‘I Googled what kind of money could be made as an agent ...’

Seven years ago Kapil Rana decided to ditch his horticulture job and find something better paid, and easier on his back. Real estate beckoned, and he’s quickly become the top agent in Barfoot & Thompson’s Papatoetoe office, selling around 70 houses a year.

Q: What did you do before real estate?

I came to New Zealand from India as a student and studied horticulture at MIT. I heard horticulture was a good job to have in New Zealand, and I went to work as a horticulturalist for New Zealand Hothouse, based at Karaka, where I did the fertilizing of the tomato and capsicum crops. I enjoyed it for a couple of years but it was hard on my back, so I started looking at other job opportunities.

For me, the drive to get into real estate was that I could earn good money. In 2012 my wife and I bought our first house in New Zealand and ended up becoming friends with the real estate agent. I followed him on Facebook and saw how many sales he was getting. I Googled what kind of money could be made and from the start, I decided I wanted to be a top-earning agent. I started at Barfoot & Thompson in 2017, and I am the top agent in the office.

Q: Was it tough, going into a commission-only job?

It was challenging. I struggled for the first three months. I was lucky to have my parents here to support me – they moved to New Zealand after they retired from their government jobs – and my wife was working. I felt that I had to make real estate work because my parents used their savings to help me get my start.

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But it was hard. I didn’t earn anything until the third month. I was lucky to join the team of Karan Sawhney, who was the top salesperson at the time. He was very good at what he did, and I learned a lot from him, such as always follow every enquiry you get.

I was a buyer’s agent for a year, which was a good way to learn about real estate. Now that I am a listing agent, I think being a buyer’s agent is the toughest job in this industry. You have to do a lot of running around.

After that third month, I found my feet and I sold my first house through someone I met at an open home I did for Karan. Doing open homes was good, I got to meet lots of people. By the end of my first year, I had earned $70,000, double what I had been earning. Now I am very comfortable financially. I feel very blessed.

Q: When did things start to take off for you?

After Covid. I had left Karan’s team to work on my own and when Covid came along, the market started going up and up. You could put a sign outside a property and it sold automatically. But it wasn’t easy for everyone – Covid drowned some people and lifted others. I was lucky that I was lifted.

Now the market has gone the other way, and you have to work hard to get the sales. Being a buyer’s agent taught me how to recognise a genuine buyer. You get to be good at analysing people.

I now have my own team, including a buyer’s agent, like I used to be. Everybody plays a vital role.

Q: Have you had any particularly memorable sales?

Earlier this year I sold a house for a family who had lived there for 35 years. They were moving for a lifestyle change but leaving was very emotional. The house meant a lot to them and they wanted it to go to someone who would cherish it as much as they had. They even asked the buyers if they were going to chop down a tree in the garden.

Rana doesn't regret his shift to real estate one bit. "It has changed my life." Photo / Fiona Goodall

Q: Why do you think you’ve done so well?

I think it’s because I connect with people. I’m very transparent. If people trust you, they will do business with you, and I would never break anyone’s trust. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with selling someone’s biggest asset and I always do my best to get the best price I can for them.

And again, always doing the follow-ups makes a difference. I follow every enquiry we get. I always try to talk to people, because you can’t truly connect with people via email. Sometimes you can’t get hold of people on the phone, but I always try that first.

Q: What do you enjoy about the job?

For me, the most important thing is the flexibility. I get to organise my time. I have two children, aged nine and seven, and I can drop them at school or pick them up, and go to school events. We can go on holiday when we want.

I enjoy getting to meet a lot of different people. I spend my days talking to people, so I do my admin work from 9 to 11 every night when the kids are in bed. You do have to be quite disciplined in this job.

Q: What do you do outside of work?

I don’t get a lot of free time. When I do have time off, I like to spend it with my family. I like to take my kids to the playground. If we have longer off, such as a few days, then I like to take them out of the country. We have recently been to the Gold Coast and a couple of weeks before that, to the US. I enjoyed taking them to Disneyland.

When I do have a bit of spare time, I go on YouTube and watch clips of successful people, like motivational speakers. I look at videos of people who have done well in sales industries, not just real estate. I find that very inspiring, and seeing what they do helps you to get better at what you do. I still feel like I have things to learn.

I don’t do any gardening, despite my background in horticulture. I never even think about it.

Q: Are you glad you made the move to real estate?

Absolutely. It has changed my life.

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