After more than half a decade in real estate, Surfers Paradise specialist and Mansy Estate Agents principal Sam Mansy has now decided to break away from the traditional franchise model.
Mansy Estate Agents now operates under the @realty’s Online Agency Support and Integrated Systems (OASIS) program, which allows boutique real estate agencies and sole operators to operate under their own brand while adopting @realty’s national database and administrative services.
Prior to this, Mr Mansy spent 15 years as a chef, which included travelling around the world for 11 years to places like England, France, the Channel Islands, and Canada.
According to him, making the move to real estate instantly felt like a “natural” next step.
“When I jumped into [real estate], I had a real knack – people wanted to list their properties with me, they wanted to buy from me,” he said.
He then worked for more than five years with a major franchise, where he won a major worldwide award for highest commission for a rookie agent in his first year – at approximately $350,000.
But regardless of the high commission he was getting, the specialist lamented the limitations of operating under a franchise.
“Marketing and design at a major franchise is not tailored to individual agents but to the company as a whole. If you do want something unique to you, you have to outsource this work and still seek approval from the company to use the logo, which makes for a very costly exercise.
“This means it’s hard to stand out and you look the same as everyone else,” he said.
Looking ahead, Mr Mansy said he aims to maximise the freedom that he has as an independent business owner, particularly in terms of growing his own team and overseeing his own branding and marketing “without having to compromise on my brand”.