ps. If you need an exceptional property lawyer? You’ll find George’s details below)

Listen to the full conversation on Raising the Bar by Empire Legal:

Or you can watch it here (with show notes) https://empirelegal.com.au/blog/news/episode-21-peter-brewer/

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Rare image shows Peter Brewer Author with his own teeth and hair. (Circa 2000)

My dad, a well seasoned real estate maestro in his own right often spoke about the great wheel of life.

He believed that, with every graceful rotation, that wheel eventually delivered an overdue reality check to one or two unsuspecting travellers who had been making their way through life with their heads buried deep inside their own fundamental orifices.

My Dad had a way with words.

More than 40 years in real estate has taught me plenty. Most of it is even publishable.

But the changing property markets we’re beginning to see across Australia brought to mind an exchange I had several summers ago. It remains a stark reminder that markets come and go. Conditions change. Buyers and sellers adapt, and Albos aren’t forever.

Yet our profession has a curious habit of forgetting its own history.

Worse still, there are always a few people who believe the lessons of history apply to everyone except them.

Where am I going with this slightly premature “I told you so”?

Not so many moons ago, I was invited by the REIQ to deliver marketing training to a group of relatively new entrants to the property profession.

I always loved delivering those sessions to a room full of newcomers with stars in their eyes, freshly ironed shirts and blouses, ambitious goals and an unwavering belief that real estate greatness and a lead role in their own episode of Selling Sunset was just one professionally filtered Instagram post away.

After each of those sessions, the students were required to complete an assessment.

Most did so successfully. One student. Let’s call him Olly passed every component, except one.

Olly’s unanswered question presented a hypothetical scenario.

Olly the agent was responsible for a property that had been on the market for six weeks. It had received 50 physical inspections and several thousand views across the property portals. Despite all that attention and some of his Snapchat wizardry, no offers had been received.

The property remained unsold.

The question asked Olly to explain, in his own words, the conversation he would have with the seller at the upcoming review meeting.

As I worked my way through his assessment, I noticed that the entire section had been left blank.

Being someone with a healthy disregard for unnecessary bureaucracy, I decided that instead of simply failing Olly, I’d pick up the blower and talk the scenario through.

We chatted.

I pointed out that he hadn’t completed the written component. I assumed he would apologise and tell me it’d been a simple oversight.

His response surprised me.

“Peter, the reason I didn’t answer it is because it’s a bullshit question.”

I paused.

“A bullshit question?”

Brisbane’s newest burgeoning real estate rockstar was happy to enlighten me.

“Yep. It’s a bullshit question. Your scenario is preposterous. In my office, our listings have five contracts on the first day and are sold within 24 hours. So there’s no point answering it. It’s not reality”

Okies I thought.

We chatted some more.

I gave the ‘Olster’ a brief history lesson about some of the markets I had worked through. Markets where listings didn’t sell in 24 hours, 24 days or, occasionally, even 24 months.

There were periods when we delivered birthday cakes to sellers whose homes had been on the market for a full year.

Our profession can have a remarkably short memory.

Over the years, I’ve lost count of how many agents I’ve heard say:

“Lord, please give me one more boom, and I promise I won’t waste it.”

And yet, when the next boom arrives, plenty of them waste it.

They confuse a rising market with personal brilliance.

They mistake being present during extraordinary conditions for having created those conditions themselves.

They start believing that every auction result is evidence of their negotiating genius, every suburb record is a tribute to their marketing prowess and every luxury car in the office car park has been personally gifted by the real estate gods.

Now we are beginning to see changes across some of the thousands of micro-markets that make up Australia’s property landscape.

Some are still firing. Some are softening. Some are changing street by street and suburb by suburb.

I don’t believe we’re about to see thousands of homes celebrating birthdays on the market. Not yet, anyway.

But there is undeniably a shift taking place.

Those who have completed a few laps of the real estate block understand that different markets require vastly different skills.

Skills that extend well beyond a phone, a laptop and a Realworks subscription.

For many agents, the order-taking environment they have enjoyed since COVID is changing.

While the Ollys of the world have been busy leasing Beamers, whitening teeth and ensuring their eyebrows achieve maximum architectural symmetry, those five offers in 24 hours days have become less predictable.

