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Real estate veteran Peter Hooymans has prospered over a 30-year career, thanks to his determination to embrace change.
On a recent episode of REB’s Secrets of the Top 100 Agents, Hooymans shared his expansive journey from a small real estate operator in 1990s Melbourne to the thriving business owner he is today.
Over his career, the Melbourne Real Estate (MRE) founder has come across his fair share of tech sceptics.
“In ’97, the talk of the town for anyone who knew what the internet even was, was that it was a fad,” Hooymans recalled.
When it came to his own business, however, the agent knew he had to keep up with the cutting edge of technology.
“In our world, it’s adapt or die – if you don’t take on now the great tech pieces that are available to us in the industry, it will be difficult to survive,” he said.
“Twenty years ago, if I was doing a sale and I had a gap to close, I would physically go and see my vendor, then I would go and see my purchaser with a blue pen and we would sign and countersign. Nowadays, all our guys use Docusign.”
These days, real estate is a world away from the paper forms and exercise book ledgers Hooymans used in the 1990s, but he never lets himself get bogged down by the past.
“We’re in the now business – not the tomorrow business, not the yesterday business, not in the next week business. We’re in the now business,” he said.
As well as keeping up with the latest tech, the director has also embraced innovative hiring techniques.
Recently, he reached out to six university graduates who were looking for a career change, and offered them a job in property management.
It was a risky strategy, hiring property managers with zero prior experience, but it was one that ultimately paid off.
“We’ve got someone who came from architecture, she’s absolutely fabulous,” he said. “When it comes to maintenance and she’s got some tradie trying to tell her that something can’t be done […] Well, she’s more qualified than he is because she’s an architect.”
“We’ve also got another fabulous delegate who is a mental health nurse. So we’ve got some tenants that are really needing some help, we’ve got some landlord, and there she is in the middle doing a fantastic job because she’s trained to deal with these issues psychologically.”
Ultimately, hiring fresh talent with diverse career backgrounds is part of Hooymans’ broader strategy to professionalise property management.
“Our goal really is to bring a corporate, professional level of service to property management that doesn’t currently exist.
“If you had a million dollars and you went to Macquarie Bank and said, ‘I want you to invest this for me,’ you would get a double-degree, likely 10-year veteran private banker who would look after your dough and invest it for you. But the reality is you’re probably getting someone who has not got a degree, might have a year in the industry, looking after that asset.
“The standards of professionalism need to be raised, and the pathway program is our determination to realise that dream.”
Listen to the full conversation with Pete Hooymans here.
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