TV star turned agent: ‘My first listing was pretty tiny and sold for an insane price'

Gabriel Elkhishin started thinking about switching careers from the mental health sector to the real estate industry after appearing on The Apprentice Aotearoa in 2021. He hasn’t regretted the move – after two years as a sales consultant, he’s just been named as REINZ’s rising star of 2023.

The 25-year-old from Ray White Takanini, who sold around 40 properties in his first financial year, says a background in psychology helped to give him a head start in the business.

Q: What did you want to do when you were growing up?

I wanted to be a doctor, so I did pre-med and then realised it wasn’t for me. But I really wanted to help people, so I studied psychology. I became a clinician for young people, specialising in mental health and addiction at schools in South Auckland. I loved it but I also wanted to explore business, which I have always been interested in. I’d done a bit of drop shipping and managed a retail store while I was at university. Then the opportunity to be on the TV show The Apprentice Aotearoa came up and I decided to try that, and look into the business side of things.

Q: How was your reality TV experience?

It was good. It was more of a social experiment than anything. I had to step out of my comfort zone but I met some amazing people and enjoyed the challenge. I did pretty well, I landed in the top six. I shared a room with real estate auctioneer Mike Wilson, and we would have discussions about how much I loved real estate and wanted to try it. He said I should give it six months and if I loved it, congratulations. If I hated it, then I could pick up a job in psychology again. I decided to try it while I was still young – I was 22. So I handed in my notice and went from having a job with a salary to one that was commission only.

Q: How long did it take to get your first sale?

I got my first listing in my first month from door-knocking in the area around the office in Takanini. A few people recognised me from The Apprentice, so that exposure was good marketing for me.

That first place was pretty tiny and it sold for an insane price, over a million dollars. I thought I was God’s gift to real estate at first and then I realised it was the market carrying me along. It was November 2021, when we still had the crazy Covid prices.

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After that I sent out letters to everyone in the area around that house saying what I had sold it for, and I got my second listing from that. In December I had two listings and neither of them sold at auction. The market had started to change. I began thinking, There’s a lot more to this real estate thing than I thought.

Q: Did you ever think, ‘Real estate is not for me, I’m going back to being a mental health clinician’?

There was one point last year when I wondered, ‘Is this really it for me?’ I’d been in the industry for six months, I was working seven days a week flat-out and I had 25 listings live but nothing under contract.

Real estate is a crazy rollercoaster. You can go from extreme highs to terrible lows in a matter of days, or sometimes even hours. But I decided to look at those listings as having 25 opportunities to make money. I was obviously really good at getting listings but I needed help with selling. So I focused on working with buyers and not long afterwards I sold three of those listings unconditionally, including two that had been sitting on the market for a long time, post-auction. From then on it was up and up.

Q: Has having a background in psychology been helpful?

One hundred percent. It helps with how I think and how I interact with people. This business is about relationships. It’s very much about sensitive questioning and listening and finding out what people need. Often we are dealing with very sensitive situations so you want to make sure your vendor is heard and you are giving them advice accordingly. You have to remember that each transaction is different, each client is different and each situation is different. It’s not a case of one size fits all.

Elkhishin says it's unreal to have won the awards he has won this year. Photo / Fiona Goodall

Q: Have you had any particularly memorable sales?

They’re all memorable, in fact I can remember every property, the names of the vendors and the buyers, and the situations. I could write a list. But I guess one special one was a house that had been on the market for over 100 days and everyone was saying, “It’s never going to sell” because the vendors were asking for too much. I ended up selling it for above what they wanted, with very little marketing budget.

Q: How did you manage that?

I found that one emotional buyer, who fell in love with the property and could imagine their family living there. They saw value in it. Sometimes you have to stick around until you get that emotional buyer.

Q: Have you bought property yourself?

Yes, and I was an emotional buyer. Everything you know about real estate, all the tips and tricks you give your clients go out the window when you become a buyer. I was one of those people who paid a high market price at the end of 2021. I won a multi-offer by $1000. I also have an investment property and I’m on the hunt for another one now.

Q: Congratulations on being REINZ’s rising star – was that a surprise?

I didn’t even know I had been nominated. I was closing an offer on a house and a friend in the industry messaged me and said, “Good luck for tonight”. I said, “Thanks, I will let you know how the offer goes”. He said, “No, you’ve been nominated at the REINZ awards.” That’s how I found out. I wasn’t at the awards, but one of my mentors, auctioneer David Palfreyman, went up and got the award for me, and sent me a video on Facebook. It was very cool to win something like that for the whole of New Zealand.

A week later I won an award [Emerging member of the year: Metro] at the Ray White awards and I was there for that one. It was surreal when they called out my name and I walked past all these people in the industry that I really look up to.

Q: Why do you think you’ve done so well?

I think it is a combination of hard work, being tenacious and having empathy. It’s carrying on, even when people don’t pick up your calls or open the door when you are doing door knocks. But it’s also treating each person like a human and being empathetic about what they are going through and what their needs are.

Q: What do you love about the job?

I like getting the deal done. Whether it is a $500,000 property or a $1.5m one, the excitement of closing the deal is the same. But I think my favourite part is getting the listing. Getting someone to trust you enough to sign up their biggest asset is pretty special. And then being able to deliver the sale.

Elkhishin with his beloved pet dog: "I wake up in the morning excited to meet people and have conversations." Photo / Fiona Goodall

It doesn’t feel like work. I wake up in the morning excited to meet people and have conversations. It’s not always roses and unicorns, there are definitely peaks and troughs, but it is worth it. I am constantly learning and upskilling, and no two days are ever the same.

Q: Do you still go door-knocking?

Absolutely. If I have downtime I go door-knocking. If I am early to an appointment I’ll go door-knocking around the neighbourhood and introduce myself. If I finish early and I’ve got time before my next appointment, I’ll knock on a few doors. You can build a rapport a lot quicker in person than you can over the phone. Nobody has ever been abusive or angry. I’ve door-knocked some of the less desirable areas around Takanini that have a stigma around their location and enjoyed chatting to the people – they’re lovely. I have been chased by a couple of dogs though.

Q: What do you do when you are not selling real estate?

I don’t have a lot of spare time, I usually work seven days a week. I don’t get the chance to do much exercise – the most I do at the moment is walking my dogs. I have a Pomeranian called Cashew and a Japanese Spitz called Crispy.

I love eating out, I’m a bit of a foodie. I also love to travel. I try to go somewhere I haven’t been before each year. This year I went to Japan, which I fell in love with. And in November I am taking my mum, Vani, to Europe. She’s always wanted to go so we’re doing England, France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, then we’re going to Egypt, which is where she and my dad are from. I’ve never been, so I am looking forward to it.

I was born in Malaysia and came here when I was one. My dad passed away when I was five. I think that made me mature quite quickly. He was very much into business and property, from what I know. Mum is in the mental health/physical health sphere. I have so much respect for her. It was just mum, me and my little brother in New Zealand after my dad passed away and she has been amazing. If anyone should be on a pedestal, it’s her.

Q: Do you miss working in the mental health field?

I miss how fulfilling the work was, especially helping vulnerable young people. But it could be pretty heavy. I was dealing a lot with depression, anxiety and self-harm every day. I think I was getting quite emotionally exhausted. One day, when I have done everything I want to do in real estate and I’ve made enough money to set myself and my family up, I might think about retiring early and revisiting that kind of work, pro bono. I’d like to be able to give back. But that’s a very long way away, I won’t be leaving this industry any time soon. I’m in love with real estate!

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