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REB wraps up Network Week by talking to one of Sydney’s top agents about what their network does for them.
Gavin Rubinstein of Ray White Double Bay reveals why he’s been with the group since the very beginning.
How long have you been a real estate agent?
I’m 28 years old, about to turn 29 and I’ve been in the game since I was 20. For the first two years, I was a personal assistant. Then I went out on my own and the rest is history.
How long have you been with Ray White?
Since the very beginning.
How did you come to start at Ray White and why have you stayed?
Having a plan was something that I was quite particular about. And that plan was to break into a particular marketplace, which meant I had to be selling out of Double Bay. If you want the big houses, you need to sell out of Double Bay. It’s the golden rule, right?
To take it one step further, I looked around at the time and saw there were very few young agents who were succeeding, but the ones who were doing well came from Ray White. And I just used common sense to say, ‘Well, if that is the environment these successful guys are coming out of, then that is the environment I believe I need to be in to take it over’.
I really pushed hard to get an opportunity with them. Two of the directors turned me down for the first jobs. If that shows anything about my persistent nature, I just kept pushing and pushing until an opportunity came up that fit and I got the role.
What is the biggest challenge you are facing now?
Owners’ expectations. I feel there is quite a lot of hype around the market and the market is solid and in great state. But it is creating some unrealistic expectations. And it’s making that gap, and there always is a gap, but it’s making that gap even bigger.
It’s not necessarily what properties are selling for, but it’s what some owners are asking and what some agents are taking on. Some vendors are saying, ‘Well, if they are asking Y, mine should be X’. And they don’t really break it down. It’s not necessarily that that property sold for Y, they are just asking Y.
How does being part of a real estate network help you secure more business?
It doesn’t. At the earlier stages of the career, it would have and I think for people starting out, it is important you align yourself with any well-known, familiar brand. Because when people are looking to make one of the biggest transactions of their life, with arguably their most valuable asset, they like familiarity. And if you are starting out, it is always good to have that as support.
But now people don’t call me because they want Ray White. They call me because they want the service that myself and my team provide, which is unlike any of our competitors.
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