We Are Real Estate

Leon Carlile: From nails to sales

He started off building houses, but Qld Hot Property agent Leon Carlile then began selling the homes he built – and he’s never looked back

On getting into real estate
Before I started in real estate I was working for myself as a builder. I had done my apprenticeship after leaving school and had worked my way up to working for myself and running my own jobs. When my body started to show some signs of wear-and-tear, I decided to lift my foot off the pedal a bit and start selling the houses I was building. That led me into real estate and it all sort of grew from there.

The happiest moment in my career
When we started our own independent brand on 10 January 2002. This was a massive leap in our local market at the time and was as incredibly fulfilling as it was daunting.

The most memorable moment
One of the most memorable sales was when I sold an old farm site to Clive Berghofer, a local developer, who developed the land into an estate which was ahead of its time in Toowoomba. This was the biggest sale of my career at the time and I had the pleasure of working with Clive on the deal, which was a massive honour.

Best advice he’s received
Focus your time on the things that you have control over and less time on the things you don’t.

Biggest challenge
Staying relevant will be a massive challenge for real estate agents as technology advances at a rate faster than traditional agents will be able to keep up with. We’ve seen this with the likes of social media already seeing agencies who aren’t on these platforms lose market share and visibility.

Change for good?
I’d personally like to see a greater amount of competition online for REA and Domain. They completely dominate this space which gives them leverage against agencies to force them to sell their products if they want visibility online. A new player or players with a unique offering and dynamic approach has the potential to really decentralise these power players.

‘Elite’ agent means
Your life is dictated by the choices you make. Be patient.

#WeAreRealEstate is a series of short interviews with 140 agents all over Australia, exploring the industry’s hopes, concerns, future challenges, and what it really means to be an Elite Agent. 

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