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Sydney-based agent Anna Cavill has climbed more than 20 places to 47th rank in the 2023 REB Top 100 Agents ranking. She details her path to success.
The Stone Real Estate principal and Upper North Shore property specialist sold 80 properties worth $187.8 million in the 2022 calendar.
Along with her Top 100 Agents ranking, she has placed 29th in the Top 50 Agents NSW 2023, and 13th in the Top 50 Women in Real Estate ranking (up from 14th the previous year).
While crediting her success to her team of sales agents, marketing specialist and one staff member in an administrative role, Ms Cavill also said avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach and providing customised support to clients have yielded results.
“We listen to our clients to understand what they want,” she said.
“We then put something in place to not only achieve an amazing result but also make the process as easy as possible for them.”
Ms Cavill largely sold homes to owner-occupiers in 2022, but noted that market conditions posed additional challenges at the end of 2022.
“We stopped seeing people that were selling just to get a good price or just for the sake of selling,” she noted.
“We saw people selling because they wanted to upsize or downsize, or someone in their household had passed away.”
Treat your buyer database like gold
Collaborating with buyers has proven particularly fruitful for Ms Cavill and her team of young associates.
This, coupled with selling extensively in her area, means that she and her team repeatedly meet the same prospective buyers at open homes.
“We don’t tend to deal with them once,” Ms Cavill said.
“We’re lucky enough to be able to see our buyers before they’re ready to buy. We begin the journey with them when they begin their research. If they want to buy but don’t have their finances ready, we can help them secure that.”
Ms Cavill also underscored that maintaining an updated buyer database is key, and having access to an open database at Stone has been advantageous.
“Our database is gold,” she said.
“An open database not only means we talk to buyers we’ve just met, we also start communicating with them before we meet them. That’s down to the processes that we use.”
Ms Cavill and her team communicate via personal emails, text messages, letterbox drops and social media to update buyers on the latest developments in the property market, she said.
Communication has become crucial as interest rates and cost of living rise, and lending conditions tighten.
Ms Cavill said buyers have become more fearful about the impacts of rising rates on their mortgage repayments.
As such, she spends more time explaining the history of the market in her area to buyers, and why it is suited to residents seeking a family lifestyle and schools.
“This area is not very transient,” she said.
“We’re a family area, so people tend to buy and live here for the next 20 years. Buyers are fearful of the unknown but if you can give them a bit of history of the area, they will see that it’s okay.”
Charting out clear roles for the team
Furthermore, clearly defining her and her team’s roles helps her agency operate smoothly, along with having faith in her staff’s capabilities.
“I’m a big believer in letting the expert do what they’re good at,” Ms Cavill said.
“We have a staff member who is amazing at marketing and administration. I trust her to do it. She’ll chat to me if she thinks we can do things better or need to change some things. We might implement that.
“That’s how you improve because you’re letting your team be the master of their domain.”
Get the basics right
Having worked in the industry for almost a decade, Ms Cavill advised new agents to work hard and become an expert in the area they operate in.
“When I first started, I got to know the area and the home owners really well. I learnt where the buses went, and where the coffee shops were,” she said.
“Real estate is not a nine-to-five job. You have to focus on an area and knuckle down, get to know everyone, and then do the right thing by people. Be genuine and honest. People will recognise that.”
Click here to view Top 50 Agents NSW 2023, the Top 100 2023, and the Top 50 Women in Real Estate rankings
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