Abi Freeman may never have intended to become a real estate agent, but that hasn’t stopped her from claiming one of the industry’s top awards in just her seventh year in the profession.
The Knight Frank sales executive has taken out the Annual REA Excellence Award for the Top Residential Salesperson in Tasmania, attributing her win to a simple formula.
“I treat my vendors how I would want to be treated if I was a vendor, and I treat my purchasers how I would want to be treated if I was a purchaser,” Abi says.
“It’s as simple as that.”
A stickler for detail, Abi says she also owes her success to sound communication and ensuring she’s part of every conversation with every client, be they a seller or a buyer.
She knows exactly where everyone is at in their real estate journey and ensures she not only listens but hears every wish on their wishlist.
“You must treat people properly and make sure they’re updated with what’s happening on a day-to-day basis,” Abi says.
“Communication is absolutely key in this industry.”
But real estate wasn’t always an industry Abi imagined she’d be a part of, despite long having a connection to it.
A partner in a building company, Abi and her husband have always had investment properties as well as good contacts in the property space.
She also ran a highly successful children’s clothing label in Hobart called Oliv for a decade, and she credits both of these roles with equipping her with excellent customer service skills.
But it wasn’t until she was spending much more time at home following the birth of her third child, Ed, that she considered real estate.
“When I had another baby, I was predominantly at home, and doing a real estate course was connecting me with society again, and what was happening in the real estate world,” Abi recalls.
“At the time, I didn’t expect to get a job from it. It was purely for interest.”
But, as fate would have it, Abi had a contact in the industry who brought her on as his personal assistant.
“Then after a couple of months, he said, ‘Abi, you’re selling; you need to get into sales. You have a natural ability’, and I started my sales career in March 2015,” she says.
Abi says she hit the ground running and was fortunate to generate listings straight away as the Tasmanian market had started to grow rapidly.
“I think I was the right age and knew the right amount of people,” she says.
“I was very lucky. Hobart is a small place, six degrees of separation, and I had people that trusted me to sell their properties when I was new in real estate.”
But Abi had to leverage those listings with sales and provide a good customer experience.
She says one of the ways she ensures the properties she markets stand out is through top-notch presentation.
“For me, it’s all about making sure that the properties are at the highest possible level, cost-effectively, to achieve the best possible results,” Abi explains.
Moving forward in 2022, Abi says her focus remains on her clients but also on growing her team with a personal assistant.
“I’ve never had a personal assistant, but that’s what I’m going to invest in so I can service my clients to an even higher level,” she says.
