At just 38, Peter Diamantidis has built one of the fastest-growing real estate businesses in Sydney’s west.
Since opening his first Ray White office in 2021 with just five staff, he now leads seven offices, more than 100 team members, and a property management division that has grown from zero to over 3,000 managements in just four years.
Alongside all that, he personally sold 358 properties in the past 12 months.
“I was only a salesperson for eighteen years,” he says.
“To go into owning a business from scratch, I was scared. I was worried. I didn’t know what I was doing. But after, it’s like when you buy your first property – you just continue to buy more, and it gets easier.”
Building culture first
For Peter, growth has always been about people first.
If a staff member shows promise in an area the group hasn’t yet reached, he backs them with an office to match their ambition.
That approach, he says, is how the business has spread so quickly across Sydney’s west.
Culture, though, is just as important as expansion. He is unapologetic about what he calls a “no d**khead policy,” turning away even million-dollar writers if they don’t fit.
“The good thing about this from the team is they can see how genuine we are,” he explains.
“We’ve had million-dollar writers come in that want to join our team, and we said no. Because culturally they don’t fit.”
That focus on values has also helped develop unexpected talent. One Chairman’s Elite performer once cut Peter’s hair before asking for a job; within four years he had gone from new recruit to the network’s highest ranks.
Another long-time agent had stagnated until being “restructured” under the new system and went on to write $17 million in just six months.
Despite the size of the group, Peter still sells at a volume most principals would consider impossible.
“I sold over 350 properties in the last 12 months,” he says, and while earlier this year he briefly slowed his personal selling, but quickly reversed course.
“I had around two months where I was only probably selling 13 properties a month, and I felt bored. I didn’t know what to do. If I don’t run 100 miles an hour I feel tired; so I said to myself, I’m going to continue to sell. I went on a listing rampage. If I sell 200 properties this year, I’m happy.”
While sales bring recognition, Peter insists property management is just as vital to his business model.
“I always believe two parts of the business is sales and PM. Sales always gets recognised. They get commission. They get big awards. But PM are always left behind. What I’ve always believed is, if you can have the strongest PM business and a strong sales business, you’ve got like, double market share in an area.
That philosophy has shaped a property management division that has grown from nothing to more than 3,000 properties in just four years.
The reasoning, he says, is straightforward: a rent roll feeds the sales team.
“If you’ve got 3,000 managements, if you can get 300 properties out of your business every year to sell, that springboards to the sales team … from nearly 1,100 properties to maybe 1,500 properties a year.”
And he makes sure those efforts are rewarded.
“Next week I’m heading off to Fiji with the property management team,” he says.
“Two years ago I said, listen guys, if you hit this amount of new managements and we win one award from state awards, we’ll go to New Zealand. So I flew everyone over there. Paid for accommodation. Paid for flights. Paid for all the events. And now with Fiji we’re doing the same thing.”
From Mount Druitt to multi-office principal
Peter’s own story is part of what motivates his team. Raised by a single mother in Mount Druitt, he left school after Year 10 and was rejected for a plumbing apprenticeship.
A week of work experience at Raine & Horne in St Marys turned into an 18-year career there.
“Year 10, I had to do work experience for one week. After that one week, the gentleman then offered me a job. Before Christmas, he said, do you want this as your career? … I ended up at Raine & Horne for eighteen years.”
“I wanted to be the best. I was taking the bins out. I was doing the filing. I was doing all this stuff; I was earning $196 a week, but I wanted to be the best I could be at that time.”
He repeats the story to his agents: “I only went to Year 10. I dropped out. I had no brothers, no sisters, no father. No one gave me any handouts. I say ‘look at me. If I can do it, you can do it’.”
Family and balance
Today, he and his partner have four children, and he makes sure family time is locked into his diary as firmly as any auction.
“If I said to you I sold 358 properties in 365 days but I had six weeks of holidays and we still grew businesses … how did you do it? Good people, good structure. I block out periods of time every year. From now till July next year I know which holidays I’m going to be on, where I’m going to be. I’ll technically have five to six weeks off with the children spread out through the whole year.”
He also insists on making time for himself. “Hobbies — car racing, collecting cars, collecting watches, collecting coffee, collecting wine. Bottles of old bottles of wine. But yeah, that’s me.”
As for the future, Peter hints at further growth.
“Where we’re positioned and where we’re seeing our market share, we’re happy. But we are looking maybe more towards Parramatta … maybe out towards Toongabbie … and in the North West; there could be an expansion there within the next twelve months.”
But he is clear about what motivates him most.
“I can sell this business today, make a sh*tload of money, I’m out of here. But I get the satisfaction because I see new guys on stage (winning awards). This is what inspires me to stay in this business and not just retire under the age of 40.
“If I can do it, you can do it.”
