The real estate agent who used to put away drug gangs

Ray White Remurera sales agent Steen Nielsen has played cricket for Denmark, been an undercover cop, and has worked in sports management. Steen moved to New Zealand with wife Jane and daughters Emma and Celia in 2005 but got caught up in the Christchurch earthquakes, so the family headed for Auckland where Steen has put his many skills to good use in real estate.

How did you get into cricket?

I grew up in Denmark in Aalborg, a city of under 200,000 people. I had a three-year older brother I competed with. Probably a big reason for my success in sports was that I always wanted to be better than him. My brother broke his leg and started playing cricket during his rehabilitation and brought me along. I managed to play cricket and football up until the age of 16 and that’s when I had to choose because I was in rep teams. I chose cricket and I’ve never regretted it.

How did you become an undercover cop?

My bank manager ruined it all for me. He said you’ve been trying to make a living out of cricket for five years but you’re not having any savings, you should have played soccer instead. I had to do something else, so I joined the police.

Did you infiltrate the drug gangs?

Yes. We were investigating drug-related crime, which was fascinating and a job I loved. I think a big part of my success was all of a sudden there was an undercover cop who was quite happy to sit down and listen. And that gave me a lot of information that was the key to infiltrating the bad guys further up the system, because the further up you go the less likeable are the criminals.

Was it dangerous?

Yes and no. Of course, you have the proper training. But most of the work is about not being seen, not being noticed. At that level it’s not so much about the street dealer — you’re really trying to nail the big guys.

When did you come to New Zealand?

We sold our house, quit our jobs, and didn’t really have any job offers out here, but we came with the attitude it was going to sort itself out. It was a huge decision to leave Christchurch. My wife, and particularly my youngest daughter, were quite traumatised by the earthquake and my wife said to me, "Look Steen, it’s going to be Denmark or Auckland, you decide."

Has your former life as a police officer been useful in real estate?

You come with a lot of communication skills, and you have the ability to build up trust quickly. Body language is 58 per cent of all communication. I use that when I negotiate, so when purchasers are telling me that’s their final offer, I’ll often know when that’s true or not true. That has been beneficial for my vendors where we’ve pushed buyers beyond what our vendors expected.

What do you do when you are not selling houses?

My wife and I do a lot of walking. We live in Remuera. I love living and working in the same suburb. We’re big foodies — we like our food and we like New Zealand wine. We come from a country where there’s not much wine grown and produced.

Are you here to stay?

Yes, we came in 2005 with a two- to three-year adventure in mind — and we’re still here.