It’s quite a change, going from performing surgery to selling houses, but George Fong has no regrets about swapping careers. Real estate has been good to him over the last 28 years, and he’s good at it, taking the top spot as the number one salesperson at Barfoot & Thompson’s office in Epsom, Auckland, 15 times.
Q: How did you go from medicine to real estate?
It was not planned! In China I was a surgeon - I did mostly stomach surgery. My uncle had come to New Zealand for an exhibition and at the time – it was the early 1990s – we did not know much about New Zealand. All we knew was there were more sheep than people. My uncle said: “It is a nice modern place, you should visit.” I wanted to have an overseas experience so I came for the short term, maybe three years, initially to study language. But then I met my wife, Laura McAuley, who is a Kiwi, and we married, and I stayed.
Q: Could you have worked as a surgeon here?
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They recognised your qualifications but you needed to pass registration and to do the exam cost about $8000, which I couldn’t afford. I went to university to do my master’s degree in health science – I was doing cancer research – and after the school year finished in October, I thought: “What am I going to do over the Christmas break?” My wife said: “Why don’t you find a short course to do?” In those days you could do your real estate licence in a week at Unitec. I had been helping some Chinese people I knew through church with translations when they were buying properties and I thought, OK, I will do a real estate course. I got my licence in one week and Crockers were looking for salespeople, so I thought, I will try it. In my first two weeks, I sold three properties. My first one was a three-bedroom brick and tile flat with one car park, for $71,000. So I decided to do real estate.
Q: Do you ever miss being a surgeon?
Sometimes. But I am very pleased that I do real estate. It is still helping people, it is just a different way of doing that. I think having a medical career helped me with real estate. Doctors learn to talk to people and understand what they need, and that is what you do in real estate. You have to be able to connect with people emotionally. I have to find out from them: “What do you really want? What is your first priority?” Sometimes they don’t even know themselves.
Q: What do you love about the job?
Helping people. I like dealing with people and I have made so many good friends over the years. Every day is different, and I like that. And it is fun. Also, I like competition, so I compete against myself. I set myself targets and I do my best all the time to achieve my goals and keep doing better. When you work hard, you get good rewards.
The hardest thing probably is that you spend a lot of time at the weekends doing open homes so you miss family time. I have four children, so that is the only part that is not so good. They are all grown up now and living in Australia. My wife, who was a teacher, is now working with me and her support is very helpful. We work as a team.
George Fong: “Some people I have been dealing with for 20 years. I’m selling houses for their children.” Photo / Fiona Goodall
Over the 28 years I have been doing this there have been good times and bad times in the property market. I have seen a lot of ups and downs. Over the last couple of years, the market has been crazy. Recently I sold a block of flats in Epsom that had been an investment for a family for over 40 years. That sold for $2m more than the reserve and it was so good for me to see how happy the family was.
There are times when the market goes down and it can be quiet for a year or two. But I still love it. As long as you are working hard and meeting people, your life can be happy.
Q: Why do you think you’ve been so successful?
I treat every deal as if it were my own house. I always do my very best. You cannot change the market but you can do the best job you can and you can work hard for people. I am always honest so that people know they can trust me. Even if it is not my listing, if people come to me and ask, “What do you think?” I will give an honest opinion. If it is a good price, I will say, “Go for it,” even though I don’t get anything from it. Later on, when they want to sell, they think about me, and they know they can trust me.
About 80% of my business now is from referrals. Some people I have been dealing with for 20 years, I have sold four or five houses for them, and now I am selling houses for their children.
When I started in real estate I had a client who was very fussy. I showed him over 50 houses, and he didn’t want to buy any of them. One day he went to yum cha, and on the way out saw an open home. He walked in and it was what he wanted. Even though it was not one I showed him, I said: “This will suit you and your family, go for it.” He bought the house and then he told five of his friends about me and my service, so I did get some business from that. It is all about the relationships.
Q: Can you recall any particularly memorable sales?
There have been a lot! One I can think of was when I had been in real estate for about five years. We had a property that was for sale because of a marriage split. The husband wanted to sell, the wife didn’t, and we were stuck in the middle. We got a good offer and the husband said yes. It was 11 o’clock at night and I said to the wife: “Can I come over to get your signature on this offer?” and she said yes. But when I got there she was too upset about selling the house, and she changed her mind. She wouldn’t open the door. So I sat outside the house in the car and I talked to her on the phone for two hours. Not just about selling the house, but about families and marriage. Finally at 1 o’clock in the morning she opened the door, and she signed. It meant she could move on with her life, and she was pleased she made a good decision. We are still friends.
Q: What do you do outside of real estate?
I play badminton when I can. Before Covid, I was in a group of 25 people who played every Thursday and Saturday. I chose badminton because with real estate, your time is restricted. We can play in the evenings and it is not affected by the weather because we play indoors. I have represented Barfoot at the badminton open. I also like fishing. I have a boat I share with a friend and normally we go out fishing around Waiheke or the Noises. It’s good fishing here in New Zealand, we’re very lucky.
