From rising star to director: How winning REB’s 2017 Newcomer of the Year set an agent up for success

“I was working at Myer in the men’s suiting department, and the next minute, I was sitting at a real estate desk, a 19-year-old kid just having a crack,” Harvey said.

Harvey said that his real estate career got off to a hot start, and within 12-18 months, he was receiving recognition in the industry, earning REB’s Newcomer of the Year and Excellence Awards in 2017.

While winning the award was welcomed, Harvey said the feeling was surreal, especially coming from the quiet suburb of Bracken Ridge.

“We were a humble little office out in that area, so it was great to be recognised for the hard work that I put in to get there,” he said.

Onwards and upwards

Despite coming from a small market, Harvey said that winning the Newcomer of the Year and the Excellence Award at the REB Awards 2017 helped to propel his career.

Almost a decade after being on REB’s stage, Harvey’s progressed all the way into ownership, launching a Coronis office in Strathpine, Brisbane’s Moreton Bay.

Less than a year after launching the office, it has grown into a team of 12 staff members, listing over 140 properties and managing a rent roll of nearly 500.

Harvey said that, as an agency leader, he believed in the “lead from the front” approach, maintaining a high sales volume whilst helping young agents develop under his wing.

“Bringing the new guys through, probably similar to how I was when I started, is really a passion of mine now,” he said.

“That is something that is really important to me, giving back and bringing the younger generation through.”

While he had seen plenty of success, Harvey said that after 11 years as a salesperson, his prior experience carried little weight as he came to grips with the property management side of the business.

“It feels a bit like I am back in 2015 or 2016, starting again and really learning from the ground up.”

“It’s been interesting learning that side of the business, and that’s probably been my biggest growing point over the last nine months or so.”

Tips from a former newcomer

As someone who started out as a high-performing new agent, Harvey said that he understood the importance of getting the ball rolling early.

Harvey said that being naive and lacking knowledge in the early stages of a real estate career could actually be an advantage, as agents didn’t have any preexisting bad habits.

“It was an absolute blessing because at that stage, you don’t know what you don’t know,” he said.

“I had this blind faith in what the business and my leaders at the time showed me.”

Additionally, he said that while agents were young and didn’t have many outside of work commitments, they could really make the most of their time to “really rip in”.

In the early stages of his career, Harvey said he was a one-man band, focused on hustling as hard as he could to secure listings.

“I was a phone assassin, to be honest. I was making 120 connects a day and just really doing everything I could,” he said.

One of the biggest pieces of advice Harvey gave young agents was to align with a strong mentor who could show them the ropes and help them build a solid foundation of skills.

Harvey said mentorship isn’t just a benefit for those new to the industry and that he often leans on the experienced leaders within his network.

“Early on, my mentors were able to give me a structure of what a day looks like.”

“Even now, I try to pick their brains and get as much knowledge as I can to try and grow the business as much and as quickly as I can,” Harvey concluded.