How does your usual day look?
I like to get to work early to plan my day ahead so I can be as time efficient as possible.
The early morning provides a good opportunity to respond to an overnight enquiry and to proofread submissions and marketing material in the quiet when you are fresh. I am a great advocate of follow up and each morning I organise a target list to contact. I have calendar reminders to ensure that I attend to the tasks that I have set myself for the day.
I try and do some level of physical activity 3/4 times a week.
How did you start your career in commercial real estate?
I always wanted to be a valuer. When I left school, I started working in the State Lands Department, with a view of securing a valuation cadetship. I commenced my part time valuation studies at Seven Hills Tech College. I left the Lands Department after two and a half years and in 1975, I started at Ray White residential management division which was based in the head office at 260 Queen Street. Brian White was the newly appointed Managing Director having taken over the role from his father, Alan.
My job then morphed into being responsible for all the Ray White advertising, followed by assisting the directors in an analyst type role in the commercial division.
I was then headhunted by LJ Hooker as a cadet valuer and commercial property manager where I worked for five years whilst completing my studies. I had always wanted to work in city sales as my management portfolio was CBD focussed and I admired the savviness of private CBD owners. I joined Ray White Richard Ellis in their city sales department. Brian White was the Managing Director. This company eventually became Richard Ellis (RE).
I left RE after five years to start my own real estate practice with two colleagues, Lewis and Partners. After nine years in practice, we sold the business to a global agency and I was approached by Sam Buchanan and Bill Tucker from Richard Ellis to rejoin the team. I worked for RE for 15 years. During this time, the company was acquired by Coldwell Bank to become the globally listed agency, CBRE.
Seven years ago after some organisational changes, I left CBRE and moved back to my roots at Ray White Commercial after receiving a phone call from Brian White.
What do you enjoy most about working at Ray White Commercial? What makes Ray White Commercial different?
It has a smaller family business type vibe with a more personalised approach and I enjoy the high level of independence. The extensive Ray White network has a market edge over our competitors, particularly with my insolvency clients, with a lot of their business being regional based.
What are your go-to property marketing methods that you present to your clients?
I have always prescribed to act as the agent for the seller with my primary goal to work on formal, exclusive vendor paid marketing campaigns. My takeaway is to treat every property differently when asked to prepare a marketing submission for an owner. I give a lot of thought as to who will be the likely buyer and how you will target this specific audience.
Do you auction?
Yes, I am a great believer in auctions.
In fact, my first auction was working with City Sales at Ray White Richard Ellis, where I sold a mortgagee in possession commercial unit under the hammer and Brian White was the auctioneer. I remember signing the contract on the bonnet of the car after the auction. I also sold a CBD building for Energex under the hammer, which at the time was the biggest auction result for a CBD holding. Brian White was the auctioneer that day as well.
Tell me about a unique success story?
I worked with a fellow at LJ Hooker who was the city sales director, John De Martini, who became a very successful developer and property owner. I was appointed to a number of their CBD holdings when they decided to ramp up their development pipeline. On one of the properties, we achieved a 65% premium over the reserve being sold under the hammer for $9.4million with the tenant winning the day over two Taiwanese brothers who flew in the morning of the auction. The perfect marketing medium provided a super result for my long standing client.
Another great success story was Queensland's first KFC which achieved a record yield at the time of 4.45% with a young couple who owned two KFCs, beating the owner of the adjoining Hungry Jacks property. Interestingly, the couple had tried to buy the KFC a year earlier in an off market transaction and were keen to buy it prior to auction, however, I resisted as I knew there would be a high level of competition on the day, I was on the money!
What’s the one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you first started out?
I wish I had been introduced to computers during my school years. My introduction to computers was when I was selling NCR House in Spring Hill and a guy rang me from their Hong Kong Head Office asking, “did you get my email?”. We didn't even have computers on our desk at that stage.
Before the digital world, I was in total control of my database. We had regular mailouts to our database and I would take 1,200 letters home at night and sign them whilst watching tv. I would make any changes and hand to my PA the next morning, she would update them before the mail out was sent. We would conduct mailouts a couple of times a month and our database was regularly updated.
What is some advice you would give to a young person starting in real estate?
I have always been a big advocate of ethics in the agency world and honesty in dealings with clients, colleagues and your competitors. That has always been my number one focus. While new technology is important, it is important to focus on the ethics of your business and bring it back to basics.
I am also a firm believer that every commercial agent should do a stint in commercial management to learn the nuts and bolts of all asset classes. You gain skills in attention to detail, particularly when negotiating leases. It also hones your negotiating skills keeping owners and tenants happy. I recall my first CBD listing was a property owned by a tenant from a management property.
How do you work with other agents?
I work closely with our regional network offices particularly with my insolvency clients, where I rely on the knowledge from the local agent to secure the appointment and work the marketing campaign on a conjunctional basis to ensure a successful outcome is achieved, whilst continuing to be the primary contact with the client.
So many agents want to work solely because they do not want to share the commission pie, without asking the question “am I the best person to achieve an optimum result for the client?”. I am not too proud to ask that question, which may lead me to involve other colleagues who have additional skills and expertise. You only get paid in this game if the property sells. When securing the appointment, work smartly - what is the best way to promote and reach the target audience? My practice has been to assemble the right team to achieve these objectives.
An example of this is when I sold the Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast a number of years ago for a long established receiver client of mine, Grant Thornton. I assembled a team of five people - I was the coordinator and communicator to the receiver, I had no expertise in selling hotel/resorts and the other four team members were specialists in their own right. Our team achieved an extraordinary result for Grant Thornton.
What is your outlook for the commercial market in Queensland over the next 12 months?
I believe the market holds a lot of promise going forward, particularly with the federal LNP being returned to office. I am finding, however, the low interest rate environment is creating a challenge to convince owners to dispose of their assets as it becomes very difficult for them to reinvest their capital within something more attractive. Accordingly, they are choosing to hold their assets and stock supply is very tight. I believe it is imperative to stay in constant contact with your clients, continue asking the question, “Have you considered selling?".
John Dwyer - Director of Sales - Ray White Commercial Queensland
Contact details
Phone - 0439 034 010
Email - john.dwyer@raywhite.com
