Real estate has proved to be a great career for Sam Steel, who is in the top 2.5% of LJ Hooker’s agents, and a member of the firm’s elite Captain’s Club and 500 Club. But he admits that when he started in the business nine years ago aged 20, he thought he’d made a big mistake.
Q: What did you do before real estate?
I worked in hospitality. I was a waiter, and a maître d’ and then I moved into bartending. I was never a very confident person but it helped me to build my confidence by having to be face-to-face with people.
Q: What made you move into real estate?
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I would see real estate agents coming into the restaurant with clients and I thought it was great, being able to have meetings over lunch. It looked like a really good lifestyle, and not being stuck in an office all the time appealed to me. And it seemed at the time to be the best way to become self-employed.
I was someone who’d had trouble focusing at school and I didn’t think I was suited to a 9-5 office job working for someone else. I liked the idea of being able to be in control of my time, although in reality, while you can manage your time in real estate to some extent, you have to be available when clients are free and that often means evenings and weekends. But having worked in hospitality, I wasn’t fazed by that.
Q: Did you hit the ground running when you started out, or was it a slow burn?
Definitely a slow burn! It was tough to start with; the first couple of years were really just about survival. I was only 20 but I probably looked about 15 – I still had braces! I did feel like being young a bit of a disadvantage at the time and people probably judged me for my age.
I didn’t really have anyone holding my hand to begin with and it was quite stressful. I was spending $200 a week on flyers but not making any money. I was in Flatbush then, and doing a lot of door-knocking but not really getting anywhere. There had been a downturn in the market and things were pretty flat. Everyone in the office was struggling. There were times when I wondered, What have I done? I thought I’d made a big mistake.
But then after a few months I joined LJ Hooker in South Auckland, and things started to improve. Once I started becoming part of the community the phone started ringing and by the second year things were a lot better. Now I mostly sell homes in Wattle Downs, which is a really friendly neighbourhood.
Q: Was door-knocking difficult considering you didn’t have a lot of confidence?
It was daunting to start with, but I found that people were mostly really polite. And the way I did it, it wasn’t, “Hi, I’m Sam, do you want to sell?” but more, “Hi, I’m Sam, I’m working in this area and it’s nice to meet you.” I think if you’re all business, business, business that can annoy people. But for me, it has always just been about getting to know people in my area, and them getting to know who I am.
Nine years later, I still do some door-knocking, depending on how busy I am, and it’s funny, I will still get nerves when I knock on those first couple of doors. But once you get talking to people, the nerves go away.
Q: Do you remember the first property you sold?
I’d actually listed two houses on the same day, and they went up for auction on the same day. I was incredibly stressed out – there was probably more sweat on my forehead that day than I’ve ever sweated in my whole life. But they both sold, which was a huge relief.
Q: Have you had any particularly memorable sales?
There have been a few. When we came out of the level four lockdown into level three I listed a house owned by a lovely couple who’d had a lot of fear put into them about the market crashing. There was a lot of interest in their place but we could only have two viewings a day, a few hours apart, because of the Covid restrictions. In between I would clean the house down – it was like I was a part-time cleaner.
Steel says his days off are limited but he does find time to unwind tending to his garden. Photo / Fiona Goodall
With only two viewings a day and the auction in three weeks, I couldn’t actually get everyone through who wanted to look at the property. People were calling, and I had to say, “Sorry, viewings are all booked, I can’t show it to you.” Luckily, the rules changed a few days before the auction, so more people could see it.
The day of the auction was very nerve-wracking but in the end there were almost 30 registered bidders and the house sold for $1.4 million. The couple were expecting $1.2m, so they were in tears.
Again [in 2021], I got the listing for another house, which was appraised at $2.1m. A neighbour had actually offered the owners that much but I suggested they take it to auction, knowing that if it didn’t sell, they had the option to sell to the neighbour. We only had two bidders on the day, but the price went up to $2.6m. It was actually the neighbour who bought it, so finding that second bidder had pushed the price up. The vendors were very happy.
Q: Why do you think you’ve done so well in real estate?
I think it is down to working in a particular area, Wattle Downs in my case, and becoming trusted by people there. A lot of the work I get is referrals and word of mouth. Integrity is really important, so people know they can trust you. You have to do the best job you can for the vendors. It’s not just a case of chucking up a listing and hoping someone will call.
I know my area really well, which is important because you are not just selling the house, you are selling the location. I really love Wattle Downs. There’s a wide variety of properties at all prices, including some affordable ones by the water that you’d pay astronomical prices for in other parts of Auckland. There’s one road in and one road out, so it’s a nice, safe suburb. And the people are great.
Q: What do you love about your job?
The people I get to meet and the fact that every day is different. I like being out of the office doing stuff. I am the kind of person who needs to be kept busy and this job certain does that.
Q: What keeps you busy when you are not working?
My days off are fairly limited so I like to relax when I can. I’m not a big sports player but I do go to the gym regularly. I’m quite a keen gardener, and enjoy getting out in my garden, especially when it is sunny.
Q: Would you advise other young people to get into real estate?
It is a good career and if I could do it all again, I would start at the same age. In some ways it is a good idea to get into it before you have big financial commitments like a family, because if you’ve got no money coming in when you start out, that’s tough.
I think it is really helpful if you can find someone to help you out. If I was doing it again, I would attach myself to an experienced agent and learn as much as I could right from the start.
Later on, I did get help from my office owner at LJ Hooker, Dylan Turner, and the manager Brett Norris. I also got a lot of help from Charlie Brothers, a top agent who now works for another company. He didn’t give me listings, but he let me run his open homes and attend appointments with him. I learned a massive amount from him, and I am incredibly grateful for that.
