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It isn’t a lack of expertise on the part of agents that’s the problem.
In a recent episode of REB’s Secrets of the Top 100 Agents, leading LJ Hooker agents Nyree Ewings and Rosemary Auricchio spoke on an issue that is close to the hearts of many Australian real estate agents.
Despite having a promising career from a young age, Auricchio often found herself beset by self-doubt.
“I didn’t have the best high school education. I didn’t go to university, so I always had that in the back of my mind, saying that I wasn’t well-educated in comparison to some of the clients,” Auricchio said.
Today, Auricchio doesn’t dispute that education is important, but she has now come to better appreciate the value of emotional intelligence and business acumen in the world of real estate – skills that cannot always be taught through books.
“I realised it’s actually got nothing to do with the education. It’s got to do with who you are as a person, your confidence, but also just being genuine and authentic, and just trying to deal with human beings,” said Auricchio.
“I thought, ‘No, I’m just as knowledgeable or I can work with these types of clients.’ I think that’s when my career really changed because I believed in myself,” she recalled.
Ewings launched her real estate career while she was still in high school as part of work experience. For her, learning to block out the voice of self-doubt and own her expertise played a crucial role in her real estate journey.
“When we all started, I think there wasn’t a lot of information back then on the blueprint for real estate,” Ewings said.
Over time, however, Ewings learnt that she “never had to be concerned about why I was at the table”.
“My stock knowledge was always phenomenal,” she said. “My memory recall for data is really high, and I think that’s helped and assisted me a lot along the way.”
For Ewings, ruminating about a lack of formal education may actually be preventing real estate agents from accessing the education that they really need: training in how to run a business.
“People don’t teach you that side in real estate about how to actually manage staff well and how to be a good leader,” she said.
“I think they just teach you how to be a salesperson and then suddenly a high performer just goes and buys a business – and those skill sets don’t always translate over as well.”
While executive training helped Ewings navigate the transition to a leadership role, getting feedback from team members can be one of the most valuable forms of real-world education.
Auricchio noted that “with my mindset, I’m very open to change and I’m not always right. And I’ll say to my team, if there’s something that I am incorrect in or I did wrong, I’m sorry – I will 100 per cent own it and always take on feedback as well.”
“You have a much more open and, I think, a much more beautiful relationship,” Auricchio concluded.
Listen to the full conversation here.
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