Simone Chin operates Atria Real Estate in Brighton and surrounding Bayside suburbs, where she has established herself as a trusted agent in one of Melbourne’s most prestigious markets.
Her journey into real estate began in an unlikely place – Chelsea, Melbourne – where she joined an innovative group during the Global Financial Crisis.
“I started in the GFC, so I could not have worked harder, and I thought that was what it was like,” Simone said.
“So once the GFC concluded, I discovered this career is much easier when it’s flowing a little better.”
After a couple of years, she moved to Brighton.
“That was more my neighbourhood as it is where I grew up, but Chelsea was a good training ground for me.”
From performance to property
Before entering real estate, Simone had an extraordinary career as a classical ballet dancer, performing professionally in London and Germany until she was 30.
She credits this background as the foundation of her success in real estate.
“The discipline, practice, attitude and approach in that career, is what makes me stalwart for always being able to find something creatively that’s just going to make a campaign better,” Simone said.
This creative approach extends to how she works with clients, offering multiple strategic options for each campaign.
“We like to bring several streams of options to our selling clients so that they can sit down with us and discuss the pros and cons of each scenario,” she said.
“It gives people more freedom of choice and that sense of deliberation and ownership of the process, which can feel a little overwhelming.”
The Brighton market
Simone operates in Brighton and approximately nine surrounding suburbs in the Bayside area, extending towards Port Phillip.
The median family home sale price in Brighton sits around $3.4 million, with clients predominantly professional people in middle to senior management or business owners.
“Brighton is the heart of the Bayside area,” Simone said.
She noted that while Brighton has traditionally been an area where residents upsize and downsize within the village, COVID-19 changed the market dynamics.
“Since COVID, which opened a lot of things in real estate, we’re getting a lot of people coming from many kilometres away,” she said.
“People like to move to the Bayside area, living somewhere more relaxed and having a lifestyle that really affords golfing, sailing and walks along the bay trails.”
Building her own business
Simone launched Atria Real Estate nearly five years ago, a milestone she’s particularly proud of.
Despite initial concerns about building a client base, she was pleasantly surprised by the immediate support she received.
“I thought maybe it’s going to take me three or six months before I start returning some income. But it was lovely. We had very good will,” Simone said.
“I think sometimes women underestimate how their reputation precedes them and how many people really do wish you well.”
Giving back to the community
From day one, Simone made philanthropy central to her business model, pledging to donate at least 10% of profits to Girls From Oz, a not-for-profit organization that delivers performing arts and travel programs to young Indigenous girls in remote Australian communities.
“This is something that has already profoundly affected those remote communities over the past seventeen years,” Simone said.
“The elders in Halls Creek tell us that there’s now not a family that’s not being affected positively by the program and the whole community is involved, with graduates now working within the organisation to deliver programs to other remote areas.” she said.
Simone and her husband lived in America for 15 years while working in the film industry, and she was inspired by the philanthropic culture there.
“It’s a very philanthropic society on all levels. And I think in Australia, there’s still a little bit of an idea that unless you’re a multimillionaire or a large foundation, that that’s when you give,” she said.
“But even the smallest donations and crowdfunding, it’s such a powerful way of holding up our community, of paying into the future, and to be connected to each other.”
Looking ahead
Simone has ambitious goals for the future of the industry, particularly around supporting women and encouraging broader philanthropic participation.
“I would love to see more women business owners. I would love to see more women auctioneers. I would love to see more businesses, real estate and otherwise, becoming philanthropic,” she said.
She also advocates for teaching sales and negotiation skills in schools to help children develop agency in their lives.
“I think they should teach sales and negotiation in primary school so that our children can learn how to negotiate their agency in their lives,” Simone said.
For Simone, real estate is about more than transactions – it’s about being present for clients during significant life transitions.
“We have the opportunity to be there with them when it’s perceived as a negative move, and actually finding that we bring positivity into their lives,” she said.
“We want to make them feel that it’s really not just closing a door, but opening fresh doors and moving one step in front of the other to new adventures, new happiness and new joys.”