Two years after Vicki Wallace launched a career in real estate in Auckland her husband Gary followed her into the industry. Fifteen years down the track the pair, who’ve been married for 35 years, have racked up more than $1 billion in sales and won numerous awards. Not surprisingly, they say it was the best move they ever made.
Before real estate beckoned, Gary sold computer equipment and then got into the fashion industry, firstly as a partner in clothing manufacturer Peppertree, then with his own business. Meanwhile, Vicki worked in direct selling for a cosmetics company in between raising sons Sam (32), Ben (30) and Andrew (28).
What made you get your sales certificate, Vicki?
A friend who had separated from her husband wanted to up-skill with a computer course, so I said I’d go with her. Then she told me she’d changed it to real estate. I said, “Okay, I’ll do real estate then.” This was 17 years ago and you could do it in two weeks. I was lucky to get a job straight away with Bayleys.
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Gary, why did you make the switch?
I was over the rag trade. Vicki said to me, “With your sales skills, you will just love this.” And I thought Bayleys would be a good company to work for — I loved going to the staff functions with Vicki, it was like a big family.
Is it true that you hit the ground running?
On my first day I was sitting at my desk wondering what to do — nobody knew I was in real estate so my phone wasn’t going to ring. So I decided to go to the gym. While I was on the exercycle I got talking to the guy next to me and told him I was a real estate agent. He said he had an apartment he wanted to sell, I told him, “I’m your man”, and I sold it to the first person who inquired about the ad. That deal was for $1.3m, the following week I sold my second property for $4.6m. I thought, Vicki’s right, this is an amazing business.
Your patch is Remuera, Parnell and the Eastern Bays. Are you locals?
Gary: Born and bred. I grew up in Parnell and the Bays, while Vicki’s family home was in Lucerne Rd, Remuera.
Vicki: My dad was Vlad Cacala, an architect from the Czech Republic who was well-known for Bauhaus design. He built his house in 1962 and lived there until he died in 2013. It was an amazing house.
Gary: He designed four houses in the same strip for his friends. Over the years we’ve sold a few Vlad Cacala homes for people.
Vicki: When it came time to sell Dad’s house, I couldn’t do it, it was too emotional. Gary sold it.
You’ve lived in the same house in Remuera for 27 years. Have you never been tempted to move?
Vicki: We never have time to think about it — it’s a big job finding a house! I am probably more tempted to move than Gary, we do see a lot of beautiful homes.
Gary: To me, our place is home sweet home and I love the peace and quiet. I have never seen any other home I would rather live in. Vicki would redecorate every week if she could, but I just resist until she changes her mind.
What would you be doing if you weren’t in real estate?
Gary: My main passion, along with golf, is horses. We breed race horses with friends who have a stud farm in Matamata. I love to go down there and spend time with the horses, especially at this time of year when the foals are being born. I’m in heaven when I’m with the horses.
Vicki: I really don’t know. I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else — spending time with my grandchildren when we have some, I guess.
Your sons are all in the real estate business. Did you encourage that?
Gary: We were happy for them to do whatever they wanted, but we thought it was a great business for young people to get into, so we did encourage them. Ben, our middle son, always wanted to be a professional golfer and he did very well, he played for New Zealand for seven years, then he injured his rotator cuff and had to give it up. He and Andrew work for Bayleys in commercial real estate and leasing. Sam was in advertising for 10 years, including five of those in Paris. He’s in Sydney and got into commercial real estate a couple of years ago. I think he thought, ‘If I can’t beat ‘em, I’ll join ‘em.’
What’s the secret to living and working together?
Vicki: We love what we do so it is no problem to bring work home. We talk about work at home all the time and we never turn our phones off.
Gary: We have different strengths and we work to those. Vicki is an amazing people person and so good at communicating. I enjoy the negotiation stage and auctions. We work as a team and we have each other’s back. I think the key is to bring the same things to your marriage and your business partnership – trust, respect, integrity, transparency and good communication skills.
