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At only 18 years of age, Ray White North Lakes agent Ryan Suhle has become the youngest Ray White member in history to reach Elite status.
Watching his parents work hard to achieve their goals has inspired Mr Suhle to forgo a career in engineering to join the family’s real estate business in North Lakes, where his father Darren Suhle helms the business.
“I distinctly remember coming down for a glass of water at night many times and seeing my parents still working away in the home office at 1am. But seeing what they’ve achieved themselves with their business was so inspiring,” Mr Suhle shared.
“There is no real limit as to how far you can push it with the right work ethic.”
Early on, the young agent decided to establish a major career goal: achieve Elite status on his commission sales shortly after gaining his real estate lisence.
Elite status is achieved by either writing $600,000 in GCI or closing 65 Sales in a financial year.
According to Mr Suhle, apart from his parents’ influence, the competitive environment across the real estate industry has pushed him to aim at such a high goal at a young age.
He believes that “what you put in is what you get out, and if you’re not always pushing for a level of success people think is out of reach, you can’t really grow”.
“Everyone looked at me a little funny at the start of the financial year when I said my goal was to go Elite, but I’ve always been an intensely competitive person and knew if I put in the hours, I could do it,” the young agent continued.
Mr Suhle dedicated himself to “working more than everyone else” — being the first in and the last to leave the office and creating opportunities on the field by always being available to clients, ultimately leveraging on his energy and passion.
“Sure, you have to work smart, but if you’re working until 11pm everyday and every other agent knocks off at 6pm, over time you will progressively create more opportunities to get in doors and sell more homes,” he told REB.
Setting oneself apart
From the very beginning, Mr Suhle said he has enjoyed the unique experience that comes with being a real estate agent, from meeting new people to “visiting homes that I rode past to get to school and now getting the opportunity to sell them”.
“Everyday is a bit different, you don’t wake up and do the exact same thing. There’s always a different appointment, new home and new people to meet… It’s exciting to always be meeting new people, especially in an area that I know so well.”
Knowing that he needed to set himself apart from other agents operating in the area, one thing that he really focused on was marketing.
Mr Suhle said he personally did letterbox drops across suburbs in the beginning of his career, before gradually upgrading to local buses, newspapers and other traditional and modern marketing platforms.
He said: “I’m massive on marketing. Local buses, box drops, newspapers — you name it — I’m probably involved! We go into listing presentations and tell our vendors how important marketing is and yet most agents don’t even market themselves!
“I’ve gradually increased my expenditure, but before I was in a position to spend on larger marketing items, I would just print box drops on a printer and box drop the suburb all night!
“One phrase that always stuck with me was ‘each time you put a drop in a letterbox, you’re slipping $5 into your back pocket, and one day you’ll get a listing and pull it all back out’. When I started getting calls and seeing this in action, I really began to value marketing and continually look to expand on it.”
Mr Suhle said it was this marketing that enabled him to successfully build relationships with many buyers in the market, which he soon found out was critical in securing listings, as “a lot of sellers out there are buyers as well”.
“So much of my business has come from working with buyers properly so when it came time for them to sell, I was their first port of call,” he continued.
Looking ahead, the young agent has set his goals even higher, with the aim of reaching Chairman’s Elite level.
Ultimately, he hopes to become “synonymous with North Lakes real estate”, both by selling more homes and expanding his marketing through the help of his team.
He believes “age is really no barrier”.
“It’s such a common saying, but it wasn’t until, as a pimple-faced 18-year-old kid, I started beating well-established agents who have sold hundreds of local homes over decades that I realised as long as you show value, there’s no reason you can’t break into a contested market,” Mr Suhle concluded.
Along the way, Mr Suhle has broken a number of local area records too.
They are:
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