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While “the bad times” can cause some agents to turn their backs on the real estate industry, this veteran believes that having a pragmatic attitude is the key to weathering any market downturn.
Bill Karp, the director of the Essendon, Keilor East and Gladstone Park offices operating under the Barry Plant Group, marked his four-decade run in the real estate industry on 8 February.
The significant milestone comes after Mr Karp survived several historic events that hindered the market, including the 1980s recession, the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite going through difficult times throughout his extensive career, Mr Karp said that nothing has “dented his passion for real estate”.
He credited his ability to take market cycles and challenges in stride to the pragmatic attitude he earned during a “baptism of fire” early in his real estate career.
In 1983, Mr Karp’s real estate career started with EJ Doherty, which eventually merged with the Barry Plant Group in 1999.
He stepped into his new role as a partner in the Niddrie office in 1989 — just in time for the recession and interest rates rising to a staggering 18 per cent.
“The real estate market crashed and people were losing their jobs; it was a truly terrible time. I had invested in a new business and I was determined I wouldn’t lose it. All I could do was put my head down and work hard, and hope I came out the other side,” Mr Karp recalled.
He said that the experience built resilience and interpersonal skills that he wouldn’t appreciate until later in his career when the GFC and then COVID-19 threw “major curve balls”.
“Nothing has seemed as hard as that late 80s — early 90s period — not even COVID,” he added.
While he acknowledged that COVID-19 initially had the “fear factor of the unknown”, he said the realisation the “world wasn’t going to cave in” eventually became clear to the industry.
“[It] was just a matter of applying that lesson of putting my head down, sticking to the basics and guiding my business and my team through it.”
Looking back, Mr Karp said that a lot has changed over the last four decades.
He recalled several major changes in the industry throughout the years, such as the iconic ICPOTA classified line ads in The Age, black and white house sketches, then the wonder of colour photos in display ads, internet property platforms and now digital campaigns.
Despite this, Mr Karp said that he enjoys “moving with the times”. “I’ve had to learn more in the last 10 years than in the previous 30. I’ve come to grips with rapidly changing technology tools and the digital world,” he admitted.
While he still oversees a select group of clients and does the occasional auction, Mr Karp’s main focus nowadays is educating and mentoring the young agents who work for him, including protecting them against challenging market cycles like the ones he has faced.
Barry Plant Group co-founders and directors, Mr Vic Care and Mr Barry Plant, 50-year industry veterans themselves, were first in line to congratulate Bill on his career milestone.
“From when I first met him as an eager 20-year-old, Bill has always demonstrated tremendous passion for real estate. He has built a very successful career and multiple thriving businesses by always looking after his clients and his team. He epitomises the culture of our group and reflects our values,” Mr Care stated.
Mr Plant added: “Bill has contributed greatly as a mentor and adviser to both new agents and new business owners and his love of the industry just keeps on growing.”
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