“I got my start in leasing, and I was pretty good; I was leasing properties within five days, but I was terrible at the admin side. I got my first opportunity in sales at 19 – my boss took a weekend off with an injury, so I had three properties of his and I sold all three on the day. That’s when I thought, ‘I might be good at this’.”
Josh Tesolin is now 23 and completed his first full year in sales last year, writing over $1.1m in GCI. Working at Australian Real Estate – Quakers Hill, where the median house price is $750,000, Josh has very quickly built up a 30 per cent market share and is making a name for himself on agent rating platforms.
One of the first questions people ask Josh is ‘How did you do it?’. With only five years in the industry, he’s managed to generate massive buzz for himself, both locally and across the country.
“I get asked it a lot, and I think the Sydney market is tough but that’s an opportunity. You can really gain market share and really start to build your profile. What I did was, I’m massive on social media presence. I video everything. I think it’s the new age of real estate.”
Josh is also a massive believer in the power of being a local area expert. His core area of Quakers Hill is where he does the majority of his work; 56 out of his 71 sales for the year were in that one suburb. Because of that, Josh is a big believer in signboards and getting your face out there.
“I’ve got a massive Facebook following, I’m boosting everything on social media platforms. In my last year of sales 12 came from Facebook, which is a massive number. When the market gets tough you’ve got to look outside the box.
“I definitely think sideboard presence is massive, but you’ve also got to have great energy and enthusiasm. You need to get face-to-face with people. Once a property is listed for sale I let the whole street know; I pop in, introduce myself, let them know I’ve just listed it. And as soon as I’ve sold something I get recommendations and reviews from people.”
Josh also prides himself on the service he gives to his clients; there’s no point providing a mediocre experience and then expecting them to come back with a stellar rating.
“I’m a big believer in good service. If you give good service people are happy to recommend you. I don’t just get a written review; I get a vendor testimonial video too. It’s just one to two minutes saying, ‘I listed with Josh, here’s my experience’. I think that’s really powerful when people are looking at selecting an agent.
“A lot of agents are slack with communication. In terms of my vendors, I’m in contact every single day. Just a ‘Hi guys, I’ve had four enquiries today, web hits have gone up by 200, I’ve booked in this many people for the open home’. I also give them constant feedback. ‘This is the feedback from the buyer who came: he feels it’s worth this, he liked this, didn’t like this, is comparing it to this’.
“I’m a big believer that in a market that’s tough, a vendor who’s kept well informed is easy to manage. If they aren’t getting feedback in those first few weeks they’re wondering if it’s the agent’s fault, the market’s fault or the house’s fault. I go very hard on the marketing campaigns. So I know that if something isn’t selling, it’s not me, and it’s important that they know that too.”
Josh is quick to say that, while he puts in a lot of hard work and attends every open himself, he’s also got a great team behind him. In the event that he can’t call a vendor on a certain day, he’s got someone from his team reaching out to them to keep in touch – so that no matter the situation, the vendor is never left wondering what’s happening with their home.
“The more people you talk to, the more calls you make, the more people you can establish face to face with – over time consistency will equal results. It doesn’t happen overnight. In the first couple of years, you don’t make any money, you work hard, but then it starts to pay off. But you also can’t be in real estate for the money – you’ve got to love it.
“Get on video, get on social, get out there and gain a name for yourself. It’s a long-term game. The houses you’re door knocking on now may not sell for two years, but in two years you want them to be thinking of you.”
