From high school dropout to one of Australia’s most successful buyer’s agents, Michael Lezaja’s journey shows the power of determination and finding purpose in helping others succeed.
Mr Lezaja, who started his career as a security guard working seven days a week to save for his first property, has transformed his personal investment success into a thriving buyer’s agency that helps everyday Australians build wealth through property.
“I’m just a regular working-class guy who’s a security guard/high school dropout, and I love helping the common man,” Mr Lezaja said.
“I love helping just the average Aussie, whether it’s to pay down their mortgage, rentvest and scale, or just help them create wealth.”
From first home to property empire
Mr Lezaja’s property journey began in January 2005 when he purchased his first home in Western Sydney for $380,000.
“First night, I slept on the floor with just a pillow and air conditioning,” he recalled.
“My whole life, we’d never lived in a house that good. It was beautiful.”
His lightbulb moment came when he realised the previous owners had purchased the property for $170,000 seven years earlier.
“I was like, hang on a second. If I can get myself a bunch of investment properties, when the boom comes around, I can make money,” he said.
Over the next eight years, Mr Lezaja bought, renovated, and sold several properties, learning valuable lessons through trial and error.
Then in 2013, he achieved something remarkable – purchasing 14 properties in just 12 months.
“I had eight years of training, eight years of trial and error, and eight years of absorbing as much information as possible,” he explained.
His strategy was to buy under market value, renovate cost-effectively, extract equity, and repeat.
Data-driven investment approach
Today, Mr Lezaja’s buyer’s agency helps clients make strategic property investments based on data analysis and his extensive market experience.
“Back in the day, we didn’t have the data that we have today,” he said.
“Now in the post-COVID inflationary times that we live in, with a shortage of supply and access to data, you can just buy markets at the right time of the cycle.”
“It’s very predictable these days.”
Helping everyday Australians build wealth
Mr Lezaja’s business focuses on helping regular Australians invest in established properties in areas with strong growth potential.
“We’re very anti brand new, off-the-plan packages,” he said.
“We’re very established. Buy a property that’s found its level in the market, buy in a good data set area where it’s scarce and it’s due for capital growth.”
Mr Lezaja’s agency, which now has six staff based in Brisbane, is on track to write $3 million in business this year.
Finding purpose beyond wealth
Despite his financial success, including effectively retiring by age 30, Mr Lezaja admits that money alone didn’t bring him happiness.
“I thought that if I work so hard in my twenties and I become wealthy, I’d get instantly happy when I hit a certain level. Like it would be a magic pill of happiness,” he said.
“For me, that never arrived.”
It was only in the past two years that Mr Lezaja found true fulfilment in his work.
“My purpose is to help regular Aussies invest in real estate the right way, teaching them all the things we didn’t learn as kids,” he said.
“I’ve done this for twelve years. I’ve only really enjoyed the last two years because my focus is about helping my clients succeed, and I get a lot from that.”
This shift in perspective has fuelled both his personal satisfaction and business growth.
“I make more money doing my own deals on the side than I do this, but this is rewarding because you’re living through others’ success,” he said.
“I’m in flow state now. I’m just enjoying what I’m doing.”
As one of the first buyer’s agents to sign up with buyeragents.com.au, Mr Lezaja sees the platform as “a game changer for our industry” that will increase transparency and credibility.
The platform offers a dedicated space for qualified buyer’s agents to connect with property buyers looking for professional representation in an increasingly competitive market.
For someone who never expected to build a business, Mr Lezaja finds satisfaction in the daily challenges of being a CEO, content creator, and industry leader.
“Running this, there’s so many moving parts, and waking up and doing something that’s a challenge to me is rewarding as well,” he said.
“When you’re at that level where you don’t need a holiday from your life because your life is great – that’s when you know you’ve found your purpose.”
Buyersagents.com.au is proud to support the professional growth of buyer agent Michael Lezaja via a platform to connect them with more buyers. Discover more at Buyersagents.com.au.
