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Matthew Pillios said his success boils down to his reputation as one of the top negotiators in Melbourne.
After selling over 100 properties for $321.7 million during the 2023 calendar year, the Melbourne-based agent and director of Kay & Burton placed second in REB’s Top 50 Agents Victoria ranking and 12th in the Top 100 Agents ranking this year.
Pillios achieved his results despite facing multiple challenges, including rising interest rates and subdued land and old property markets due to the rising costs and other challenges facing the construction industry.
He also credited his team of five sales agents for working hard to garner strong results in the agency.
“My success is due to a combination of hard work and experience,” he told REB.
Having spent almost a decade in the real estate industry, Pillios has honed his skills as a top negotiator in Melbourne by building his market and product knowledge and being engaged with the properties he is selling.
“If someone asks me for information about a block of land, I make sure that I know what the rate is per square metre. If they ask me what they should build on their street, I make sure that my product knowledge is second to none,” Pillios said.
“I ensure that I’m across all the activity happening at the property I’m selling over the four-to-five-week period. I know how many times buyers have been through the property, whether they’ve bought their parents along to see it, or engaged a building inspector. I can assess how committed or engaged they are with the property.
According to the REB ranking data, Pillios’ average sale price during 2023 was around $3.2 million, while his properties spent an average of 31 days on market.
Pillios sold luxury homes priced between $7 million and $10 million, townhouses for over $5 million, and a couple of large blocks to developers for around $7 million in Melbourne’s affluent area of Brighton.
Since joining Kay & Burton earlier this year, he has largely focused on selling properties valued between $5 million and $25 million, he said.
Luxury properties in this price range could take twice as long to sell as properties valued at $3 million or less, and they attract more experienced buyers.
Besides providing buyers high-quality service, Pillios said he leans on his agency’s international division to sell these properties, as the agency attracts buyers from countries such as China and Singapore.
Conducting auctions effectively also contributed to Pillios’ sales results in 2023, who said he and his team always communicate with prospective buyers to attract a large number of bidders on auction day.
“I put up a strategic, thorough, energetic, but patient auction on the day. My aim is to increase competition and encourage spirited bidding so we can get great results for our vendors,” he said.
Driving buyers to bid emotionally is critical to driving up competition and securing strong sales prices for the vendor, Pillios suggested, as is informing buyers about strong competition from other prospective buyers to create a fear of missing out.
“When buyers are bidding emotionally, they sometimes might not think about the price as much as they should,” he said.
“That’s generally when they spend more than their budget. A lot of times they will say they are not going to bid over a certain amount but if they’re emotional and there’s competitive bidding, chances are that they will go over what they said they would.”
As for how other agents could flourish in real estate, Pillios recommended that they work hard, take their career seriously, and build their knowledge about their market and products.
“By doing this, you will earn people’s trust and they will lean on you when selling their property. I always tell agents to be the professional adviser.”
Click here to view the REB Top 100 Agents 2024, and here to view the Top 50 Agents NSW 2024 ranking and report.
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