I’m not suggesting the market has completed a full 180-degree turn from sellers to buyers.

But I do have a few questions.

Do you remember the hundreds of buyer phone calls you didn’t return during the glorious years?

Do you remember the unsuccessful bidders whose messages sat unread for days?

Do you remember the uncomfortable multiple-offer negotiations where people making the biggest financial decision of their lives were treated as an administrative inconvenience?

Here’s the awkward part.

They remember you.

They remember the lack of empathy.

They remember the silence.

They remember the arrogance. Whether it was intended or merely perceived.

Most importantly, they remember how you made them feel.

And some of those disappointed buyers are now sellers.

So, when the name “Olly” pops up on their phone, what will be the first thought that goes through their mind?

Will they remember the sharp suit, the Rolex and the suburb-record Facebook posts?

Or will they remember the agent who couldn’t be bothered returning their call?

I also wonder how preposterous Olly will consider that assessment question when he is standing in Woolies, studying the reduced-price birthday cakes and preparing for a difficult six-month review with a vendor.

The good news for social media

There may be one small upside to a changing market.

We may finally be approaching a time when every second social media post from the friendly neighbourhood real estate rockstar is no longer a photo of a Rolex-adorned wrist gripping a BMW steering wheel beneath the caption:

“Another street record. #Grateful  #Humbled  #Blessed.”

Perhaps we’ll see more posts about genuine service.

Maybe even one or two about returning phone calls.

Maybe some posts about helping your Community.

Maybe even just helping the community without the posts. There’s a crazy concept for you.

So, what is the lesson in this tale?

Perhaps it’s that markets create opportunities, but they can also create illusions.

Perhaps it’s that good manners are not a prospecting strategy to switch on when listings become harder to win.

Perhaps it’s that the people you disregard today may become the clients you desperately need tomorrow.

Or perhaps the lesson is simply that no market lasts forever and neither does the reputation built on behaving as though it will.

But I’m interested in what you took from it.

Have you met an Olly during your career?

Have you ever mistaken favourable conditions for your own brilliance?

Did anything in this story deliver a small light-bulb moment?

And, most importantly, what do you think happened to Olly?

Did the great wheel of life eventually complete its rotation?

Did he become a thoughtful, skilled and empathetic agent?

Or is he now selling birthday cakes at Woolies and telling customers the use-by date is a bullshit question?

As always, I’d value your thoughts. Feedback is always a gift.

ps. If you’ve made it this far I think you deserve a copy of my Running Out Of Saturdays audiobook. The first 5 people to leave a comment on this post and to follow this link and type in the code Olly will receive a complimentary copy. You’re welcome!

I think it was my recently departed Mum that first introduced me to the great old saying: “if you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem”…. 

Some of you will have read my recent thoughts on the 2 big red flags I see waving in the face of the real estate profession in Australia.

If you’ve already read the article you’ll know I was talking about the obligations on employers that commenced in April to ensure they’re genuinely looking after the mental health of their employees, and the potential dire consequences if they do not.   

Employers have the obligation to ensure that Employees are fully trained to do their jobs, are properly resourced, and rewarded appropriately for their skill level, and their performance reviews are set and measured on realistic outcomes.  Your Team need to know that it’s not acceptable for them to cop crap from customers, clients, or in some cases, each other and that they are fully supported by management, and that abusive or inappropriate behaviour or advances will be dealt with head on by management. 

The other waving bright red flag of course is the rapidly disappearing number of Property Managers from the profession and the fact that they’re not being replaced by the same rate at which they’re disappearing.   Its being agreed in many circles that the real estate profession is today paying the price for not investing appropriately in rewarding existing Property Managers, for not training the next wave of Property Managers, and for actively promoting profit-sapping fee-discounting offers that have resulted in a race to the bottom where the expectations of consumers has been set to seek the lowest possible cost above quality and professionalism. 

As a profession, the actions of the cheap and nasty wham-bam-thank-you-Ma’am fee discounter agency has taught consumers that the first question they should ask is ‘How much are you’ rather than “ How good are you?”… 

Now I’m not suggesting that fees can’t or shouldn’t be competitive. I support free markets. But if your fee model is preventing you from paying key people appropriately, lowering service levels, and you’re not investing in nurturing new talent, I think you’re part of the problem. 

