Mike Pero: Fish 'n' chip boy who became an 'ear worm' sensation

He became a household name as New Zealand’s best known mortgage broker – remember the catchy advertising jingle? – but Mike Pero jumped the fence and is now in the business of selling property. He founded Mike Pero Real Estate in 2011 and the company now has 65 offices around the country.

You’ve done a few other things before real estate. What did you want to do when you were a kid?

I wanted to race bikes professionally. I’ve loved motorbikes since I was about 14 when my cousin took me on his Yamaha RD250. I saved up to buy my own by working several jobs, including collecting eggs at a poultry farm and being the chip boy in my mum and dad’s fish and chip shop.

I bought the bike several weeks before I could get my licence at 15 so I was riding under age, and within about three months of having my licence, I lost it when I got pulled over by a cop for doing wheel stands past the local girls’ school. I couldn’t ride on the road for six months so I went out to the Ruapuna racetrack – which is now the Mike Pero Motorsport Park – and learned to ride on the track. I started off racing at club days and that eventually led to national championships.

You did quite well, didn’t you?

I ended up with six national championship titles. At the time I was the youngest New Zealander to win a national championship – I was 17. When I was 19 I set a land speed record that still stands today – 238km/h on a 350CC machine. Motorsport was a bit like a drug addiction for me, and to get the money to do it I needed sponsors, so I knocked on every door I could think of. I was a Yamaha sponsored rider in the late 70s and early 80s and had some other big-name brands like Shell Oil as sponsors.

Did you also have a day job?

I started my apprenticeship as a motor mechanic at 17 and by the age of 20 I owned a Yamaha dealership. I wasn’t bankrolled by anybody to do that, I just worked hard. I had no silver spoons growing up – wooden spoons, more like it.

I had a tough upbringing in east Christchurch. My parents had the fish and chip shop, but they were poor. They couldn’t give me money but they did teach me about discipline and determination. Dad was a very hard worker and Mum passed her DNAF on to me – Determination Never to Accept Failure.

I also think that is one of the lessons I have taken out of sport – as well as being well-prepared and focusing on your priorities, don’t let failure stop you.

How did you move from motorbikes to mortgages?

Actually, it was via sales, insurance and commercial flying. After a few years of being a mechanic and having the dealership I decided I’d done my time of getting my hands dirty and wearing overalls, so I got into the grocery trade and ended up working in sales for food company Hansells. I did sales and motivation courses and they convinced me to set some goals. One was to earn over $100,000 a year. I saw other people succeeding and thought, Why not me? Why can’t I do it? Things might seem unachievable, but why not give it a try?

I left school with School Certificate as my highest qualification and my average mark across my subjects was about 55%. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me from doing anything.

I became a life insurance agent in my mid-20s and all of a sudden I was achieving my goal and making $100,000 a year from selling insurance, which was around four times the average income. One year I made $140,000 and this was in the mid-80s. There weren’t enough hours in the day for me to be writing up policies.

Why did you give it up?

I became interested in flying, and I wanted to become a commercial pilot. I was in my late 20s, with a family, but I chucked in my job to put myself through aviation college. When I left school I couldn’t even spell physics; but to be a pilot I had to master subjects like physics and maths. It was a challenge for a Pacific Islands lad out of east Christchurch with low grades at school but I thought why not reach for the sky, literally.

I was so keen I flew unpaid as a co-pilot for a small airline between Christchurch, Alexandra and Wanaka, to build up my hours. I then got a job with Mount Cook Airlines and was in the queue to work for Air New Zealand. But my timing was terrible – after the 1987 crash the whole airline industry was in the crap and a lot of pilots got made redundant. I left aviation and not only did I have no job but my marriage had broken up and I had to start again.

This time in the mortgage business?

Yes. When I went to the bank to get a loan to buy a house they asked all these questions and I knew I needed to give them the right answers to fit their criteria. There were ratios and formulas involved before they’d agree to give me a mortgage and I worked out what they needed. Then I thought that now I knew how to play the game, I could help other people to get mortgages. It all came down to understanding the criteria.

I started out on my own and I felt a bit like Robin Hood, getting money out of the rich banks to help poor people. The banks trusted me and we built up a good rapport, and I really felt like I was helping people. Things grew, I took on staff and we seemed to be doubling every quarter. We had branches throughout the country and then I franchised.

Did making yourself the face of the company help?

I didn’t actually want to put myself out there, I wanted Steve Parr from Sale of the Century to be the front guy but he was too expensive. I was free, and I thought, Oh my God, I’m going to have to do it. I think it does give you a degree of integrity when the person behind the brand puts themselves out there. One of the people who have inspired me in business is Michael Hill, and he did the same thing.

You also had your not-so-secret weapon – the “Mike Pero Mortgages” jingle.

A guy called Dean Smith, who still works at MediaWorks in Christchurch, did that for me, with his wife, 30 years ago and I loved it. We’ve turned over many millions as a result of that jingle. People got to know the name.

Why did you sell the mortgage business?

I had no intention of selling but I got hassled by a young banker on behalf of his client and even though I said it wasn’t for sale he came to my door, showed me the offer and said, “You might change your mind”. I looked at it and went, “Holy crap.” It was like a Lotto win. So I sold the business for $15m in 2004. I had no idea it was worth that much.

I stayed on as a director and we increased the value to $25m on the Stock Exchange in the next 18 months. Then I went off to do other things, including starting a flight simulator business that had two divisions – one for giving members of the public the flight experience and the other providing fixed-base simulators for professional training for pilots. We started mass-producing replica 737s in Christchurch and sold them around the world. I’m very proud of what they do, even though I don’t own the business any more.

So why real estate next?

I knew Kiwis had confidence in the Mike Pero brand and I thought, How much harder can it be running a real estate company? That is probably one of the silliest questions I have ever asked myself. I didn’t realise how much more complex it was.

But I figured that after dealing with real estate agents as a mortgage broker, knowing a bit about homeownership and being good at marketing, it was something I could do, even though I haven’t sold properties myself.

The industry was an eye-opener for me to be honest. Prior to the 2008 Real Estate Agents Act, agents could pretty much say anything but since it has come into force sellers and buyers have a lot more protection.

At Mike Pero Real Estate we started without baggage, and we have carved a niche for ourselves. We deal in volume and turn over properties relatively fast – or at least we do in normal circumstances. Things are obviously a bit different at the moment. There’s a big focus on marketing, which I know a lot about. A big part of selling homes is communicating well.

Why do you think you have done so well in business?

I think a lot of it is attitude and not being afraid to try. I like to make things happen, and to do them quickly. I used to be known as Mr Minute because I would want things done straight away.

One of the things I took away from the aviation industry is to have a Plan B, and also a Plan C, just in case things go wrong.

I have been lucky, but I have found that the harder I work, the luckier I get.