Antony Bucello left a position in marketing for the financial services industry to join a startup buyer advocacy company, taking an income hit in the process.
“I had an opportunity to join, I guess, a startup company which was a buyer advocacy company at the time,” Antony said.
“So I sort of decided to make a career change as well as a bit of an income hit as well in order to get into this industry.”
It was a decision that would prove prescient, as he entered an industry in its infancy that has since grown exponentially.
Early days in a new industry
When Antony started in buyer advocacy, Google was just beginning, and the internet was only just coming on board.
“There were only maybe a dozen buyer agents at the time, many of whom are still around,” he said.
“I did see it having a long way to go, and that’s obviously happened over the past 20-25 years.
“In particular, over the last couple of years, I think the whole industry has gained even more momentum with a lot more buyer agents out there.”
Antony has only ever worked on the buying side of the ledger and never had any desire to be a selling agent.
His background in financial services, including financial planning, accounting and mortgage broking, proved to be excellent preparation for his new career.
Covering all of Melbourne
Today, Antony operates National Property Buyers across the entire Melbourne Metropolitan Area, with an agent in regional Victoria to handle regional purchases.
He works with both investors and owner occupiers, with many clients utilizing his services for both purposes over their property journey.
“A lot of our clients are both,” he said.
“They’re clients that we’ve purchased their principal place of residence for but they’re also clients that then we help buy investment properties over their journey as well.
“And a lot of the time it starts the other way around.”
While covering all of Melbourne is challenging, Antony believes it’s essential, particularly for investors.
“We need to start working out where the next good areas are going to be, where’s the capital growth sort of going to come from and why,” he said.
“We keep tabs on all the different suburbs at different price points.”
The power of relationships
Antony attributes his success to relationship building and communication skills developed during his time in financial services.
“One of my biggest things is relationship building and communication skills,” he said.
“I already had good people skills, good communication skills, and was able to build good long term relationships.
“Whether that’s with clients or whether it’s with referral partners or anyone else, any other sort of services that are connected to buying property.”
Twenty-five years later, those relationships and his reputation continue to serve him well.
“Agents respect the role we’ve got and are more than happy to work with us,” he said.
Navigating challenges
Like any business with a long history, Antony has faced numerous challenges, with COVID being particularly memorable.
“There was a lot of uncertainty at the time, and no one was quite sure what was going to happen,” he said.
“Business obviously was a lot slower. We weren’t able to do what we were experienced to do.”
However, the post-COVID period brought unprecedented growth.
“As soon as we came out of COVID, the market went absolutely crazy and we’ve been the busiest we’ve been for ever,” he said.
Antony said much of navigating difficult periods comes down to client education, particularly around election cycles and policy uncertainty.
Looking ahead
With the right team in place, Antony isn’t focused on major expansion but continues to pursue both personal and business goals.
“Good staff are hard to find and retain, but I’ve got a real close knit team working with me,” he said.
One of his future plans includes potentially joining the board of REBA (Real Estate Buyers Agents Association) to help shape the industry’s future.
“I intend to try and have a bit more influence and offer my insight and suggestions into how the industry might be able to go forward and prosper,” he said.
A refined process
After 25 years in the industry, Antony is confident his team has refined their approach to perfection.
“We take clients through a process whether they’re owner occupiers or investors, and the results take care of itself,” he said.
“Each client’s at a different level of education, and what they need and what they want, and the level of hand holding.
“But once all that’s been established, we just take them through the process.”
This profile is supported by Buyersagents.com.au– Australia’s home of trusted buyers agents and a growing community of excellence. Claim your buyer’s agent profile now.