After the recent article ‘She just needs to take a cup of cement and harden the f#ck up’ appeared, I received a text message from a senior figure in our profession that read, 

“Peter, any advice on this mate? – An agent (female) verbally abused face to face this afternoon by a drunk seller (male). Agent shaken and felt very vulnerable. Seller tole her to ‘get your fucking sale board down etc etc’”  

My response was quick and simple:

“Business owner needs to step up and formally release the Seller from their obligations under the Form 6 (Selling agreement) *Qld . 

Business owner needs to report the abuse to the Police (if it was threatening). 

Business Owner needs to offer (insist) that the Employee receives counselling using the businesses EAP.  And if they don’t have an EAP, then they need to initiate one and at the very least ensure the Employee receives professional counselling immediately.   

Business owner needs to call a meeting of the entire office and reaffirm to all that the company policy is to not accept any physical or verbally abusive attacks from anyone, and that any abuse, or sexual or inappropriate advances are to be immediately reported and acted on by the business owner.” 

That text message wasn’t the only message I got after that article aired.  Around a dozen Property Managers from across Australia messaged me expressing their thanks for shining a light on their challenges.  Some of those notes were highly emotional and contained horror stories of the way they’ve been treated over many years. I was also chuffed to receive a call and several emails from Principals and Directors who took the time to give their thanks for awakening them to their obligations and the severity of the challenges at their feet.    Needless to say, I also received some hate mail from business owners who hated the thought I was making them publicly accountable.   I’m 100% ok with that.  Hopefully they’ll move on to a discounted retirement village. 

I started this musing quoting my Mum, “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.”  My Mum, one of the wisest people i’ve known, would be saying to me right now, ‘Peter, you can’t stir up a hornet’s nest if you don’t have a solution to eradicate the hornets.’

So, in order for me to be true to my word, and to honour my Mum’s words, I offer this friendly food for thought.

After growing, managing, and selling a significant Property Management business over several decades; after studying the profitability of hundreds of Property Management businesses across Australia, NZ and the USA over several decades; and after taking a deep dive into the stale labor intensive business model still being employed by way too many businesses, I’m ready to say that the property management profession in its current form in many businesses is on life support in the ICU with little chance of survival without undergoing major surgery. 

You’ve only gotta read the Annual Rent Roll Market Report provided by Brad Robson detailing the number, size, profitability, and multipliers being achieved by business owners who are selling up to get a feel for what some of the bigger challenges are.

It’s bloody expensive to stick your head in the sand and to pray that the bad man is going to go away.  #Protip: He’s not going anywhere. It’s time to think and act. The bad man is not going away and his footsteps are getting louder.   Who is the bad man coming to ‘get’ your business?  

Is it Amazon? 

Is it Google?

Is it a Portal?

Is it your own lack of action?

Is it Mr 1.5% from the next suburb across? 

What will they beat you on? 

There’s no question that models need to change, roles need to change, fees need to change, people management needs to change, and the services our profession provides to investors and tenants largely needs to change. 

What do I think you need to do to survive?  

Find out at my upcoming webinar on October 4th where we’ll be exploring what the new normal looks like, and the 5 key actions my expert panel including Cloudstaff’s Chief of Compliance Wayne Bucklar and others believe you need to implement before the sun sets on 2023.  

Will I see you there? Will you be part of the solution or part of the problem? 

That irritating question gets posed by my long and faithful dentist every six months for as long as I can remember.

Each time, I tell her the same porky, and she gives me a stern warning that I need to get into better habits. (Hardly breaking news for anyone who knows me.)

At the end of every six-month check-up, my dentist hands me a piece of paper entitled ‘Urgent Treatment Plan.’ This is supposed to consist of the work she wants to perform. What it really consists of is lots of codes, numbers, and names which mean absolutely nothing to me.

My fortunately numbed jaw starts to gape at the bottom line of $3,200 and the thought of having to spend yet another 4 hours in her chair.

