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Having cemented his position as the top-ranked agent in Victoria in the REB Top 50 Agents 2022, Sam Rigopoulos has attributed his success to being well supported by a team with a range of functions.
The director at Jellis Craig Northcote recorded a 70 per cent rise in his total sales volume between 2020 and 2021, from $182.8 million to $310.4 million, the third highest among the 50 ranked agents this year.
He also recorded the least days on market at 19 days, and the second highest number of sales (182) in the rankings.
The annual state-based rankings and associated report are produced jointly by REB and Momentum Intelligence, with a range of key metrics used to determine the rankings of the top 50 agents.
These include the number of properties sold, the total dollar volume of properties sold, and the average sale value. A comparative score is then assigned to determine the top-ranked Victorian residential agents.
Ranked the number one agent in Victoria for the second consecutive year, Mr Rigopoulos said the quality of his team has largely contributed to his achievements.
He has four team members reporting to him directly, including a buyer manager who is responsible for nurturing and prospecting buyers, two associate agents who assist him with managing campaigns, and an operations manager who oversees administration.
His extended team consists of a campaign coordinator who prepares the properties for sale, along with photographers, videographers, and social media managers.
“I’ve got a lot of great people assisting me with everything, from helping me with getting houses ready, to marketing and production, to buyer management,” Mr Rigopoulos told REB.
“I think that in today’s day and age, to get to the top of your game in real estate, you just need to be really well supported by a great team in all of those fields. If you can pull that together, then you'll start to look and feel better in the market and you’ll get more knock-on energy and momentum.”
Mr Rigopoulos has also credited his accomplishments to a robust buyer management process, which provides his agency with a clear picture of the buyer market at all times.
“So, if we need to do off-market deals or if we recognise opportunities to sell for a premium early because we have the right buyers in play, all of that helps us get strong deals for our sellers, and often in short timeframes,” he said.
“We run a pretty tight ship.”
His agency focuses largely on turnkey family homes in Melbourne’s Inner North, with their average sale price ranging from $2 million to $3 million.
“The buyers have typically been second or third homebuyers looking for more space for their family during the COVID-19 crisis and lockdowns,” Mr Rigopoulos said.
“It forced people to look for different types of living arrangements and space, which drove a lot of our enquiries from people wanting to live in a different type of environment.”
Mr Rigopoulos said he will continue to focus on the growth and development of his team in 2022, with ambitions to create and build pods of teams.
“My focus is to bring people through my team who can then go out on their own (while still working under the Jellis Craig umbrella) and become strong, independent agents or build their own teams to grow the business moving forward,” he explained.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve been able to develop a couple of really strong agents who are writing over $1 million in fees through my team, and then going out on their own to do that, which has been amazing.”
Mr Rigopoulos and the agency have charted a career pathway for his employees, who begin as buyer managers, progress to associate agents (where they gain exposure, manage campaigns, and build their network and database), and then branch out independently and employ their own team.
“The employees become the leaders instead of being under my stewardship,” he said.
“Building leaders is a great thing.”
Before doing that, however, Mr Rigopoulos said it is crucial for agents to establish themselves as individual agents in their core market before growing their team.
He suggested that the first goal for any individual agent should be to secure 50 deals a year, and accumulate around 2,000 customers in their database that they can consistently nurture.
“This would provide the foundation and leverage to build a team that can help you support your growth,” he said.
“But it all starts with you having the discipline and commitment to be somebody that is worth following as a leader. There’s no substitution for hard work.”
To view the full list of REB’s Top 50 Agents Victoria 2022, click here.
To see who made the cut in the rankings across Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and NSW, click here.
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