Back in the market: Agent leaves corporate to lead 3 premium offices

Malcolm told REB that his career journey with McGrath, from its early days with only five offices to a major brand, gave him valuable leadership experience and market insight, including across the Northern Beaches.

“Managing Manly Forestville and St. Ives as the director of sales for the past four years, I got some really great insights into what top performers are like and also the market opportunities in those locations,” Malcolm told REB.

He said the opportunity to drive localised leadership and growth on the Northern Beaches felt like a natural fit, shaped by his experience leading local offices and working closely with high-performing operators.

Additionally, he said his family’s deep, multi-generational ties to the area, spanning over 110 years, cemented his decision to join those offices and see them in the next iteration of growth with McGrath.

“So when the opportunity for localised leadership presented itself, it ticked the box straight away for me as I wanted new challenges and to return to the area.”

Despite having been in the industry for over two decades, Malcolm said the switch from corporate to localised environments has not been without “excited nervousness to the unknown.”

“Being the leader and the managing principal of those offices, the decision rests with me, and so I've got great mentors such as John McGrath that I rely on.”

“But that change in dynamic has really been a great opportunity to test how good I am in the market, but also rely on my office partners and talking to new people about what we're going to be doing differently against all the competition.”

For the three offices’ high-performing agents, Malcolm said they will have a strong opportunity to grow within a business supported by experienced leadership and proven training.

Aditionally, he said that one of his key priorities would be streamlining processes for time-poor customers, which will unlock agent potential and shape the industry’s future.

“I think that's one of the greatest challenges that we face in the industry right now, is unlocking the potential of great agents doing even better under the time constraints that they have in their day-to-day lives, but also how busy our customers are.”

He said the key to simplifying processes will be to avoid jargon and be transparent about pricing, valuations, and market guides for clients to help them clearly understand how the property market works.

He added that translating this information into clear, face-to-face conversations builds trust and integrity with buyers and sellers, benefiting both clients and the industry as a whole.

“There's nothing worse than having a buyer or a seller be disappointed about missing out on a property if they've been misguided. One of the keys to our business is trust and integrity, and that applies to the entire network.”

“We are going to live that value, day to day, and I think if we can provide that clarity and education, then hopefully the industry will benefit from that as well, and trust will be rebuilt.”

As the property market continues to change rapidly, Malcolm said that agents will need to be highly educated in their specific areas and tech-savvy, accessing real-time information as soon as it becomes available.

He added that principals should help their agents to stay up to date by providing teams with daily tools and updates, such as early-morning emails on local market activity, to ensure they can respond quickly and advise current and future clients accurately.

In 2026, Malcolm said the Manly market will remain dynamic and diverse, Forestville will continue to thrive with family homes on larger blocks, aided by LMR changes, while St. Ives will remain highly aspirational with beautiful homes, great schools, and vibrant communities.

“It's great. It's so dynamic, it's so diverse.”

“Across the three locations, there are studios, luxury apartments, new developments, beautiful cottages, and outstanding houses that you can see are the wishlist and inspiration for everyone who wants to have that lifestyle.”

With such diverse markets, Malcolm said that agents will have to manage both sellers' and buyers' expectations by using technology to their advantage and nailing their appraisals.

“The appetite for growth and what we've seen with the successes of people selling and making really large sums of money has been huge in the Australian real estate market.”

“But we need to focus on the transparency of information and know that our job is not to determine the high-level price, but to determine comparable and relevant sales and then put the buyers in the room for them to decide.”

“Meeting seller's expectations is a daily occurrence, and you cannot do it unless you're talking to them daily about what’s happening in the market, as you become a hyper-local knowledge expert.”

He said agents in premium markets need a diverse skill set, combining strong industry knowledge with high emotional intelligence to guide clients through both the logical and emotional sides of buying and selling.

“We are a people business. We are not just transactions in real estate. So we need to be quite a chameleon in our approach to people's personality types and in guiding them through the process.”

He said that success in the real estate industry comes from continuous learning, attending industry events, finding mentors and never taking one's position for granted.

“High performing agents are high performing for a reason; they have an appetite for continuous learning, and never rest on their latest sales.”