So, every 6 months, it’s the same old story:
– Go to dentist.
– Get asked if I’m flossing. Lie and say ‘yes’.
– Depart with my Urgent Treatment Plan.
– Make promises I won’t keep: “Yes, I’ll floss more,” and, “I will definitely

make a booking for this Urgent Treatment Plan.”

So far, I’ve survived six visits to my fluoride farmer without my face falling off even with my broken promises. This has deepened my suspicion that my real-life tooth fairy is upselling me a plan that will fund the next Mykonos trip or newest Porsche. Other than a piece of paper with lots of confusing numbers and symbols, there’s been no evidence that things are getting feisty in my fangs.

Quietly, I was feeling confident after my last visit with her that all was well in the ol’ North and South.

Fast forward 5 months later.

Forgive me father, but I am weak of flesh and, in a momentary lapse, I strayed from my porcelain polishing friend and ended up in the reclining chair of a different dentist. (In my defence, this new dentist had a vacancy that wasn’t 3 months away and he offered exceptional car parking.)

Lying back in the chair, I had an eerie moment of déjà vu. The first words from Billy, my newfound man of molars, were…you guessed it…

“Have you been flossing?”

(Is this the dental version of ‘How’s the market?’ And has anyone ever said, “Yes,” and meant it?)

Anyway, I lied and said I had. He suggested I needed better habits. I nodded. He nodded. Both of us knew that I hadn’t and wouldn’t.

Then, it was business as usual. My new dentist poked and prodded, took X- rays, said ooh and ahh a lot, and gave my trusty choppers a buff and polish, making them sparkle again.

Visit over, on cue, he printed off my “Urgent Treatment Plan.” And yep, this one had all those mysterious codes and unrecognisable words and the total of $3200.

This time, though, something different happened. While I was still firmly strapped down in the dental chair, spotlight shining directly in my eyes, Billy turned on his ceiling-mounted TV and, tooth by tooth, showed me each and every stress crack, broken filling, and gap hiding behind my velvet lips.

Yowza! What I witnessed in that cavernous enclave had more holes than St Andrews.

Armed with this evidence, and with eleven simple words, Billy was able to book his next Santorini holiday: “Would you prefer to start your urgent treatment plan today or Friday?”

What could I say? What could I do? I couldn’t deny it any longer. The evidence was right there. The cakehole had definitely seen too much cake. My oral orifice was overdue for some observation. What Billy showed me, up close and personal, was that my once magnificent molars needed some serious renovation if I wanted to continue indulging my deep love for a medium rare 500gram rib fillet.

That Urgent Treatment Plan I’d, in the past, dutifully filed in my trusty rubbish filing bin wasn’t just another piece of paper with an unsolvable and easily ignorable puzzle anymore. No, seeing is believing, and I commenced my treatment plan with Billy that day.

Is this tome really about teeth? What am I really rambling about here? This Tale of Terrible Teeth is a metaphor.

We kid ourselves every day that everything is AOK in our personal and business world. But what has served us well for the last 20, 30, 40 or 50 years probably, despite our protestations or how much we try to kid ourselves we’re immune to this rapidly changing world, doesn’t serve us at all anymore. Our personal and business lives are in need of some attention.

Maybe you’ve acknowledged this already. Maybe you’ve even seen your own Urgent Treatment Plan for your business but, up until now, it’s been indecipherable to you. And maybe, just like flossing, you swear you’ll do it moving forward, but keep putting it on the back burner.

If you’re an avid reader of mine, you’ll know I’m more than a little obsessed with the sustainability of existing business models. Of more recent times, I’ve been specifically focused on the effective use of VAs (virtual assistants) in real estate businesses.

You see, I’ve heard successful real estate agencies and agents talk about how VAs have totally transformed the way they do business. But, just as I was skeptical of any Urgent Treatment Plan fixing my fangs, I was also dubious whether VAs trained in real estate and located in the Philippines could honestly have the skills, knowledge, and capacity to truly support the admin, property management, and sales support functions of a modern Australian real estate business.

There was only one way to make me believe, and that was to see behind the scenes – all the details – with my own eyes.

