EP. 1447 - TIMES ARE HARD! KEEP GOING...

Has your real estate career hit a rough patch? You're not alone. Our latest deep dive reveals a startling trend: approximately 200 agents have vanished from Sydney's Northern Beaches in just 24 months. This unprecedented shift has transformed the competitive landscape dramatically.

We started this conversation after discovering some shocking numbers on RealEstate.com - tracking agent profiles showed a decline from around 650 to just 450 active agents. With the minimal requirement being just one sale or listing per year to maintain an active profile, this exodus speaks volumes about current market challenges. Rising interest rates have jumped from 2% to 6%, property investors are feeling the squeeze, and many agents simply couldn't weather the storm.

During tough times, advice often boils down to "just keep going" - which can seem frustratingly simplistic when you're struggling. But as we share in this episode, sometimes the simplest guidance proves most powerful. "Just keep answering your phone" was advice that initially disappointed, but became a mantra for survival during the darkest periods. Like the inevitable cycles of weather - from fires to floods to beautiful days - market conditions will always fluctuate. Those who maintain perspective, keep showing up, and continue providing value typically emerge stronger when conditions improve.

For property owners, there's actually good news amid this consolidation. Despite fewer agents, Northern Beaches inventory remains low at around 700 properties (compared to 1,200+ in a buyer's market), creating favorable selling conditions. The remaining agents likely represent the most resilient, experienced professionals who've demonstrated staying power through challenging times.

Whether you're an agent fighting to survive, a seller contemplating your next move, or simply navigating your own professional challenges, this honest conversation about persistence, perspective and market realities offers both practical insights and necessary encouragement. Subscribe now and join us each week for real, unfiltered conversations about the property market and business success strategies that actually work.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, what happens when 650 agents turn to 450
agents in the Northern Beaches?
What next?
Stay tuned.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm the ringleader, so what's up together this
morning, make it the best ofboth worlds really awkward guys
like I kept talking and billygoes yeah, billy was thinking
billy goes um baby and then Ijust lost it.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
I'm like seriously, can you just talk?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
well, here we are.
We're talking right now.
We're talking about whathappens when tough times hit.
You know it's.
I feel like we hear it day in,day out the motivational speaker
saying just keep going, justkeep going.
You know it's like yeah, that'sso easy just to say that it's
like but what next?
What next?
Good for you, good for you,yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure your,

(01:33):
your, your work's easy kind ofthing.
Um, look what I wanted to justget off my chest this morning.
I've never seen numbers likethis before, but I was, I was.
I was playing around onrealestatecom at the beginning
of the week and I noticed thatwe've literally lost 200 agents

(01:53):
in the last 24 months and justreal estate just on the northern
beaches.
Yeah, and you know if the way tolook at this is you go on
realestatecom, look at agentsput in your area, sell.
This is for the agents thatwatching you go sell suburb
performance timeframe 24 monthsand down the bottom left hand

(02:16):
corner you can see six hundredand sixty four.
Then you look at 12 months.
We list, you know, 100 agentsin a month.
Then six months, another 100.
And then three months.
So you're looking at literally200 and more agents disappearing

(02:37):
in 24 months.
And to keep a realestatecomprofile active I think it needs
to have one sale or one listingpublished for sale within that
12-month calendar period.
So yeah, it's a sign of thetimes.
I do believe that.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
You know what?
I had this conversation withLisa this morning, and there's
times like and I want to sharethis with something a little bit
deep, with people that are outthere Sometimes, and often we
get friends and family saying,oh, you know, it must be nice,
or how do you guys stay positive?

(03:18):
Or you know, whatever look, thereality is it.
You know there are, there willbe, there are times where it
just ain't happening, it justain't going, it just ain't
flowing and and for me it's it'salmost like keep going head

(03:41):
down, bum up, just keep turningup.
And probably the best piece ofadvice I ever got from a late
friend, norm evangeladosevangelitis.
Norm said you know, when Ifirst um started in real estate,
norm said like looking foradvice, need advice, need help.

(04:02):
And he said, and he'd done alot of real estate stuff.
And he said, mark, just keepanswering your phone.
And I was like it's the worstpiece of advice.
I.
I didn't need that advice.
That wasn't the advice that Iwas looking for, that wasn't the
advice that I need at themoment.

