One of Auckland’s top agents, John Q’s long list of accolades Ray White International’s number 3 residential salesperson for 2020. He’s come a long way from a tough childhood in the Philippines.
Q: What did you want to do for a career when you were growing up?
John Q: I had no idea, I just wanted to get out of the Philippines. I grew up on the rough side of Manila. My parents separated when I was about eight and when I was 10 my brother and I went to live with our grandma because dad didn’t have the money to support us.
It was a tough upbringing but looking back, it taught me resilience and how to do stuff on my own. The moment I graduated, I applied for a job overseas.
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I eventually got one in Dubai as a front office clerk, checking guests in at a hotel inside Dubai International Airport. I worked 14-hour days, with one day off a week, and I earned around $NZ300 a month. It was hard.
Q: How did you end up in New Zealand?
John Q: My next job was as a flight attendant with Etihad Airways. I met my wife Jenny, who is a New Zealander, on board a flight in 2006 – she was also crew. We started dating in 2008 when we flew together again.
There was a death on board the plane; me and Jenny and one of the cabin managers tried to revive the passenger, but they passed away. It was very sad but it brought the two of us together. We moved to New Zealand at the end of 2009 to start a new life here together.
I felt very grateful to be in New Zealand, the culture is great and the people are so friendly.
Q: Why did you choose real estate as a career?
John Q: I didn’t know what else to do. When I’d started work as a flight attendant, I earned 10 times as much as I had as a front office clerk and I sent a lot of money home to the Philippines to be invested.
When I arrived in New Zealand I phoned my dad and said I wanted to get my money out to start my life here. After a week he called me back and said the person who had invested my money was a fraud and it was all gone. All $40,000 of it.
I was afraid Jenny would say, “I’m shipping you back to the Philippines.” Luckily she didn’t. Her family were great, they gave us a lot of support. Jenny got a job with Jetconnect, getting about $400 a week. We were living in a one-bedroom flat in Manukau that cost $320 a week. It left us hardly anything to live on.
John Q: "I grew up on the rough side of Manila. It was a tough upbringing." Photo / Fiona Goodall
I Googled “top paying jobs in New Zealand” and the answer was jobs like architect, doctor, lawyer, engineer. I didn’t have the brains for those. But it also said salesperson. It said what you earn can be unlimited. So I decided to try selling real estate.
Q: Did you get off to a good start?
John Q: I knocked on the doors of a lot of real estate companies and got a lot of rejections. The only people who opened their doors to someone new were at Ray White Ellerslie. They taught me a lot and from the start I was fully committed.
My first sale was a house in Otahuhu. I was the buyers’ agent and the commission was split six ways. I got the smallest part – when I found out the commission was $8000 and I saw that my pay cheque was $500, I just about cried. I thought, “How am I going to survive?”
But I got $8000 for my first listing, which was a deceased estate in Mt Wellington. I got that listing from knocking on the door. I am still door-knocking today.
Q: What are some of your greatest achievements since then?
John Q: Personally gaining over 80% of the market share in Stonefields back in 2016 is one. I managed to do that in two years. I went from writing $400,000 in gross commission income (GCI) to over $1 million.
I put my head down and worked hard. By then I was at Ray White Remuera and it took me just a year to be number one in the office and i have been number one since 2016. I am now part of Ray White Parnell, which is owned by Phil Horrobin, and I have great plans for the future.
We were averaging at least $2m GCI but we more than doubled that to over $4m last year. That is testament to my team as well. I have 13 members in my team and everyone works really hard. It’s not just about me anymore, it’s about them, and I am so happy seeing them succeed in real estate like I have.
Q: What’s the secret of your success?
John Q: I like the challenge, the hustle. I am very ambitious and I have big dreams. I feel that in New Zealand, you can pretty much achieve anything as long as you have the work ethic. I work hard.
I always say to my team, "The two important things to remember are consistency and discipline." I always do the best I can for the vendors. I am always hungry for more.
Sometimes you have to be prepared to jump into things. There can be risk, but I am happy to take risks. If it was necessary, I would start all over again.
Also, my wife is my backbone and I would not have this mindset without her. She throws me ideas and that drives me to keep going.
Q: You’ve got a beautiful home, three luxury cars ... do you ever think back to your childhood and pinch yourself?
John Q: All the time. I can’t believe how far I have come in 10 years since I came to New Zealand. I feel very blessed. I always remember when I was growing up we didn’t have a car for a long time, then we had a 1960s Toyota that was falling apart.
Dad would clean it every day. He always used to say, “Your car is a reflection of you, at least you can keep it clean, even if it is old.” Now I clean my cars every day, but I have two Mercedes and a Porsche.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
John Q: I like to spend time with my family. Jenny and I have two children, Jaxon, who is seven, and Jamie, who is three. On my day off I chill with my daughter Jamie who is at home on Fridays. I often help my wife with household chores.
I used to play tennis and basketball when I was younger but now I get up at 4am every day to go to the gym. I do F45 in a group of four and the others push me – if I get slack they tell me off. I love the competitive nature of going to the gym, and the banter. I can’t banter in real estate but I can do it in the gym.
But otherwise the thing I like doing every day is cleaning my cars. When the kids are in bed, I take my computer into the garage and I do some work while cleaning the cars. Does that count as a hobby?
