Angela Rudling has sold some of the most spectacular – and expensive – homes in Auckland’s eastern beaches. Last year she found a buyer with $20 million to spend on an coastal estate in Whitford and the year before she brokered a $26.3m deal for a clifftop mansion in Mellons Bay (that year’s highest sale price). She’s been in the top five per cent of Bayleys’ agents nationwide since joining the company 15 years ago.
Q: What did you do before real estate?
My first job straight out of school was as a secretary for a business in the liquor industry and then I got into sales, working with some liquor outlets around Newmarket. I had the privilege of working with Harold Innes – of Innes Schweppes – in the Connoisseurs Society, a wine and food society that was very popular.
From there I went into selling jewellery. I’ve always loved pretty things and I loved the jewellery trade. I was the representative for a manufacturing company and I ended up designing small parts of some of the ranges. From my interaction with clients, I would know there were gaps in what people wanted, so I would suggest designs and they would make them. I can still go into shops and see some of the designs that I helped to put together and I get a bit of a thrill when that happens.
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Q: Why did you make the move to real estate?
My mum got ill and I needed a job where I would have the time and the freedom to take care of her. Real estate seemed like a good idea because it would let me do that.
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We had a close family friend who’d always said I would never be a good real estate agent because I talk too much. He said I didn’t pay enough attention to detail because I was too busy talking but I proved him wrong. Yes, I do talk a lot but I can talk and also pay attention to detail. I think being in the jewellery trade had taught me to know all the details.
Q: Was it challenging going from selling jewellery to houses?
It took a big leap of faith in my sales skills. I wasn’t confident when I started out with another company in 1999, I really didn’t know if I could do it. But I was determined to work really hard.
One of the things I did was door-knocking. A lot of real estate agents are scared to knock on people’s doors and talk to them about their homes but that wasn’t a problem for me because I’m a Jehovah’s Witness and from childhood I had been going door-to-door talking to people about the Bible. I love talking and I love helping people so it helped to morph me into a real estate agent.
It also helped that I had really good connections. I’ve always lived in the area and I had a lot of friends and associates who were happy to get me to sell their houses when they heard I’d gone into real estate. The industry is very much about networking and I managed to do above average sales in my first year because of my connections.
Rudling says presentation and hard work are everything in real estate. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Q: Do you remember your first sale?
It was a friend’s house, a nice three-bedroom place. She had fabulous interior design skills which really helped to sell it. It sold quite quickly, I think within three weeks.
That gave me confidence, and it also helped me to realise how important it is to make sure a home is well presented. I was doing home-staging years ago when nobody else did. Now, as well as getting home-stagers in, I also have two lock-ups full of accessories like vases, rugs, cushions and bedding. If someone needs a bit of help but not full staging, I can go in and help with the finishing touches. It’s like putting the cherry on top.
Q: Have you had any particularly memorable sales?
There have been a lot in the last 25 years. Probably one of the most recent was a property in Whitford that went for $20m. We missed out on the listing but were very proud to have the client who wanted to buy it. We also sold an iconic property in Mellons Bay that was even more expensive. We found someone who absolutely loved it so it was a fabulous outcome for everyone involved.
Q: What do you love about your job?
The people. I love meeting people, and I love talking to them. They say that if you do what you love then it will never feel like work, and that how real estate feels to me. There is a lot of responsibility with what we do because we’re selling someone’s biggest asset, but I love getting to do that and getting a result that will make the vendor happy.
I’ve met some wonderful people over the years that I have been doing this and some of them have ended up becoming very good friends.
The Whitford mansion on Strathfield Lane for which Rudling found a $20m buyer. Photo / Supplied
Another big Rudling sale: a trophy home on Seymour Road, in Mellons Bay, which sold for $26.3m. Photo / Supplied
And while I do love chatting to people, I am always very careful about what I say. Often you get to know personal information about your vendors, such as them going through a marriage break-up or financial issues and I never talk about things like that. People need to know they can trust you, and things like that are nobody else’s business.
Q: Why do you think you’ve done so well?
Hard work. I put in a lot of hours – usually 60 to 70 hours a week. It’s not unusual for me to start work at 8am and finish at 10pm. I have a business partner, Michael Chi, and it’s good to have two of us working together but we both work very long hours.
I am a bit of a control freak and I like to make sure everything is done properly, especially when it comes to marketing. I write my own scripts for properties and I am very fussy about the photos we use.
It’s very important that your vendors know they can trust you to do the best possible job for them, and I do that with every single property I list.
Q: What advice would you give someone starting out in real estate?
Have a bit of money in the bank, because you might not get any income in that first six to 12 months! It’s a very competitive industry and it can be really hard to do well. It’s the 80/20 rule – the top 20% of agents are selling 80% of the business.
It really helps if you have a good network of contacts when you are starting out, people who already trust you from another business. And it helps if you already have sales experience. If you haven’t, you need to learn how not to be too pushy but still give sound advice to your vendors.
Shadowing someone who is experienced is a good idea. I’ve mentored several people over the years and I love seeing them doing well. I helped Michael when he first came to Bayleys 10 years ago – he had previously been a radio announcer, he’s got a lovely voice – and now he is at the same level as me. We’re an amazing team.
My other advice is just to treat people well. That way they will keep coming back to you. I get a lot of repeat clients and I’ve got about half a dozen who I’ve probably done five or more transactions for over the years. I am always thrilled when they come back to me.
Q: What do you do when you’re not selling houses?
I don’t get a lot of spare time because of my long hours so when I’m not working I like to chill. I love the beach and the sun, and I love to read. I am also keen on music and theatre and art. Whenever I get a decent amount of time off I try to create a piece of artwork, which I never show anyone! When I do finally retire I want to get into painting.
I try to go away every winter with my husband Phillip – who I call the credit card controller, he’s like my business manager. We escape to Europe for a nice holiday, which I think is important. When you work so much, you need time off to rejuvenate. A tired agent’s not good. I always come back with my energy banks restocked.
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