(04:23):
And it was and it was.
And the amount of times that'sresonated in my life in the
darkest, deepest, hardestmoments, and I'm like keep
answering the phone.
It's like saying put one footin front of the other.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Effectively, I didn't realize at the time, but that's
what it is yeah, and look,we're not here to give you your
motivational Wednesday speechthis morning, but we are here to
bring to light, you know, justthe facts in front of us.
I actually think, as an agentor as as anyone in a
professional career, it'sreassuring to know the facts

(05:00):
around you because you can thenactually have a better measure
as to the market in general andits perspective.
I guess Its perspective at theend of the day.
But where our topics clashedthis morning, you were saying
you know, this is everyone, thisis relevant to everything.
You've got friends in business.

(05:22):
You've got lots of peoplesaying what do I do with my
house?
It's, it's.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
This can be applied to anything people are selling
um investment properties becauseit's too hard.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Rates went from 2% to 6%.
They're like this is hard.
This hurts my gut.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, we are having these conversations with
everyday people all day, everyday.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
Billy, you had a rough patch with your unit.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, I didn't really want to, you know, talk about
it on on here and make thisabout me, but so we want but
everyone, everyone has had, youknow, a period, and I think
that's the, that's the thingthat it comes down to.
It's just timing.
It actually got it happens inwaves.

(06:18):
It's just timing, um, itactually got it happens in waves
.
It's ups and downs, but if youjust plateau through and and and
just keep the head low, plateauthrough you, you actually just
weather the storm and come outthe other side, and often it's
literally, you know, matter ofmonths.
It's not not long, not longperiods of time.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Um, if you really think about it, most shit works
in cycles like there's nothing,that is just like flat line,
like even the weather, like youknow you got.
You know you got fires thatburn shit off, you got floods,
that flood stuff, that you gotthese beautiful days in between
and then you got these cold daysand hot days.

(06:55):
It's just you just work throughit and you just push through
that cycle and it comes throughthe other end.
It really does.
But look at the property marketbilly, like look at, look at um
, you know the surges, you knowit sort of goes late, it's
always going up, but it goeslike it goes in this way, like
this scary wave towards in theupwards trajectory.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Spot on Yep and, just like your, your your life and
said just pick up the phone.
We just tell people just keepgoing.
It's, it's what did you call it?
Selling hope?
But it's.
It's sometimes as simple asthat and you just need to be
reminded of it.
Although I'm a fan of lookingat the, looking at a perspective

(07:40):
that sometimes is different.
So lease has a really goodsaying you can't read the label
within the jar.
I really like that saying.
Sometimes you just need to takea different perspective and
that's why we're talking about200 agents um vanishing from
realestatecom in in two years,because it's a different
perspective and if you want togeta gauge on the market, I

(08:01):
think that's a.
That's a fact that I've neverseen reported elsewhere reported
elsewhere.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
Oh yeah, it's, it's massive, it's bloody massive.
Um so, anyway, industry people,um what does that mean to
buyers, sellers, landlords,tenants, if that many agents?

Speaker 2 (08:22):
are disappearing from the industry.
Well, we've been reporting thatthere's been low stock on the
northern beaches for a while now.
I think again that sort ofcoincides with that number.
More stock on the market wouldnormally mean more agents
servicing the beaches but maybebeing a bit of a consolidation

(08:44):
of agents and agencies workingthe northern beaches.
In the industry we've alwayshad like this 80 20 percent no,
not a rule but a trend, I guessyou could say where 80 percent
of the business is done by 20percent of the agents.
I think you find that's commonin a lot of industries actually.
But I think there's just been aconsolidation of agents and

(09:06):
agencies and it's of of thelower stock on the market at the
moment and that's not reallychanged.
We've been monitoring stocklevels and I know it's.
You know it sounds so boringbecause we're talking about it
all the time, but it's.
It's the best metric we can useto gauge the market and it has
been sitting either side of 700units I'm sorry, 700 properties

(09:27):
on the northern beaches for salerealestatecom, but in a buyer's
market that could be high sortof upwards of about 1,200
properties.
So it's favourable sellingconditions Interesting Anything
else.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Webb.
All right, billy, nah, I likeit.
I like the topic.
I think it's.
You know you must.
You must go through shitnessand a shit period in order to
have great levels of heights andhappiness.

(10:06):
So I guess it's just like yougrit your teeth, move through,
make sure you're doing what youlove, all that cliche stuff that
you hear, but it's so trueexactly right it's.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
It's the worst advice you could have, but just keep
going that's a shocker, really.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
Have a great day and just keep going, yeah there's
your motivational wednesday 10minutes yeah, just keep picking
up that phone.
Let's go all right, have agreat day, everyone.
See you guys.