Victoria Turner discovered a knack for selling when she was just a teenager. She’s excelled in selling everything from fruit to travel packages and apparel, so it’s no surprise that she’s now a highly successful real estate agent. Based in Bayleys’ Omaha office, Victoria has sold over $260 million worth of property since getting into the real estate industry eight years ago.
Q: Have you always been in sales?
I have, right from when I was a student and had a part-time job selling fruit from a van on the side of the road. I’d drive the van and the trailer and set everything up, sell what I could then pack all the crates back into the trailer. There was a fleet of vans and at the end of the day you’d see who sold the most and I very quickly became the top salesperson. It was quite a gutsy thing to do at that age and I look back now and think, ‘Holy heck’.
It made me realise that I loved selling and dealing with people. I remember a friend of my dad’s saying, “If you can sell avocados on the side of the road, you can sell anything.” That stuck with me. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do but naturally fell into sales.
Start your property search
Q: What did you do after school?
After studying I went into the travel industry, selling packages. Then I went into the apparel industry ended up in corporate sales, working for Triumph Underwear, including a two-year stint in Australia. I managed a team of salespeople and was there for 13 years before I left to have a family. While the fruit-selling job triggered my interest in selling, being in corporate sales really moulded me. It was great experience.
Turner’s patch, Omaha, is a beach town that is home to some of the most expensive baches in New Zealand. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Q: How did you end up in real estate?
My husband Richard was in the industry, at Bayleys in Omaha. We had moved up here from Auckland because we’d both grown up in coastal areas – me on the North Shore, him in Napier – and we wanted to get out of the city and raise our children in a place that was kind of old-school. When we moved here 12 years ago it was a lot quieter than it is now so it was a pretty random thing to do. We said we’d give it a year but we loved it so we are still here. We’ve built our family home in Matakana.
To start with, I was at home with my daughters, who are now 14 and 11. One day I went to a Bayleys work function with my husband and it was discovered that I had a background in sales. It was suggested that I could sell real estate and although I had never considered it, it was a logical path given my background. Next minute I was doing my real estate papers with a toddler under my feet.
Q: How did you get your first listing?
I met a couple who gave me my first break. They knew about my sales background and waited until I had finished my papers then gave me the privilege of selling their beachfront home. I sold it to their neighbour, who I also knew.
Discover more:
- Former pizza delivery guy now doing $10m sales in Auckland’s mansion suburbs
- Omaha’s wealth problem: ‘We’ve got four houses - it’s greedy. We don’t use this one’
- Nashville muso finds buyer for his multi-million-dollar Kiwi dream home
I started out working with my husband so we were Team Turner and that was good but then he got offered a business opportunity in the building industry so he pursued that. I decided to stay in real estate and give it 120%. I now have a team of two ladies who give me great support and have built a successful brand as Victoria Turner. I feel like I’ve fallen on my feet and found something I really love doing.
Q: Have you had any particularly memorable sales?
During Covid I did a sale that I will never forget. Thankfully we’d had the photos and video taken of the waterfront property before we went into level four lockdown, but everything had to be done online. We got over 90 enquiries and 19,000 views online. When we went into level three we managed to get people through the property, and we got a pre-auction offer of $5.1m.
For the online auction we had 11 registered bidders so 10 of my Bayleys colleagues helped me by working remotely on the phone with the bidders. There were over 44 bids in 16 minutes of online bidding with everyone working together from wherever they were, including the auctioneer, and it was phenomenal. We sold the property for $6.35m. The vendors were over the moon and it was a very memorable auction.
Turner’s most memorable sale was of a luxury bach on Omaha Drive in 2021, during Auckland’s Covid lockdown. It fetched $6.35m under the hammer. Photo / Supplied
Q: What do you love about the job?
Right from day dot, I realised that selling property is matchmaking, bringing together the right people and property, and I love that aspect of it. I enjoy finding the right person for the property, and often I will get a sense of when I have met that person. I just get a feeling of, ‘This is the buyer for this house’. Sometimes they can dismiss the property but I will get them back to have another look because I’ve just got this feeling. I keep going until the match is made.
I find it fascinating that you are negotiating with two lots of people who have probably never met, but they are often very like-minded. The buyers attracted to the property are usually very similar to the people selling it.
I love selling in the Omaha area – I’m mostly selling holiday houses, so to some extent you’re selling the dream. You’re selling a family a place where they are going to enjoy happy times and create special memories.
Q: Are there challenges that come with selling in a holiday hotspot?
There are only about 1500 properties in Omaha so there is not an endless supply. The good thing is that there are a range of properties – everything from $8m-plus beachfront homes to entry-level places of about $1.5m. At the moment I’ve got a listing for an original 1980s bach, which is a classic gem. We do have some high-profile vendors and buyers – I’ve had people helicoptering in to look at properties. They are very private so discretion is important in this job. A lot of buyers here are based in Auckland and know each other – there’s half a degree of separation. We are very mindful of being discreet.
Turner puts her success down to hard work. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Because a lot of properties we sell aren’t lived in all the time, the vendors put a lot of trust in us. Often they will give us the key and say, “Let us know when it’s sold”. We do everything to get it ready for market and looking perfect which can be quite a process but it’s one I enjoy.
Q: Why do you think you’ve done so well?
I think it’s down to having passion, and working hard. I grew up seeing my dad, who was a solicitor, bringing work home and the phone ringing at dinner time, which was against the norm then. I saw that work ethic and grew up thinking, ‘You just get the work done when it needs to be done’.
You’ve got to be determined, and real estate can be a tough industry so you have to grow a thick skin but ultimately, if you love what you are doing and you are willing to go the extra mile then success follows.
Q: What do you do when you’re not working?
Any spare time I have is spent with my husband and daughters and also my dad. It’s all about family for me. When I get the chance I also enjoy catching up with girlfriends over lunch and going for a walk along beautiful Omaha beach. The simple pleasures are the best ones!
- Click here to find properties for sale
