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There’s a saying that 'those who can, do; those who can’t, teach', but one trainer has taken up the challenge to work on the ground as an agent for two weeks.
With 32 years’ experience, Peter Brewer stepped back from sales in 2008 to become a trainer.
“That’s 32 years at the coalface with a very successful business,” Mr Brewer told Real Estate Business.
“As an agent, one of the things that used to frustrate me was trainers who would waffle on and hand out these ‘life changing’ tips, and I used to think ‘how about you try to actually put that into practice in a business and give it a taste of reality’?”
But when one of his own clients laid down the same challenge, Mr Brewer took him up on the offer and has been working as an agent for the past week.
“It’s been fantastic, it’s been wonderful. It’s been six years since I’ve had contact with buyers, sellers, tenants or landlords," he said.
“To actually sit down and make the phone calls, or receive calls from a tenant with a leaky tap or a vendor whose property has been on the market too long, or a buyer wanting to make a decision is a nice change.”
While relying on his old skills, Mr Brewer said the experience has opened his eyes to the way real estate has changed in six short years.
“The gap is widening significantly between what the seller and buyer expect and what the agent is doing," he said.
“There should be heaps of photos, there should be an abundance of information available, and there should be some sort of virtual tour and a price guide.
“But so many agents don’t want to put the address on the listing so interested buyers have to call them – well guess what? They don’t want to communicate with you until they have all the information they need to make an informed choice.
“You need to make it as easy as possible to do business with you, and forcing consumers to do business your way isn’t going to work,” Mr Brewer said.
With just one week to go, Mr Brewer said he’ll be hard pressed to make a sale, but has had success in other areas of the business.
“It’ d be lovely to get a sale by the end of the week, but real estate is about building relationships, which is pretty hard to do in two short weeks. But we’ve secured a few listings and market appraisals," he said.
“I’ve helped to introduce modern-day marketing, because the agency I’m working in has really done nothing in terms of new-age marketing. So actually using professional photographs, using video – none of these have been used by this agency or in the local area.”
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