Industry Expert - OTEN/Rotary Career Interview Series - Real Estate

BACK GROUND & CAREER

When I first left school it was important to me to start working, there was a lot of unemployment around at the time and I decided I would work in the public service.

So I took a role at the water board and was there for about 4 years.

During the time I was there I had started studying the Real-estate course at TAFE.

Like a lot of people, a lot of people get attracted to the real-estate industry because they  had relatives or friends that were involved in it and it looks good.

That’s what I thought; I had an uncle who was doing it at the time. He was successful; I thought I’d get started in that.

So I did the TAFE course. One day I just sat down and started phoning real-estate offices until I got some interviews and I started working for the industry in 1981.

I worked for  a couple of different employers for about 3 or 4 years and then the opportunity came up to run my own office. Which I took and have run with it since then.

TIPS AND ADVICE

One of the things I have found within the industry now and the time that I’ve been involved in it, is that PERSISTENCE and RESILIENCE are 2 of the strongest traits in a successful real-estate agent.

When you commence looking for work you might come up against a lot of knock backs, it may be difficult for you to find work within the industry, but believe me, you’re going to get the same knockbacks time and time again, maybe day after day, once you’re in there and the most successful agents in the real-estate industry are those that have persistence and resilience to come back from what they see as success one day, seeming like failure the next day. THE ABILITY TO GET UP AND KEEP GOING. You also need to embrace technology.

Lastly, but by no means less important, DON’T GO IN HALF HEARTEDLY.

If you are going to commence a career in real-estate – go into it as a career and (ahh) get stuck into it right from the beginning. Put all your efforts into it and it will pay off.

VALUE OF NETWORKING

Like all industries that you may be involved in, networking is very important.

The age old saying – IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT’S WHO YOU KNOW.

It’s extremely important within the real-estate industry.

Often it comes from conversation with somebody you know with either Rotary or down the road, or whatever community venue you are attending at the time, who just happens to mention “Oh hey – could you come and see me on Monday, I’m thinking of selling my house?”

So networking is all important and in Rotary it is a Community Service group.

You don’t necessary join Rotary simply for networking, but it is a bi product of people who often become good friends. Networking becomes natural and business flows from that.

The same way iT does out in the community organisations, through schools and through your involvement in just the general running of the suburb that you’re within.
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