We Are Real Estate
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Shaun Blackburn: Service and knowledge beats experience
On getting into real estateWhen in school I was starting to learn about investing in real estate and a mentor told me that the best way to get into the investment side is to work in it. Second job out of school was then working in real estate. The happiest moment in my careerSpending time…
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Tameka Smith: Quality over quantity
On getting into real estateI was working in property valuations and was approached by a well-known real estate agent to join his business. I started in administration then moved very quickly into property management. The happiest moment in my careerEstablishing my own rental company, with a very clear quality over quantity approach. Winning a few awards in 2018, including the…
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Kylie Charlton: Embrace the disruptors
On getting into real estateThe father of a great friend from high school was a real estate agent. They had a pool and tennis court and great cars – I wanted their life. The happiest moment in my careerWhen a client says, “this fabulous result changes my life, Kylie”. The most memorable momentA $6.5 million…
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Tiron Manning: Nurture not nag
On getting into real estateI was dragged from inspection to inspection as a kid, then through display home after display home when parents decided to knock down and rebuild. I got to see a lot of property in my early years. In my mid 20s I was sick of the retail environment of working harder for no extra return or…
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Julie Harris: Flying solo
On getting into real estateI was an executive recruiter for 23 years, then the GFC happened and I lost three jobs in as many years. I had to rethink my career and retrain or no one would employ me. A friend suggested real estate so I thought I’d give the certificate a try. I haven’t looked back since. The happiest…
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Leon Carlile: From nails to sales
On getting into real estateBefore 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…
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Michelle Williams: Consistency through growth
On getting into real estateLike most property managers, I came across the industry by accident. I was a young mother returning to work and started working with a local agency part-time in a support position. I was promoted like lightning and while I would like to say it was because of my incredible skills, in reality back in the ’90s…
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Damien Ogilvy: Challenging sales are the best
On getting into real estateI have always had an interest in real estate and spent quite a bit of time looking for the right opportunity to enter the industry. The happiest moment in my careerReally helping people. Sometimes that means a record price that helps accelerate their financial growth, or sometimes it is helping a family out of a really…
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Vivien Yap: Don’t give up
On getting into real estateReal estate chose me, as this is not my first career. Real Estate came to me as my friend recommended I do the real estate course as he had a home for me to sell. The happiest moment in my careerHelping clients. One of the most satisfying was helping my client sell her home just in…
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Loretta Khoo: The difference between ordinary and extraordinary
On getting into real estateI’m not sure whether you choose a passion, or it chooses you. Initially, I thought I chose real estate, but quickly realised it was in my blood and I had followed a deep-seated passion. The happiest moment in my careerDespite the professional accolades, the happiest times in my career have been those satisfying moments when I…
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Frank Cui: DIY agent
On getting into real estateI was in corporate banking and moved into property development but had not really considered real estate sales as a career. However, in using others to sell property, my expectations were not being met, so I decided to do it myself. The happiest moment in my careerThere have been many, many of them but any moment…
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Julie Munro: Policing to property
On getting into real estateAfter 23 years of policing, I fell in love with a real estate agent who lived 1400kms away from me. I took eight months of long service leave and dabbled in what I would do when I moved to Townsville. Before I knew it, I was a ‘sorta’ PA to my partner (his whole family are…
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Jo Mooney: Going ‘all-in’
On getting into real estateIt’s probably strange to say, but real estate sales was always on my bucket-list, but the timing had never been right earlier in life for the commitment I knew it would require to go ‘all in’. Seven years ago, at just the right time, the opportunity came up within a well-established franchise group, so I grabbed…
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Matt Goding: Setting goals
On getting into real estateIt has always been an interest of mine since I was in secondary school. The happiest moment in my careerWhen I was promoted to a department manager role in a previous job. The most memorable momentThe first unit I sold when starting my career in sales. Best advice he’s receivedDon’t take what your clients say to…
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David Dwyer: Hooked from day one
On getting into real estateI responded to an advertisement in the paper. I really had no idea of the day-to-day processes an agent needs to complete, but I was addicted from day one. The happiest moment in my careerAny time I hand the keys to a new owner, especially a first home buyer. The most memorable momentTwo come to mind.…
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Melissa Bussenschutt: Nursing new challenges
On getting into real estateI was an enrolled nurse for around 20 years when I found real estate. I was at a stage where I was looking for something more. My kids had grown up and I felt like I wasn’t challenged anymore. I was lucky enough to be offered a position as a property manager with a local regional…
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Jason Martin: Turning a hobby into a career
On getting into real estateIn another life I was working in the money market for a merchant bank and looking for a new challenge or career where my results were more tangible and benefited people I dealt with more directly. I ended up turning a keen interest and hobby in real estate into a career. …
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Pamela Lee Burge: Your smile is your logo
On getting into real estateMy cousin worked in a real estate office that managed our property while we were overseas and when we returned with a three-month-old baby, I said what everybody says: “I’ve always thought I’d like to be a real estate agent”. I left her office with a job I wasn’t even sure I wanted and have never…
