Jay Giblett has spent sixteen years building what he describes as a dominant market position in Melbourne’s Endeavour Hills, and he says a tougher market is only reinforcing it.
“I actually enjoy this sort of market, only because people tend to come back to a trusted brand when the market tightens,” Jay said.
“In a run market, anyone can sell a house. But when the market changes, people come back and go, ‘Jay, can you get this house sold now?'”
Jay’s path into real estate was unconventional. He spent a decade running a personal training business in South Yarra and Toorak before clients in the industry convinced him to make the switch.
“Some of my clients were involved in real estate and said, ‘you should get into it, you’ll make all this money,'” he said. “So I went and did my course and haven’t really looked back from there.”
After an early stint working in the city proved unworkable with the commute and long hours, another agent recruited him, and the pair later partnered to open an office in Endeavour Hills.
The location wasn’t random. Jay had noticed a pattern while working in nearby Narre South and Berwick.
“As I was working in Narre South and Berwick, there were a lot of people moving from Endeavour Hills down to Narre South and Berwick,” he said. “So it just seemed a natural fit to go to Endeavour Hills.”
The move paid off, with Jay establishing a strong market share in the area and, he says, winning Agent of the Year for Endeavour Hills for ten consecutive years.
Around three years ago, after a decade with his previous franchise, Jay switched to Area Specialist, looking for more control over his time.
“They spend a lot of time in meetings and a lot of time filling up most days in your diary,” he said of the traditional franchise model. “When you’re at a certain point in your career, you’re able to break away and stand on your own two feet a little bit.”
With existing market share already in place, the transition was straightforward.
“It was an easy switch because we already had existing market share,” he said. “It’s about finding a system and a structure that was going to suit me better.”
He said the model gives him support without losing independence.
“There’s the support there if you need it, and then the freedom to do your own thing if you want it as well,” he said. “Michael’s great. The marketing team is certainly there if you want to run some ideas past them, and they help with design and that sort of stuff, which is great because that’s not my strong suit.”
Jay runs a lean operation alongside his business partner of nearly twelve years, Shenay Miller.
“Shenay runs the room with me, and we handle everything ourselves and have time to spare,” he said. “I’m not looking to grow my team or anything like that.”
He sees tougher conditions as an advantage rather than a setback.
“This market actually only serves to strengthen our market share and improve it, based on sales that we get in a tougher market,” he said. “We’ve been through it all before.”
His focus now is consolidation rather than expansion.
“It’s more about just enjoying the business where it is now, consolidating our position in the market and keep pleasing vendors and buyers,” he said.
His advice to agents weighing a similar move is direct.
“If you can find that you’re able to generate your own leads or if you’ve got a pre-established market share, then it’s most certainly worth doing,” he said. “There’s no brand that will support you better in terms of name and its systems than Area Specialist.”
“Being a little smaller, a bit more boutique, it makes you a little more nimble and able to adapt quickly, which can suit both buyers and vendors,” he said. “And from a business point of view, it’s going to save you a lot of money in overheads as well.”
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