How obsession with UK property shows turned into stellar career

A decade after launching a new career in a new country, Auckland-based Australian Robyn Ellson is now one of Ray White’s top 10 real estate agents internationally, with sales of more than $300m under her belt. She credits drive, determination and an obsession with houses, fuelled by TV shows like Location, Location, Location for getting her where she is today.

How did you end up in Auckland?

It’s been a journey! I was born in Sydney, then lived in Tasmania from about nine to 19. As soon as I turned 19, I sold my car and moved to Melbourne, where I did a bachelor of arts majoring in creative writing.

When I finished my degree I thought “Now what?” I ended up in London for the next six years. A creative writing degree did not exactly set me up for a major career move but I was able to use my writing skills in marketing. I met my Kiwi husband Mark in London and after the global financial crisis hit and things were getting depressing we decided to leave.

I initially wanted to go to Sydney but we realised buying a house — a big driver for me — was going to more affordable in Auckland, so we came here in 2009.

What prompted the move to real estate?

I have always been obsessed with houses and when I lived in London I got addicted to property shows like Location, Location, Location. Developer Sarah Beeny from Property Ladder was my idol — I wanted to be her.

Real estate was in the back of my mind when we came here and I remember saying to my parents when they visited that I wanted to renovate houses, but we had no money to get started. Dad said, “You should be a real estate agent,” and Mark also thought I would be good at it.

Once you got your licence did you hit the ground running?

Oh yes! I am very driven and I was determined to make it. I started out in Kingsland and Eden Terrace and I printed out details of every property in the area. Then I went back to my telemarketing days at university and hit the phones, connecting with as many people as I could. And I walked around the area looking at houses that were having work done to them. I didn’t have any kind of network to tap into because I was new here, I just had to work really hard.

Did you have a breakthrough moment?

A couple of months after I started I managed to get the listing for a house that had been on the market but hadn’t sold. Then, when I was walking the streets nearby putting flyers in letterboxes, I saw a couple of young guys doing up a house. They had it as a rental property and it had been left in a bad way by the tenants. I stopped and said, “If you want to sell, I’ve just listed a house around the corner and I could have an extra buyer or two from that place.” They gave me a shot and I sold both houses in the next two weeks.

I remember going to a sales meeting and being able to say I had two houses under contract. That was the moment when I thought, “I can do this.”

Have you had the chance to do renovations?

We did up a warehouse apartment in Arch Hill, which was fun, and we also did some work on my mother-in-law’s house in Kingsland. But then our last house, a transitional villa in Sandringham, was a pretty major job as we did a full extension. I put a lot of love into it but it was tough. I was working seven days a week, my son Eamon was only three, it cost us twice what they told us it would and I ended up exhausted.

I feel richer for the experience but I would say if you are going to do a renovation like that, make sure you want to stay a long time to enjoy it. I love what we did but we couldn’t get a pool in, which I really wanted.

So we moved last year to a villa that had been beautifully renovated already, and has room for us to do a pool.

What do you do when you are not working?

I work a lot, so time off is precious. I try to hang out as much as possible with my son, who is now six. I get to see more of Mark because he now works with me. He was a web developer but in 2016 made the choice to support me because my career was flying and there just weren’t enough hours in the day for me to get everything done. He does the paperwork and the legals while I’m the one talking to the vendors and the buyers.

I’m a big walker, I try to walk up Mt Eden at least three times a week with my dogs. I also love yoga.

Reading is another passion. My summer reads are Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin, The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger, and Busy As F*ck by Wellington psychologist Karen Nimmo, which I think will be a good self-help guide for me.

I still dabble in writing. I probably have a novel burning away somewhere.

Any New Year’s resolutions?

I always want to do better, whether it’s carving out more time for myself and my family, walking more or spending more time in the garden. I’ve been trying to meditate but I’m useless at it. There is always something knocking on the door of my mind.

Is New Zealand home?

Definitely! I love it here, I love what I do, I feel connected to the people and I feel very settled. This is just about the longest I have lived in one place. As soon as I have spare time, I am going to get my citizenship. It’s on my To Do list.