So, I traveled to the Philippines and Cloudstaff’s offices to spend real quality time with Cloudstaff VAs specialising in real estate. I can now say that I’ve been able to witness firsthand their work to help streamline the back-end engine rooms of hundreds of Australian businesses.

I can also confidently tell you that if you’re looking for your own Urgent Treatment Plan for your real estate business and cost-effective, reliable solutions to your PM, Admin, and Sales support problems, it’s time for you to face facts for yourself.

Whether you’re cautiously curious or simply skeptical or just plain sitting on the fence about VAs and how they can:
a) rid you of your HR woes;
b) help streamline your systems;

c) grow your culture; and
d) free up your PM leaders to focus less on leaky taps and more on positive growth;

then you should join me on my next study tour to the Phillipines in December. We’ll fly into Manila, visit the impressive and secure Cloudstaff buildings, soak up the amazing culture of the Philippine’s #1 Workplace, examine case studies of businesses just like yours, and, if you’re ready, meet and interview your own VA.

There’s a saying, “Only floss the teeth you want to keep.” If you’re going to continue to crumple up your business’ Urgent Care Plan and refile it into your own ‘special bin’ instead of directly addressing your business’ problems, which part of your business are willing to let go of?

Seeing is believing.

Like to know more?.. Give me a call on 0417630962, visit Cloudstaff online, or join my webinar on October 4th and let’s fix those cracks, broken parts, and gaping holes in your business today.

It’d be incredibly unkind of me to generalise the entire real estate profession as having a reputation for being cautious with their coins. In fact, I’ve witnessed first-hand some incredible acts of generosity from real estate people across Australia, New Zealand, and in the USA.

But I can’t deny that I’ve seen more than a handful of business owners break into a cold sweat when they’ve misplaced their 2 for 1 coffee voucher.

There’s a great old saying; ‘If you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves.’ It’s a well respected truism that’s served a legion of smart business people really well. Keeping a watchful eye on the skinny margins and knowing your percentages and numbers down to last dollar is mission critical.

And in a business vertical that’s feeling increasing pressure on its margins, it’s never been more more important.

Sadly, experience tells me that good financial management, including properly segmenting and reporting on each department as its own profit centre, is actually a rarity.

Having an intimate knowledge of whether your PM or Sales departments are making you a dollar or costing you a motza independent of each other is one of the most important monthly measurements to be ruthlessly analysed.

Mopping the sweat off your brow and emitting a sigh of relief because you’ve had 4 great months and a bank statement with no red numbers or minus signs on it doesn’t cut it as advanced financial management.

With operational costs on the up, and income on the decline in most businesses, profit margins are getting slammed, and that ill considered master plan of buying 2 new cars, a holiday house and a new Rolex during the recent boom, coupled with 12 consecutive interest rate rises, is starting to suck a little for some…

f you’re a frequent reader of my ramblings, you’ll be aware of my regular references to the various bytes of wisdom programmed into me by some of this industry’s finest mentors.

I’m not talking about cute one liners from the self appointed soothsayers with inflated egos, deflated bank accounts, and a course to flog, but genuine golden nuggets of genius from those that were/are relentless in knowing to the exact half a percent how their business was/is tracking.

They’re the fearless seasoned leaders that know when hard logical business decisions need to be made, usually long before other business owners have noticed a blip on the radar. They’re the true business leaders with genuine courage.

In 1964, the great Bob Dylan wrote; ‘The times they are a changin’.’ The song is a heralding call to existing and emerging generations that change is inevitable.

Dylan writes; “And admit that the waiters around you have grown, And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone’. ‘If your time to you is worth saving, then you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times they are a changin’.

As the market forces change, and as I visit more and more businesses and study their finances, operational processes and use of personnel, I’m feeling that there’s a really important message in Dylan’s lyrics; …. ‘Your old road is rapidly agin’, Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand, For the times they are a changin’.’

My early Mentors were wise about using their resources effectively.

Resources are Time, People, and Money. They’re pretty much the same for every business. Time, People, Money. They are the most common levers to pull when adjustments must be made.

One of the first things I do if I’m considering taking on a new client is to ask them to do some genuine self assessment via some simple questions. It helps me decide if they’re honest with themselves and whether we’re gunna be a good fit. It goes a little like this

Play along at home if you like.

