Since starting out in real estate 10 years ago, Fiona Li has gone from strength to strength. Her aim is to be the best negotiator and marketer in West Auckland. And many would say she is.
Q: What did you do before real estate?
I was studying tourism and hospitality at AUT and had a part-time job at Hees Garden in Mount Eden. It’s closed now but it was the longest-running Chinese restaurant in New Zealand. The business owner was an ex-real estate agent. One day she told me: ‘I think your personality is suitable to being in real estate’. But I had no idea what the actual job entailed. I had been interested in property but at that time I had no money to buy any! So I got my papers from Unitec.
Q: Where did you start out?
Start your property search
I’ve always been with Harcourts and started at the Mt Roskill office. I set myself a day a week to drop flyers and at that time I was dropping 1000 a week - always in my high heels. I was renting in Three Kings and was door-knocking on my own street and at one house asked: ‘Are you the owner?’, and they said: ‘No, the owner is in Wellington’. So I went to the next one, same thing: ‘Sorry, the owner is in Wellington’. I had three people tell me that the owner was in Wellington. Then I got back to the office and my manager explained to me what a state house was.
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Q: What is it about real estate that you love?
I love helping people and changing lives. Deceased estates, divorces, downsizing, upsizing and relocating – you’re helping good people move on with where they need to be. I sell lifestyle, residential, brand-new houses, developments – we cover everything.
Q: When you say we, do you mean your team?
I got some valuable advice, that you need to play the long game and invest in your team or you become irrelevant. It started with my PA, she started out part-time and after two weeks I realised that wasn’t enough so she went from 12 to 40 hours. I don't like paperwork and I’m not good at it. I’m really good at talking to people and selling property. After that I hand-picked the rest of my team and now we’re like a family. We train and upskill ourselves together, which is really important these days.
Li says she's well prepared with market research and trends when she goes to meet potential vendors and buyers. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Q: How do you manage market uncertainty?
I’ve researched West Auckland market trends from 2010 until now. So every time I go to see my vendor or buyers, I show them the trends and where they are. It’s easy for them to understand when they see the research. 2016 was a really high market and we were stable for three years, then in 2019 it started slowly picking up, then 2020 was Covid. 2021 was really high and then we’ve come down a little bit, but we’re still higher than 2020. At the moment it is a correcting market. To get buyers’ and sellers’ heads in the right place you’ve got to do your homework and show them why they should be buying and selling now – then you’ll get the business.
Q: How important is social media marketing?
The new world is moving faster and digital marketing is really important. All people use their phones, it doesn’t matter what age group. Their phone has become closer than their husband or wife! So you’ve got to be on social media to catch those people.
Q: And when you’re not selling real estate?
I don’t really have a full day off but when I do have half a day off I like to spend some time with mum and dad and my son. Then I like to go to the spa and sauna to try and relax and get my head right. Mum and dad are getting older so I want to spend time with them while they’re still here.
Power rankings: The OneRoof Stats
No.7: Fiona Li
Agency: Harcourts, Auckland Waitakere
No. of listings: 198
Total value of listings: $201,119,500
Average value of listings: $1,015,755
* Data covers 12 months from August 2022 and based on listings on OneRoof for that period. Value of listings based on search price
