Words of Wisdom – with Recruit RE and guest Tulo Sila

“It’s quite a rewarding career and I'm very blessed to do what I do.”

A sales agent on the Northern Beaches with 14 years of experience under his belt, Tulo Sila Director at The North Agency has cemented his space in a competitive Beaches market. 

“I’ve seen a lot in my time and have worked for three firms in that time.” 

Tell us about your career and how you started in the industry

I never really considered real estate. Being a young Islander there’s a handful of things that you aspire to be, and real estate is not one of them. 

After I finished school, I did different sales jobs to help my family pay the rent. I was on the L90 at 3:30pm each afternoon to be Neutral Bay at 4pm and I would go and sell investment packages to families from four until nine. I was 15 years old and would get paid twenty dollars an hour, making $360 per week and that would go to my family.

My mate Brenton was always dressed nice and one day I asked him what he did. He told me real estate and explained what he was doing in leasing. I thought it sounded interesting and found a role starting off in leasing and property management and was in it for 7 years.

One Saturday, my boss at the time said he would meet me and told me I was going into sales. On the Monday he shook my hand and said good luck. That was around eight years ago, and I haven’t looked back.

I’m a Samoan kid from Dee Why. I went to Cromer High and I'm the only Islander selling real estate in Sydney, aside from Ezra, who is in the Shire. 

I am from our humble beginnings and believe that you always bring peopleup with you.

I've always been a magnet to positions where I get to help people.  In Samoan culture we're natural givers, that’s how we are brought up.

My mum always said, ‘when you give something never in your heart think that you want something in return. You just give it, and the world will come around.’ 

In real estate I genuinely like helping people, it's just something natural to me. It’s also rewarding when I get kids that ring me from our culture or people that ask if I can speak to their kids about how to get into the industry.” 

What professional training and qualifications have you completed

When I began, the course wasn’t as intensive and we just had CPD points but now as a business owner, there are controls and training and knowledge that we need to get under our belt to constantly evolve.

I'm now a licensed real estate agent and run my own business. I’ve got corporation license and the training these days is harder, but it needs to be. We're dealing with the biggest asset in someone’s life and playing with a lot of money. 

How would you say that your friends and colleagues would describe you? 

I’m very giving and understanding. If you called me and said you needed something, I would drop what I was doing and help you.

I’m a passionate, empathetic and a glass half full person. If we met for the first time you would leave the room feeling better.

 It's important when you're dealing with the eleven types of people that are selling or buying, to empathise with their situation and be there for them through the journey

What is your proudest career moment?

Selling a $10 million property last year which was my highest property ever at 5 Myola Road, Newport. I had a buyer in the database, and they specifically told me what they wanted.

It took two and a half weeks to find the property, and once I found it, I took the buyer through on Thursday, the offer was accepted Friday night and it was done by Monday afternoon.

What does a typical day look like for you? 

My day is very hectic. I have 4 kids, eight, six, three and 10 months. 

In the morning I go to the gym and get the kids out the door. We then have team meetings, back-to-back calls, and home at 7pm.

I’ve worked hard over the years and have tailored my business around me. I’ve got a great team. They all play a part which makes my life at home easier so that I don't have to be in the office at 7am. I can leave whenever I want, and I’ve tailored my life. I have a great partner in life Amanda who is a blessing to allow me to work the hours I need to if need to and she holds it down for us at home.

If I look back my career it has led me to now and I’ve got a lot to thank real estate for. It’s a great industry. It's also an industry that’s not hard. People over complicate it or they get in for the wrong reasons. If you nail down, two or three things, it's simple.

Find what you're good at and do those things well. For me that’s doing 20 genuine connects a day before I go home. 

Advice for early career professionals 

Be yourself and do what you say you're going to do. There are three tips that I would add:

·      Have a clean database- anything that you get from your calls goes into your database, even down to the detail like their pets’ names, if they are looking for schools, all of the detail.

·      If you're saying you're going to call them in a month's time, you call in a month’s time.

·       Don't forget who you are and don't try and be someone else.  

What advice do you have for maintaining good mental health

Good mental health is everything is in this industry, it's all about mindset and wellbeing. 

Remember that nothing is personal and maintain the same level. In this business, your highs can be very high, and your lows can be very low. You may sell 10 properties in one month and then can go three months selling nothing. 

Embrace it all and learn to keep that steady pace and not dwell on it when you lose. Learn to bounce back quick and learn from it. 

Is there anything that you do differently if you had a chance? 

I would have gotten into sales faster and not have stayed in property management for as long as I did and kept a cleaner database from when I first started. 

What do you think the biggest recruitment challenges are in the industry? 

People that get it and people that are hungry and really want to work hard.

Success doesn’t happen overnight, and you need to think outside the box. We have so much available, and everything is there at your fingertips. Some times people come in and think success will fall into the palm of your hand, but with hard work comes rewards.

What is your opinion of the current real estate market? 

There are 30 different markets, and on the beaches, we've been dropping since mid-February. We are very close to the bottom in some areas and that can be dangerous because a lot of people try and time the bottom, and when they normally try and time it, it’s already on the way back up. 

It doesn't matter what you're waiting for longevity trumps all.

I think we're at a nice normal level and I think it's going to be interesting to see how we finish this year and start next.

In the last few weeks, we've seen massive numbers through our open homes. We haven’t had a seasonal market in along time because the market has just been on fire from start to finish. 

Now is a good time, people are out and about the sun's out and we're at a nice level market and anything in this market that is priced and presented right is still doing well.

Advice for anyone that's looking to buy or sell

If you are buying, buy within your means. Everyone’s situation and household is different, and will look at interest rates differently. If you’ve done the sums and you find a property that is in your budget and you've got an opportunity to buy it, don’t wait.

If you're a seller really understand why you're selling and what you're trying to achieve and if you're in an apartment and looking to buy a house, the gap to get into that house is much smaller. It's a really good time to upgrade now.

A top tip for anyone to flourish in the real estate industry

It's nice to be important, but it's even more important to be nice. 

You can make a lot of money in this industry and sometimes people forget why they got into the business in the first place and where they came from. 

I’m making good money and I've got a great team, but I'll never forget that vendor in Lismore Avenue.

Look at the culture in your business, in your team. You are a role model and remember that it can quickly fade away. It’s a tough gig, but don’t forget to be nice.  

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