1. Are you making the absolute best use of your time at work and play? Should you really be doing the things you do each day?

2. Are you getting the most out of your people? Are they doing the tasks that best fit their skill level? Are your ‘people people’ wasted being admin people?

3. Is every dollar of your money spent wisely?

4. Would you genuinely employ every single one of your existing team members if they re-applied for their roles today? Would their role even be needed today?

5. Are you open to new ways of doing business? How’d you do?

Heeding Dylan’s words, I’ve been spending a lot of time observing the changes happening across the real estate industry and exploring alternative solutions to ensure that businesses get the most of those resources of time, people, and money.

Along with valuable insights from stellar business luminaries such as Cloudtsaff CCO Wayne Bucklar, Business Profitability Analyst, Dean Yeo, I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned with all of you on my upcoming webinar”The Challenge Of Change and How To Stay Relevant”

Register here to attend or to receive a recording of this informative session.

I was on the receiving end of some really tough feedback from a close business colleague of mine recently. He’s not one to mince words and the feedback he delivered hit me in the face with a chair. (Figuratively of course, no chair or face was actually harmed in the delivery.) And his feedback hurt deeply, because it’s an approach on life I’ve prided myself on for decades.

The two words he delivered were simple, but cutting. His hurtful words? “You’ve changed.”

To add some context, I’d like to think I’ve earned a trademark as a guy who challenges the status quo. If there’s some zigging going on, I’m zagging. If the invitation says black tie, I’m the guy in the open neck shirt and colourfully patterned jacket. If they tell me no, I’m looking for the yes.

I’ve never been one to adhere to weary meaningless traditions just because that’s what they did in the good old days. Hey, if we all were inflexible to change, we’d be driving horses and carts to work and we’d have to trek to the thunder box in the back yard for our daily ablutions.

So, to be told that I’ve changed hit me pretty hard, and had me reflecting on his words.

Take this quiz with me. (And if you’re not sure if you can answer the questions, you may need to phone a friend.)

1. Have you ever thought or said, “Get off my lawn”?
2. Do you find yourself thinking, “Kids these days…”
3. Do you find that it now takes you all night to do what you used to do all night?
4. Have you contemplated yelling at a cloud?
5. Do your dentures glow in the dark?
6. Do more than two body parts complain when you get out of your chair?
7. Have you ever started a sentence with, “Back in my day…”?
8. Have you ever justified something in your personal or work life with, ‘That’s the way we’ve always done it around here’?
9. Do you find that you hate noisy bars and restaurants, but your TV is turned more than halfway up?
10. Have you ever muttered under your breath, “Bloody P platers”? Bonus questions:
11. Do your more-than-amply-bushy eyebrows bristle when somebody says something about Boomers?
12. Have you ever mumbled, “These young people need to toughen up. Back in my day, interest rates were 17%.”

If you’ve answered or even nodded yes to any of these questions, you won’t need Google or WebMD to diagnose you’re suffering from a severe case of Old Farts Disease.

Those of us with OFD may feel resigned to their destinies.

It’s too easy for people of my vintage to lose their flexibility, not just in body, but in mind, spirit, and business. It’s too easy to just take the same road to work every day, break for lunch at noon, and watch the news at 6pm every night with a warm cup of Milo.

Fear not, my fellow follically challenged friends. There is hope on the horizon, although the sun may be appearing to set faster on our particular horizon.

Breaking news, my friends. If you’ve spent your life whinging about ‘the minorities’ having too much of a say and you’re now at least a sexagenarian, guess what – we Boomers are now in the minority.

So, are you now:

Talking about and receptive to ideas your family or kids may have around climate change, mental health, or supporting a different team (whether that’s in footy or around sexuality)?

Talking to staff or work colleagues in an open and respectful manner around work-life balance, working from home versus working in the office, three-day versus five-day work weeks, and overall working hours?

Sharing roles – are they good, bad, or indifferent about them?

How are you staying relevant? Are you attending industry events? Are you listening to new podcasts or subscribing to different newsletters? How do you embrace new ideas?

In the real estate business, especially, you have to keep an open mind, have a preparedness to embrace change, and a insatiable passion for growth.

