours but it’s very rewarding,” he says. “I had to change my habits to suit the workload.” “You have to have persistence and look for ways to improve all the time. This means learning and keeping up with technology.” His key advice now? “Remember that what worked last year may not work this year!”
How the A List found their way to the top
It can’t have been easy for a fellow with expertise in panel beating and shark fishing to decide to enter the real estate industry in Queensland only two months after the GFC had hit. What’s worse is that he chose to operate in one of the worst markets in Australia in recent years, Cairns. Yet, somehow his business has doubled every year for five years. “I only had the shirt on my back. When I started my boss gave me $1000 to buy a suit,” Cairns agent Karl Latham says. Not long before this his mother had passed away and it had inspired him to strive for more and make her proud. “I was determined to establish a successful career, to be the leader in the area. I did my homework, got my name out there, door-knocked the whole area, communicated with every household in the Mooroobool and did my networking by holding a real estate information stall at the local Sunday markets.”
It paid off. He’s been ranked in the top ten for PRDnationwide and some 69 per cent of Karl’s business is from referrals. Another major origin of clients is the failings of his competitors. “I often take over others’ listings due to poor service, lacking communication and ineffective marketing. That’s what my vendors tell me.” Karl is in the top one per cent of listing agents in all of Queensland. Some 19 hours drive south of Karl is a woman who started in real estate eleven years ago. She’d been enjoying life as a mother - plus plenty of tea and tennis - before attempting to sell her own home and finding the agent’s skills lacking.
“I was inspired by the bad practice of others,” says Paddington agent Glynis Austin. “I knew I could do better and made a commitment that if I made enough money in the first three months I’d stay in the industry.” That she did. “It’s easy to succeed. Hard work, no magic, go the extra mile and put the client before yourself.” Glynis’ market is impacted less by the GFC today and more by lack of stock. “Stock is tightly held and sellers are fearful of losing money because the media is telling them to hold on.”
Glynis is a classic a-type personality. She works a lot, is focused and is superbly presented. In fact, that’s where she thinks most agents need to improve themselves. A local competitor agent agrees. “Agents need to know how to convey, present and conduct themselves,” says Byrony O’Neill who operates in the very same suburb as Glynis. Byrony O’Neill is another top listing agent in Queensland who, ironically, was told she was unsuitable for the industry after completing a personality test. Today Byrony has sold close to $200,000,000 of property. In many ways, she was obviously meant for the real estate field “Coming from a travel background, where I was selling a holiday experience and helping people fulfill dreams, there was a close association with property. I like to help people. I like to see them happy with the end result.”
Like Glynis, Byrony believes hard work and integrity are key to success. She says local buyers are more active this year than last. “Consumer confidence is coming back.” Confidence isn’t back, however, up in the mining basin and sugar capital of Australia - Mackay - where agent Ben Chick operates. “It’s tough at the moment. It [property] is based on confidence and at the moment people are still losing jobs.” He joined the real estate industry in the aftermath of the GFC after working as a mortgage broker and managing television and radio stations. The market in Mackay has not been easy in that time, but Ben’s performance has contradicted it. Like Glynis Austin in Paddington, Ben is driven by contradicting the bad experiences he had as a client of real estate agents. He had an aspiration to be the best new agent in the state. And he is certainly right at the top. Ben has a simple ethos that gets him through a fluctuating market. “Know your town, be good to people and stick it out through the good and bad times. You don’t need to be a guru just spend the time with your customers,” Ben said. “Nothing beats hard work and nothing sells homes likes selling homes.”
Client Challenges
On the Gold Coast Michael Willems has sold over $85m in property this year already and his auction successes are legendary. With that volume, most would struggle to balance today’s tasks against tomorrow’s. He has one personal assistant to do admin and he has some core personal principles to get him through. “Only focus on the workload in front of you, the buyers and the sellers. Don’t analyse it too much,” he says.
Michael only does what needs to be done in the short term to guarantee the long term successes. He’s been at the top of his game for a good part of his 20 year career. This is mostly because he understands clients. “Buyers and vendors do not give you all the information up front, they protect themselves. You need to win their trust before they will share information,” Michael says. Honesty, integrity and working longer and harder are key attributes according to Michael. “Embrace the hard work to succeed, always listen to your customer, don't interrupt them when they speak and have a real, caring nature."
86% A List members take holidays at least every year
66% A List members go for a fortnight holiday at most
60% A List members take overseas holidays
The A List
Congratulations to Queenslands top real estate performers (pictured)
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