In the real estate business, personal branding is important.
But what happens when you share your brand name with a bunch of others?
An analysis of the 10,000-plus active real estate agents in New Zealand found that some first names were overwhelmingly more common than others. the number of Marks, Pauls and Mikes in the industry hit triple figures.
Female agents across all sectors of the industry are more likely to be called Sarah, Karen and Jo than any other name, although when it comes to the commercial and rural, Julie, Rachel and Amanda are the most common names.
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There are just over 700 first names that are one-offs in the industry, including Aakash, Premilla and Colville (although some of that is down to variations in spellings).
The OneRoof analysis was inspired by similar research conducted in Australia by Ray White.
That research found Michael was the most common male name and Sarah the most common female name. Bruce and Sheila didn’t get a look-in.
Nerida Conisbee, Ray White’s chief economist, said because real estate agents were adults, the current crop of popular baby names haven’t filtered into the workplace yet (for the record, in New Zealand, last year those were Charlotte, Amelia and Isla for newborn girls and Noah, Oliver and Luca for boys).
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee says it will be a while before we see a flood of Charlottes and Noahs in the industry. Photo / Supplied
Agents contacted by OneRoof were amused by the findings.
“Well if you’re a Mark, you’re clearly trustworthy and have great empathy,” said Mark Macky, owner of Bayleys in the North.
He told OneRoof that he can count 36 Marks working at Bayleys “and another couple of dozen who wish they were called Mark”.
Bayleys Remuera agent Sarah Liu said that she adopted her English name when she came to New Zealand 20 years ago from China because it had a similar pronunciation to her Chinese name.
“Everyone calls me Sarah, but some clients from China, especially the elderly ones, prefer to call me what would be “little Liu” or “young Liu” in English.”
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Liu, who has been in the industry for 10 years, shares the name with another agent in Bayleys’ Hamilton office, and said they sometimes receive each others’ emails.
Bayleys also has another set of “name twins”. One Victoria Turner works out of the Warkworth office, covering Omaha and the lifestyle suburbs, while the other Victoria Turner is based in Mount Albert.
“We’ve done a few things together, she’s super. You can have confidence to give referrals,” said Mount Albert’s Turner, who has been with the company for 21 years.
“But when she first joined, I got an email from her husband saying ‘check your diary, I’ve got tickets to meet some ex-All Blacks’. I replied ‘Yes, I’m free, I’d love to come. Are you sure your wife won’t mind?’ We still laugh about that.”
Bayleys in the North owner Mark Macky: “Well if you’re a Mark, you’re clearly trustworthy and have great empathy." Photo / Supplied
Omaha’s Turner said that since she joined the business eight years ago, the pair collaborate from time to time, referring each other business.
“We connected straight away. A lot of my clients might sell an investment property through her, a lot of my clients are from the city,” she said.
Another pair of Turners (no relation) – Dylan Turner, owner of Ray White Orewa, and Dylan Turner, owner of LJ Hooker offices in Manurewa, Pukekohe and Karaka – have also collaborated.
Manurewa’s Turner, who has been in the business nearly 29 years, said that the pair first met in previous lives when they were both courier drivers.
“You have your name on the side of the van. One day we pulled up beside each other around Albany somewhere, pointing at each other going ‘what the hell’,” he laughed.
“We’re lucky because we’re at opposite ends of Auckland, but we did work together on a subdivision Pacific Gardens near Rainbows End. He’s a very good agent, like-minded.
“I call him the brother from another mother. But I tease ‘big Dylan’, I’m not the $57m man, but I own three offices and he only has one.”
LJ Hooker agent Sam Steel, who works in South Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Ray White lead auctioneer Sam Steele, who also works in South Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Orewa’s Turner, who came back into the real estate business around seven or eight years ago after an earlier stint during the GFC, said that he has the better deal.
“I’m in the sunny north and I’m the better looking one,” he said. Maybe jokingly.
“We’re all happy-go-lucky locals.”
LJ Hooker agent Sam Steel, also based in Manurewa, said that it’s fortunate that the Ray White chief auctioneer who shares his name, Sam Steele isn’t out selling houses.
“If he was in sales, he’d have to change his name. Obviously,” he said, also claiming to have the better looks.
“But you wouldn’t want me auctioning your property, he’s very good at that.”
In turn, Steele (with an e) joked that he hoped the other Sam doesn’t end up on the front page of the Herald – for all the wrong reasons!
But spare a thought for the four Craig Smiths in the real estate game.
Craig Smith, owner of the five Ray White offices in West Auckland – New Lynn, Green Bay, Blockhouse Bay, Titirangi and Te Atatu South – told OneRoof that he probably has the edge.
“I was the first, I started in real estate in 1988. And I’m by far the best,” he joked, adding that his mother Joan Smith was a early mainstay of the industry, encouraging him into the family business.
“There are now 10 family members in the business, so I’m well-known in the area.”
Also in the West, other Craig Smiths are branch manager of Barfoot & Thompson New Lynn, a director of commercial and industrial sales for Bayleys NorthWest, and the fourth Craig Smith is a sales agent and auctioneer for Harcourts Taradale, in the Hawke’s Bay.
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