Award-winning real estate agent, Josie Smith, has never been one to follow the crowd; always the captain of her own ship, Ms Smith plans to continue bucking the trend in her new role as director of Century 21’s Ipswich office.
The new office officially opened on September 1, servicing one of Australia’s fastest growing, emerging cities.
“Our mission is to be the point of difference in real estate, and the agency of choice for the community and real estate professionals alike,” Ms Smith said.
“Our vision is to buck the trend of traditional real estate, while breaking any negative stereotypes, through our benevolent approach to real estate.”
Passion for the profession
Long before she started her career in real estate more than 12 years ago, Ms Smith was passionate about forging a successful career in the property industry.
“I always believed that if I could have a career in something I was truly passionate about, I would avoid the mediocrity that many people find themselves stuck in.
“I never wanted to be that girl in Dolly Parton’s song 9 to 5, being a step on someone else’s ladder just waiting for the day my ship will come in.
“In the real estate industry your success is solely attributed to your own devotion to it. Your output is a direct result of your own input. You are the captain of your own ship.”
Ms Smith, a former nurse, credits her passion, along with equal measures of hard work, for her success in the real estate industry.
“I love what I do, and I love my career, so I lead with passion,” Ms Smith said.
“I believe I have a natural, sincere empathy to actually want to make a difference in people’s lives, stemming from my 10 years spent in nursing prior to real estate.”
Ms Smith also believes a positive mindset is critical for success, both for yourself and your clients.
“You manifest the thoughts and vibe that you put out to the world. My mantra since day one is actually from a very well-known kids movie – ‘Just keep swimming’, because you can’t sink if you don’t stop swimming,” she said.
A smart city that celebrates community
Ipswich is one of Queensland’s fastest growing cities, brimming with innovation, while retaining its community feel.
“I love the close-knit community vibe that Ipswich holds,” Ms Smith said.
“We are a smart city and a leading city in digital technologies, with a young demographic, master planned and purpose-built communities, and with incredibly retained heritage and character housing.”
The past 18 months in the Ipswich property market have been unprecedented, with the onset of COVID-19 having the opposite impact to what was predicted.
“Once the worldwide shock of COVID settled in, the property market began to have quite an acute supply versus demand issue,” Ms Smith said.
Several other factors have also had an impact – increased migration, demand for low density housing driven by an increase in remote working, government incentives, record low interest rates, Ipswich’s younger demographic, and the large number of newly built communities within Ipswich.
“In short, the market is booming,” Ms Smith said.
Creating a point of difference in real estate
Ms Smith said Century 21’s innovative approach and corporate culture aligned perfectly with her own.
“Century 21 supports our mission to be ‘the point of difference in real estate’,” she said.
“They have big aspirations, and utilise their own exclusive innovative technology – they are years above the rest, and in my opinion, are the future of real estate.
“They’re also the largest real estate sales organisation in the Asia Pacific region, holding solid worldwide brand recognition, with over 14,250 offices in 86 countries and territories. And I think that’s pretty cool.
“Opening my agency has been on the cards for quite a while now, so it was just my time.”
Ms Smith said the new Century 21 office would offer a stress-free, transparent experience for all walks of life.
“We hope to deliver successful, supportive and personalised service; whilst building life-long relationships,” she said.
“Over the years I have aligned myself with an incredible number of charity organisations to give back to my community, as my way of saying thank you to Ipswich for its steadfast support, and I plan to continue to do that.”