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Darin Butcher: treat every sale as if it’s your first
On getting into real estateAt first I chose computer science to do at university, but after a year failing and reviewing my options, I decided that I would come back to the Central Coast. I was looking for a job at the same time I was learning real estate at Tafe as a backup. Once I started studying real estate,…
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Andrew Milne: The art of selling
On getting into real estateI had been working in men’s retail, in particular selling suits. I had always liked property but I wasn’t handy so I couldn’t be a tradie, but I knew I could sell so I decided to sell homes instead of build them. The happiest moment in my careerWinning my first award for the top salesperson in…
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Matt Lahood: Reaching full potential
On getting into real estate From the ages of 7 to 15 my parents owned three rentals, which my mum managed. They couldn’t afford an agent, so mum would collect the rent and visit the properties – I would go along too and I thought this would be a fun job. The happiest moment in my career When I first…
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Katie Knight: Family ties
On getting into real estate My dad opened the business when I was half way through Grade 12 (we were the ninth RE/MAX office to open in Australia) and I had planned to head to Brisbane to study law when I finished school. Dad spoke to me before I returned my paperwork for university and said something along the lines…
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Dave Skow: Crossing Borders
On getting into real estate I was the typical real estate fanboy from when I was a teenager, completing school-based work experience at two local agencies and then applying for an entry-level job (after a semester of confirming university was not at all for me). The happiest moment in my career Taking the plunge and opening my own business. The…
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Spiro Drossos: Going off-script
With 17 years’ experience under his belt, Barry Plant’s Spiro Drossos reveals why it’s important to have real conversations and to think like a customer – not a real estate agent. On getting into real estate As a kid I was always intrigued by and interested in real estate. This, together with my strong customer service background, made real estate…
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Grant Smith- Integrity, honesty and passion
On getting into real estate I have had a passion for real estate since I was a young boy when I used to ride my bike to open homes around the area on a Saturday. This was before the internet and realestate.com.au, so it was a Saturday paper and a marker pen to choose which open homes I’d look at.…
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Michael Coombs: Focus on the people, not the money
On getting into real estate I left school and worked as a landscaper but growing up I always loved looking at houses and going through open homes. I use to go through as a kid, when I was about 15 years old, and ask a lot of questions. Most of the time they would kick me out. I grew up…
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John McGrath: Keep changing and growing
On getting into real estate I thought I’d like real estate and figured out it was an important transaction in everyone’s life. I was pretty determined to find one thing I loved and stick to it, so it had to be something important if I was going to do it for 50 years. The happiest moment in my career You…
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Fadi Hajjar: Break up and make up
On getting into real estate After a short stint in real estate upon graduating from high school, I decided that real estate was not for me, so we broke up. I went on to complete three university degrees and was a secondary school teacher for almost a decade. But the theatrics and adrenaline of auctions kept luring me back. I…
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Lisa Novak: Doing things differently
On getting into real estate The short answer: I married a real estate agent. I’d always loved property so it was no wonder that I fell in love with a real estate agent and then the industry! I came into the industry as ‘a favour’ to assist with marketing in our then-brand-new agency, then moved into a general management role…
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Stuart Benson: The Power of Relationships
On getting into real estate I consciously chose real estate. I knew a traditional 9-5’er wasn’t for me, and was happy to do odd days and hours because every day was a new location, a new client, a new challenge. On the other hand, auctioneering chose me after a few colleagues reckoned I was born to do it. The happiest…
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Joel Davoren: A genuine love of real estate
On getting into real estate It took me some time to realise that I love the industry, probably three years. I just stuck with it through the challenging first few years and on the other side of that, I realised I genuinely loved the nature of the industry. Initially it was a job and now it is a passion and…
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Phil Harris: Strong results and service to community
On getting into real estate Real Estate was not something that I grew up wanting to do. I always dreamt of being a professional sportsman, however that didn’t work out for me so I had to get a real job. A friend suggested real estate so I applied with a number of agencies and I was fortunate enough that Ray…
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Adam Scott: The truth no matter how tough
On getting into real estate Real Estate was always something I really wanted to do and I thought I could be good at it, but it was always too much of a risk to move away from my safer career positions. Then, after a bit of a brain fart where I quit a job with no back up plan, I…
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John Cunningham: Professional and Proud
On getting into real estate I started out training to be a valuer and completed a Diploma in Valuation whilst doing all kinds of work. After two years working at The Water Board, I was very bored with the prospects so started to look at general real estate when I was 21. The happiest moment in my career I think…
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Jodie Hedley-Ward: Connection first, Commission second
On getting into real estate My husband encouraged me for several years to enter real estate, telling me he thought I would love it. I was writing books at the time on motherhood and had two small children, but when they started primary school, I decided the time was right to check it out. I pretty much fell in love…
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