Register here for this information packed webinar on October 4th where I’ll be discussing these things more in-depth. Or, if you insist on being old school and seeing things in the flesh, join me on my next tax- deductible study tour to the Philippines in early November or December where I’ll be presenting on 5 new old ways of doing business that helped me and will help you stay relevant in this faster-paced world.

Let me help you make my dreams come true!

As our team motto says:

“The worst thing you can be is gullible”

My friend told me that means you’re prone to random attacks by seagulls

Rarely does the opportunity come along for simple gullible people to do something simple and special for someone else that would, in just a few short moments, and after about a dozen keystrokes, significantly change someone’s life.

Now I can’t guarantee which one of our lives will change, but If I was a betting man, i’d say the odds are strongly with me…

Today is your chance to make a difference!

For over 60 years i’ve dreamed of living a life of being a lazy bum sitting on a beach sipping cold beers. And now, given that my OnlyFans account has been suspended in disgrace, this is probably the end of the road for my dream.

But thankfully, you’ve come along! You’re probably my last hope.

So what’s it gunna be? Are you going to change my life and leave your banking details below for me so that I can pursue my beach bumming dream? I’m gunna need your BSB, Account number, and full name.

*Bonus points if you give me your pin #. It’ll save me Googling it if you’re an Optus customer…

Or are you just going to PayPal me a few bucks for a beer?

Choose wisely!

I wrote about it and shared it here. In his short piece, Brogan dot pointed things he’d do if he were a Realtor in 2009 with the then emergence of video, Twitter, and a new fad thing called Facebook.   He talked a bit about community and engagement.

In light of the current angst within much of the real estate community in Australia, I thought I’d use some licence and build a 2014 Australian version of Brogan’s wonderful words…

If I Were an Australian Real Estate Agent in 2014

• I’d identify and develop a ‘magnificent modern point of difference’ in my marketing.  

• I’d acknowledge that anyone can put a listing on realestate.com.au. Even a seller. On their own. I’d never forget that.

• I’d use video. Lots of it. No more BS excuses on why you can’t.  The days for excuses on video being “too dear, too hard, too slow” are over.

• If I were a Real Estate Agent in Australia in 2014,  I’d understand that many sellers still see us as necessary evils in the transaction. I’d work tirelessly to change that perception of me.  Immediately.

Regardless of whether I’m an Agent, Agency or a Salesperson, I’d have my own websites. Plural. Lots of them in fact. At least 5.  I wouldn’t just settle for the stock-in-trade website handed out to me by my franchise group or association. Sure, I’d pimp the franchise or association one out to the absolute max, but I’d also have my own strong, structured strategic plan for developing online lead and relationship generation.

• I’d have information-rich and totally relevant websites for buyers, sellers, investors, and others.  They wouldn’t be talking about my company or fuelling my own ego with posed out of date photos of me in a flash suit, or standing in front of a leased racy BMW. The websites probably wouldn’t even have my logo on them. They’d be strategically designed to inform people and capture lots of enquiry. They’d position me as the indisputable trusted local authority.

• I’d trash the absolute crap that gets sent to the people in the database, and I’d replace that mail with interesting, relevant information that people appreciate receiving.  *(Tip)  If I’m a 700k Unit buyer, please don’t send me 2 million dollar farms or your $200 p/wk rentals.

• I’d stop advertising to chase NEW business and I’d connect with the forgotten ones. The people who’ve already had a brand or personal experience with me.  It’s so much easier to deal with those who already know us.

If I wanted to excel as an Agent in Australia in 2014, and beyond, I’d ask someone trustworthy which database they think is the best database. And when they answered, ‘the best database ever invented is… ‘the one you actually use’, I’d believe them, I’d stop searching,  I’d  do what Nike say (#jfdi), and I’d move to the next point  Swiftly.   

• I’d use my database product and, because I’m better using my brain, ears, and mouth than I am with typing words and numbers into a database, I’d appoint an offshore database manager for $2.00 an hour to input and manage strategic forms and frequency of communication with my clients to ensure an ongoing drip feed of repeat sellers and buyers.
• If I were a professional real estate agent in Australia in 2014 I’d be showing my sellers the deep connections I have with ready made buyers in my database and I’d use that as a key point in my listing presentation. That’d be one of the key differentials I’d win every listing from you on.

