Carmen Christie operates across the Warragul region in Victoria, from Drouin to Trafalgar, with Area Specialist, and her no-nonsense approach has earned her a reputation as an agent who always puts her clients first.
“I get a lot of referrals with people ringing me saying, ‘I know you’re going to tell me the truth whether it’s what’s happening in the market or not,'” Carmen said.
“I’m a straight shooter, and not everyone likes what I’m going to tell them about the market, but I’d rather tell them exactly where it is.”
From Monopoly to real estate
Carmen’s path to real estate success began with an early passion for property – she bought her first house at just 21 and her second at 23. After running her own businesses in the horticulture industry from age 21, she sold her two retail nurseries in Warragul at 28 and planned to take twelve months off before joining the police force.
A chance encounter at a local petrol station changed everything.
“The real estate agent who I’d bought my two houses off asked me what I was up to,” Carmen said. “I said to him that I was having a bit of a break, and then I was gonna head into the police force. And he said, ‘what about real estate?'”
She started working in Warragul while waiting for the police force application process to complete, but quickly fell in love with the industry.
“I loved it straight away, and it was no night shift, less dangerous, and more money,” she said.
Breaking barriers
During her four years in Warragul, Carmen became the first woman auctioneer in the area and the first agent to have a computer on her desk.
To develop her auctioneering skills, she volunteered her time with the stock agency team, conducting clearance sales to perfect her technique before moving to residential auctions.
After Warragul, Carmen relocated to Cairns, Queensland, where she spent seven years building a boutique agency from 60 rental properties to 600, with six sales staff.
“I thought I’ll really find out if I’m any good as an agent when I go somewhere and I don’t know anyone,” she said. “I pounded the pavement for the first twelve, eighteen months, nearly gave up. And then all my hard work started falling into place.”
Building a business in Warragul
When her father became ill, Carmen returned to Warragul to help her mother. What started as temporary work with a local boutique agency turned into a seven-year stint, with the owner giving her every winter off.
After adopting two boys with her partner, Carmen decided to step up her career and formed a business in Warragul with Stuart Brock, running the agency for nine years.
Last year, she made the decision to move to Area Specialist, seeking more freedom and a better work-life balance.
“I didn’t want the office anymore and the staff and that sort of thing,” Carmen said. “I still love selling property, negotiating property, and being in with the people and achieving their best pricing no matter what market.”
Serving the community
Carmen now works across a broad area from Drouin to Trafalgar, handling everything from units and houses to lifestyle properties up to 50 acres. She deliberately limits herself to around 20 listings at a time to ensure exceptional service for every client.
“I’ve always been big on getting very good service,” she said. “I don’t wanna take on any more than 20 properties at a time.”
Her client base ranges from first-time buyers to retirees downsizing from larger properties into retirement living.
The art of negotiation
Carmen’s greatest strength lies in her negotiation skills and her commitment to getting the best possible price for her vendors.
“A lot of the time, agents will just take the price that they know the vendor’s happy with,” she said. “If I know there’s more in the buyer, I’ll go for it every single time whether the vendor said they’re happy at that price or not.”
Her favourite moment is calling vendors to tell them she exceeded their expectations.
“My favourite thing is to ring them up and say, ‘I know you wanted $600,000, but I couldn’t get it. I got you $610,000, and you’re alright with that,'” she said. “I love it. That’s probably the biggest buzz I get.”
The move to Area Specialist
Since rebranding to Area Specialist, Carmen has seen dramatic improvements in both her business performance and lifestyle.
“I didn’t imagine how much work life balance I’d get, to be honest,” she said.
Area Specialist handles much of her administrative work, including trust account management, allowing her to focus on what she does best – selling properties and negotiating deals.
“Working under the Area Specialist branding has given me freedom and more money,” she said. “It’s amazing.”
The financial benefits have been significant, with Carmen exceeding her conservative targets for the year despite taking an unexpected month overseas. Looking ahead, she’s set ambitious goals to increase her turnover by another $100,000 next year.
“I think it’s quite doable,” she said. “I know it’s a tougher market, but at the end of the day, people have always got to sell for various reasons, and those four main reasons don’t change.”
Carmen said she actually prefers challenging markets because they separate the serious agents from those just “hanging in there.”
With a substantial property portfolio of her own and plans to continue working hard for another eight years, Carmen shows no signs of slowing down.
“I still invest in property all the time, and I still get a kick out of an extra $5 if I can get it,” she said.
Area Specialist is a real estate platform for top-performing agents, providing the systems, tools and technology they need to create, grow and power their business. For more information visit beyourboss.com.au