What does it mean to you to have just hit Elite recognition status in the Ray White group?
Achieving Elite levels in the business gives my clients confidence they are working with someone who not only knows what to do, they are working with an agent who gets things done at an Elite level.
How does your usual day look?
- 6am gym
- In the office by 8am
- Meet with the leasing team to discuss strategy for the day
- Prospecting call time between 9am-11am
- 11am-3pm on the road for inspections
- 3-5pm listing presentations
- 6-7pm admin work and reporting
How did you start your career in commercial real estate?
My family has always been involved in property and it was always an interest to me. I was in telemarketing for two years and enjoyed being on the phones but really wanted to find something I could use my phone skills as well as face to face. The opportunity arose to work with a senior agent here on the Sunshine Coast in an associate role which I enjoyed for around 12 months before being given the opportunity to be an agent of my own. This was scary, as I was in control of my own income and commission-only was a scary thought but through discipline, hard work, determination and support from my team I made it through a couple of hard years and have built a strong referral base clientele and a strong market share on the Sunshine Coast. It is now my seventh year in real estate in the same market and am absolutely loving it and striving to be better each day!
What do you enjoy most about working at Ray White Commercial? What makes Ray White Commercial different?
The support and never-ending encouragement to be the best version of myself in my career. The training on offer through Ray White Commercial is also incredible which you don’t get with any other brand. My team here on the Sunshine Coast and Northern Corridor Group are so supportive, and I know they will always have my back.
What are your go-to property marketing methods that you present to your clients?
I have experience in a range of sales methods, but my go-to method is expression of interest or informal tender as this is the best way to bring the best price the market is prepared to pay. If it’s a property that we know we are going to get a good level of enquiry from, or that we have buyers for - we would use the same process of an expression of interest campaign but go to auction to leverage the buyer competition face to face, again, ensuring the best offer on the day is the premium price available in the marketplace.
Tell me about a unique success story?
In April this year, I took on two office’s stratas side by side on the first level of a building in Buderim, with beautiful views over the escarpment. The properties had been on the market for 3+ years with various agents that were unable to sell the property. The property required some works internally to improve the presentation. The seller agreed to replace the flooring and give it a fresh coat of paint, approx. $6,000 in works. There were no marketing monies spent, other than an enhanced internet listing to attract further enquiry at $715.00.
Once the works on the properties had been completed we took the properties back to market. The owner-occupier market was tough at the moment but I knew that I had investors who would buy the properties if we were able to secure a tenant. In two weeks, I secured a tenant for one of the properties which showed promise in the other space being leased as well. Then in the fourth week, I got an offer on the property for $10,000 more than the asking price for the last three years to an investor, who was a cash buyer and settled in 30 days.
Both the buyer and seller were very happy. This shows that listening to the market, focus and hard work can sell any property - even something that has been on the market for over three years!
Do you auction?
We do mostly expressions of interest campaigns in our market, but we are starting to auction more as every time we don’t auction - we say we wish we did! As it’s best to get buyers in front of each other so they can genuinely see the competition.
What’s the one thing you know now, that you wish you knew when you first started out?
There will be ups and downs, you just need to remain calm, focussed - do your daily tasks you know will get you a result and just keep pushing through AND never miss a day of prospecting, no matter how busy you get.
What is your outlook for the Sunshine Coast commercial market over the next 12 months?
As we are in a construction boom on the Sunshine Coast with a number of master planned communities still under construction and the likes of the new Maroochydore CBD which has already commenced construction and will continue for the next 25 years there will always be a need for small warehouses space, and if the banks continue to drop the interest rates and the red tape loosens a little on lending we will see prices continue to drive up on small warehouses through owner occupiers in our central industrial estates such as Kunda Park and Warana as there is no further land to build, limited supply and growing demand!
Emily Pendleton
N: 0402 435 446
E: emily.pendleton@raywhite.com
