Across Northern Queensland, no other agent selling more than 30 houses a year matches his performance.
According to realestate.com.au data, Ben ranks number one with 40 sales and an average of 6 days on market.
Across Queensland, he sits number two for the lowest days on market among high-volume agents.
“My job isn’t to sell anything to anyone. I’m a strategist. If we present a property at its best and understand buyer behaviour, the market does the heavy lifting,” Ben says.
Ben now leads August Estate Agents under the @realty OASIS model, but the journey began far from the polished structure he is known for today.
From late-night servo shifts to a midnight opportunity
In 2007, Ben was filling emergency shifts across Coles Express sites when a customer, David East, told him he needed to get into real estate.
David drove home, grabbed his boss’s business card and returned close to midnight.
That card led to Kevin Barnes of Oz National Real Estate, who delivered the advice that reset Ben’s expectations.
“If you think you’ll make money in the first two years, the door is over there,” Ben recalls.
Ben committed to learning, not chasing early wins.
He listened to Brian Tracy on repeat, turned up early to opens, listened to negotiations from doorways and drilled vendor feedback scripts until they were second nature.
Learn, implement, test, refine. A pattern that would define him.
Learning the hard way during the GFC
He moved to another office in Cairns under industry leader Peter Hopkins.
“Peter asked why about everything. Why this price, why this strategy, why that behaviour? Nothing was accepted without justification,” he says.
Ben’s routines were pulled apart until he understood every decision.
Around the same time, his old Nissan Skyline was leaking fuel through the office car park aircon intake.
Peter called him in and offered a two-thousand-dollar loan for a deposit on a safer car.
“Pay me back before you buy a new plasma TV.”
Ben paid him back with his first commission and didn’t buy a new TV until 2024. Then the GFC hit.
At 21, he was asking owners difficult questions about their loans and sometimes walking away from listings.
“It taught me you can’t take someone’s money if you can’t help them.” When the office closed, he went to the one place he admired most, Powe Property.
The all-for-one and one-for-all era
Powe Property operated differently. The whole office trained together, shared buyers and strategies and pushed each other to higher standards.
Directors Matt Powe and Kirsty Kernot, along with future best friend and mentor Clint Smith, created Ben’s finishing school.
They invested heavily in development, flying the team to see John McGrath, Dane Atherton, Mark McLeod, Ivan Bresic, and even paying to sit in James Tostevin’s office.
Ben refined every dialogue and process and began pioneering marketing approaches that later became standard in Cairns.
Aluminium signboards, premium ads, full staging. The market copied what proved to work.
Stepping away and reinventing himself
By 2014, Ben had become the number one agent in Edge Hill, one of Cairns’ most competitive markets.
Instead of scaling, he stepped back. From 2014 to 2018, he learned financial markets, renovated and sold a house, co-founded a digital currency tool and trained sales teams.
The teaching role showed him he was building other people’s teams, not his own. Then life changed.
A life-changing moment and the comeback
In late 2018, Ben and his wife welcomed their son Joey, but complications left her in ICU for over a week.
“It was a back-to-the-wall moment. “You learn what you’re capable of when you have no choice.”
With his family depending on him, he returned to real estate in 2019 after four years away, this time as an independent with @realty.
He returned armed with more clarity than ever and guided again by mentor Clint Smith.
“Weekly calls, negotiation workshops, everything. You can’t put a price on that kind of friendship.” Ben worked 85 to 90-hour weeks and rebuilt fast.
Redlynch: the area that changed everything
Choosing a core market was easy. “Redlynch resonated with me. Community, families, lifestyle. I lived there, so I committed fully.”
Within a year, he became the number one selling agent in Redlynch and has held the title every year since.
As the Cairns market began to lift, Ben’s high standards pushed it further.
Last year, he achieved 59 sales, 57 over asking price and one of the lowest days on market averages in Queensland.
“It’s strategy, timing, buyer psychology and presentation. Get those right, and the market rewards you.”
Why @realty and the OASIS model fit
Ben’s growth with @realty was steady and strategic, leading to the launch of his own brand this year, August Estate Agents.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted, something I can stand behind.”
The partnership works because @realty handles trust accounting, settlements, compliance and back-end support, allowing his team to focus entirely on strategy and marketing.
“Consumers choose the agent, not the brand. Align with a model that supports you.”
Why sellers choose him
Ben, along with Ben Harding and Jane Bartley, attracts owners who value standards over shortcuts.
He encourages every seller to look under the hood. Check days on market, track record, open home quality and communication.
“We don’t compete with other agents. We compete with our own standards.”
His systems remain some of the tightest in the region and a key reason behind his results.
Building something bigger
With a proven track record and his brand now established, Ben’s focus is on refining the machine he has built.
“I’m proud of what we’ve created. The team, the structure, the consistency. This is one of the rare moments where I’ve stopped and actually felt proud.”
With @realty’s OASIS model supporting agents nationwide, he believes the pathway has never been clearer.
Ready to create your own unique brand with the support of the @realty team?
Learn how our OASIS structure can help you build your business, boost your income, and gain total freedom.
Not sure where to begin building your brand? Book a free 15-minute consultation with Growth Manager Karen Woodworth and take the first step toward your own brand.
