James Nelis launched his own buyer’s agency in July 2024, after spending 18 months learning the trade with a leading investment-focused firm.
But his journey into real estate began much earlier, when he purchased his first investment property over a decade ago.
“I’m a property investor and bought my first property back in 2014,” James said.
“I’ve been on a journey, obviously, being a property investor and using buyer’s agents previously for other purchases.
“I built an interest in that and saw a gap in terms of what I might be able to do from a service offering, and how I might be able to improve the customer experience.”
From AFL to real estate
Before establishing himself in the property industry, James had a decorated sporting career, playing semi-professional AFL in Queensland with the Aspley Hornets Football Club.
He competed against reserve grade teams from the Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast Suns, and clubs from the Northern Territory, Sydney, and Canberra.
“I was a 200-game player, premiership captain, life member of my footy club,” James said.
“I got very close to playing professionally, which was my childhood dream. Ultimately I wasn’t able to get there, but I’m also very proud of the footy career I’ve had.
“It gave me a little bit of extra money on the side, which helped me get into the property market and gave me a bit of a leg up financially as well.”
A unique client base
James’s sporting background has shaped both his business model and client base.
His agency primarily works with athletes and high-performing professionals, while also supporting everyday investors with a passion for sport.
“A lot of the clients on our books or the clients that we represent are athletes and high performing professionals,” he said.
“I have a strong sporting background and a high performance mindset, so I draw a lot of parallels through sport and high performance with a lot of people that we work with.
“Australians are mad about two things, residential property and sports. So I’ve combined my passion for both to work with people that are equally aligned with me on that as well.”
Education and transparency
A core focus of James’s business is education, transparency, and helping clients make informed decisions.
“We provide a very bespoke and highly customer service focused business where we believe in education and transparency and bringing our clients along the journey,” he said.
“We want our clients equally involved and up to date because ultimately our clients are the purchasers of this property and we need them to be fully prepared and fully understand what they’re purchasing.”
He said his sporting background shaped how he approaches decision-making under pressure.
“We help provide a decision framework that reduces emotion, and that ties back to my sporting background,” he said.
“Sport was very good at giving you decision-making frameworks or teaching you to be able to make sound, quality decisions under pressure and not letting your emotions dictate your decision making.
“Selling agents are extremely good at extracting and putting people in the room and feeding off their emotions.”
Quality over quantity
James operates with a lean team of three, including himself, an associate buyer’s agent, and a client success specialist.
While he has plans to grow, he is intentionally building a business focused on quality relationships rather than volume.
“We don’t want to be a massive business, a volume-based business,” he said.
“We are very customer focused, very client centric. Whilst we do want to grow and the team will grow with additional headcounts and resources, we don’t want to be a large-scale business focusing on lots of marketing and ad-driven campaigns.”
Instead, James is building his business around referral relationships and repeat clients, with a strong focus on post-settlement support.
“We’re there for our clients after settlement and ongoing throughout their property ownership life cycle,” he said.
A tailored approach
James is also quick to challenge common property investment narratives, focusing instead on individual client goals rather than one-size-fits-all strategies.
“We don’t believe in the 100 property portfolio or that you need 100 properties or 10 properties to retire early and that sort of thing,” he said.
“We’re very focused on getting outcomes for what our client wants and not buying into hype or noise that a lot of people do seem to get drawn into online.”
With his combination of sporting discipline, property investment experience, and client-focused approach, James is focused on helping clients navigate property decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
This approach reflects a broader philosophy: applying high-performance principles to property investment can help clients make more informed, less emotionally driven decisions.
Buyersagents.com.au celebrates the achievements of professionals like James Nelis and helps connect trusted buyer’s agents with more buyers across Australia.