• I’d letter box drop 10,000 glossy print, dl sized banana and almond cake recipe cards to my farming area every month without fail. BUT ONLY IF they actually were a proven source of seller enquiry.  And once I finally came to my senses and realised they’re a waste of money, I’d change that expenditure into creating an awesome digital footprint that gets me found where the genuine sellers and buyers are researching.  And that’s not in their letterbox.

• I’d post all my listings to my local institute site. As a member, I get to vote on the make-up of that board with my colleagues. We are those site’s stakeholders and shareholders.   I’d remember Don Chipp, founder of the Australian Democrats Party’s goal ‘to keep the bastards honest’.  Support your Institute. They’re not the bastards. Help them help you.

• I’d still post my listings on realestate.com.au. and Domain and some other portals. But I wouldn’t do it until I had absolutely  exhausted every other source of enquiry, and never ever before 30 days had passed. I’d never break ranks from this and I’d only work with a business that sees the bigger, long-term picture and supported my colleagues and I to do this.

I wouldn’t ever remotely consider buying a feature, premium, or fancy pants advertisement at up to a seemingly ridiculous $3,665.00 on a portal to get a listing found a bit higher up for a week or so. Trust me. The buyers will still find your property. Just like the major portals, I have conducted my own deep dive private research using my Mum, Brother, and my long lost Aunty Joan on this. They still found their neighbours’ homes for sale hidden on page 4 of realestate.com.au. and Domain amidst a sea of crammed, glittery, irrelevant, distracting, flashing advertising mayhem. 

• If I were a real estate agent in Australia in 2014 I wouldn’t stick my head in the sand and smugly say ‘it doesn’t matter what price the portals charge, I don’t pay for ads, My sellers pay for all their advertising’ ..  My friends, the day will soon come when even your sellers will too be tired of being anally probed and say ‘enough is enough ‘. Do your job and represent their interests in all parts of the transaction. That includes cost-effective marketing.

• I’d very quickly get to understand how Facebook, Google and retargeted online advertising works and I’d adopt it into my my business’ and my clients’ products as part of my magnificent point of difference I referred to in Point 1.

• If I was personally challenged and didn’t know how to effectively use the online world to professionally market property and myself then, just like a budding auctioneer gets an auction coach and just like a first grade football or cricket player gets a kicking, tackling or bowling coach, I’d get an online marketing coach, or I’d take me up on my free offer to Pick Peter’s Brain.

If I were a real estate agent in Australia in 2014, I’d certainly support a move for change, and I’d do it now…otherwise the industry you have today might not be yours in 2016.

But that’s just what I’d do.  You?  

You’d probably also enjoy this really short post on the importance of having a great digital twin. 

We need to be very cautious at what we say online. The News Polls tell us that near enough to 40 to 50% of Aussies are aligned in some way with a political party. With this in mind is it smart business for you to share your political views with your social networks?.. Do you know what their politics are?. Would sharing your views assist or impede any future relationship you or your team may have with them. The Fact is that you’re guaranteed of affecting (read damaging) your relationship with around 40 to 50% your social network if you get too passionate about your politics online.

Your business needs a Social Media Policy. Have you got one?… Like a hand in building one?…  Call me today! Peter Brewer 2.0 0417 630 962

Let me acknowledge that we live in a free country and I value our freedom and right to express our feelings. Let me just say “Time and Place”…

Having a social media policy and expectations around the things your team say online is also critical as social sites  develop more and the line between clients, customers and friends gets blurry. An example may be that you or one of your team may have a particular opinion about politics, religion or sexuality. It may be that in an online world their opinions should be kept to themselves or only shared with (VERY) close friends. It just may be that the person reading your Facebook post or Tweet may have a significant leaning in an entirely opposite direction. Sure, its important to have and respect freedom of speech, but lets be mindful of the line between what we say in a personal world and what we say in a business world… and what effect those shared public opinions may have on future business and ongoing relationships for us and our businesses.

I think you’ll find the video below helpful in developing a simple social media policy for you and your team.

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