There’s not a lot Dylan Turner doesn’t know about business. Since starting his own company at 17, he’s experienced good times and bad. Real estate’s his passion now, and as the owner of Ray White Orewa, he gets a huge buzz out of helping others find success in property, whether they are selling, developing or investing in it.
Q: How did you start your own business so young?
I got an ACC payout after I was in an accident when I was 15. I’d been clearing gorse from a farm in Dairy Flat and was coming home along a gravel road when I had a head-on crash with a cattle truck that wasn’t supposed to be on that road. It went over the top of me and the bonnet came through the windscreen of my Triumph Toledo and peeled the side of my face off. I was left with facial disfigurement and $10,000 from ACC. My dad helped me to invest in a bit of land when I was 16, and when I was 17 I borrowed $10,000, and spent $5000 on a truck, $5000 on working capital and started my own transport company.
In the beginning there was just me and one truck. I specialised in fragile freight and built the business up to 54 staff. I had branches in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. I owned the properties in Auckland and Christchurch and through that I got to see how you create value by owning property. Our trust bought the properties and the transport company leased them back, and I made more money out of property than I did out of the transport business the whole time I owned it.
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Q: Why did you sell?
I had set myself a goal of having $1 million in the bank and I had achieved that by 30. Looking back now, I set my goal too low. I should have said $10m. I took my wife Sharon and our kids on a world trip which was great fun but then I thought, ‘What am I going to do now?’ After a while I got sick of mowing the lawn and washing the concrete outside the house. I started thinking about getting into property and I thought the best way to understand how the industry works was to get my real estate ticket. And it did help me to understand everything from commercial, rural and residential to investments and developments.
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Property development was where I was headed but it was really hard to be both a developer and an agent. I went big into development, putting a lot of cash into a beautiful 54-lot farm park. A lot of people thought it was a fantastic idea but there was an objection to it and I had to go to environment court. And the GFC happened and Hanover Finance called in their loan within 48 hours. I couldn’t pay it back in that time. A receiver was appointed, and did things like selling a $70,000 tractor for $5000. I had a sale and purchase agreement to swap the property with one in town but the receiver discarded that and ended up selling my property for $2m. I was in it for $7.5m with penalty interest and all sorts. Everything came crumbling down.
Q: Where did you go from there?
Thankfully I didn’t go bankrupt or lose my house but it nearly killed me. I cried harder than I’d ever cried in my life, drank a bottle of whiskey – and I don’t usually drink much – then got up the next day, dusted myself off and went and got a job. I went back to transport and ran Linfox Logistics at Auckland Airport for seven years while we climbed back on our feet. I made good on the majority of our debts but eventually I got sick of travelling two hours each way to the airport every day. I was missing out on family life and I wanted to be back up here in Whangaparaoa. I decided to get back into selling real estate.
Q: Can you remember the first sale you had when you started in real estate again?
It was actually a lease. I was doing everything I could. I was knocking on doors, I joined the local business association. I went to see the owner of a printing business who was working out of her garage. I found her a place in Silverdale that was listed by another agent. It took me two and a half weeks to put the deal together and for that I got $260. I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m going to get rich out of this game!’ From that day onwards, I have never looked at the fee. I never think about what I am going to earn, I just do the deal and the money takes care of itself. If it becomes more about the money than getting a result for the client, then your focus goes elsewhere.
Turner with his daughter at the beach. "I’m a lifeguard and an IRB driver and I was the chairman of the Red Beach Surf Life Saving Club for 10 years. I’ve done a lot of rescues." Photo / Fiona Goodall
Q: Have you had any particularly memorable sales?
I’ve just done a $57m deal for a 450-lot residential development locally. That was a three-year project and there was a lot of stress and work involved but I loved every moment of it. We’ve been working on a $200m development in South Auckland and a $20m one up north. My speciality is projects and understanding the numbers. I look at all the costs, the feasibility, what’s under the land, what the margins are, everything. I look at every property as if I was going to buy it myself and what everybody’s needs and wants are.
Q: What do you love about real estate?
The people. Those I get to meet, and those I work with. Real estate is all about relationships. I enjoy connecting with people, helping them to sell what is usually their biggest asset and taking the stress out of everything. It’s like you go on a journey with them. I’ve met some amazing people.
I also enjoy nurturing other real estate agents and helping them to grow and be successful. That’s one of the best parts of running my own business. I’ve been involved in ownership for the last three years, and five months ago my wife Sharon, who is an accountant, and I bought out our business partners. We have been putting everything into building up the business here in Orewa.
The other thing I love is being part of the Ray White brand. It’s an awesome company run by incredible people who are always there for you, day or night. And they have invested in the most incredible systems for agents – we’re three to four years ahead of any other agency in Australasia. If your details are in the system, and you go to an open home or search somewhere like OneRoof, I get an alert. I can ring and say, “Hi, how’s it going? Can I help with anything?” It means I can be much more efficient with my time.
Q: Why do you think you’ve been so successful?
I think I’m pretty genuine and honest, and I get on well with people. I work hard to do my best for our clients. I’m quite well known around Whangaparaoa. I’ve been involved in local surf clubs for a very long time – I’m a lifeguard and an IRB driver and I was the chairman of the Red Beach Surf Life Saving Club for 10 years. I’ve done a lot of rescues.
I’ve also had a lot of involvement with the Silverdale Rugby Club so people know me through that. They know that with me, what you see is what you get.
Q: What do you do when you’re not working?
We are still involved in surf life saving and rugby. We also love to go fishing, and often take clients out on our boat. And I love cars and anything to do with mechanical stuff. But we don’t have a lot of spare time at the moment because we’re putting so much into the business.
I’m confident we can be a $6m to $10m GCI (gross commission income) business within the next 24 months. Yes, things are hard at the moment but when the going gets tough, you go harder. I’ve been through the wringer before so I know only too well that you have to just keep going. It helps when you love what you do, and I really love real estate. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else now.
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