RESE 2018 Interview: Marcus Chiminello

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Transcript

Interviewer: Thanks for coming in and speaking today! I’ve actually never seen you before, which I can’t believe. I’ve wanted to see you many, many times and now I’ve got an opportunity today which is great. For the few people that couldn’t make it to Resi, I’m sure they would love to hear some tips from you.

Marcus Chiminello: Sure!

Interviewer: So what are the top three things that an elite agent does every day that you would say to people out there that they should do to become successful?

Marcus Chiminello: I will keep it in quite a high level, cause I can drill into this, but I think number one thing is – they go hand in hand and it’s discipline and consistency. Doing the right thing over a long period of time, that will enhance your career or pay dividends. It may not pay instantaneous dividends and we are as human beings, we want instant gratification, but you have to think of real estate, your journey is like investing. The longer you’re at it, the bigger return you usually get. And that comes back to the disciplines of calls, of staying in contact with clients and having just basic interrogative – following through returning phone calls, doing those activities over time, eventually – not instantaneously – sometimes they do, they will pay dividends. That would be the absolute number one thing. Then also deciding who you want to be. If you can’t recognize yourself, who you are as an agent in the marketplace, I don’t know how you will speak to the market. So just someone who sells everything? Are you someone who is specializing in a particular area? And that will then position you as a top agent that you are.

Interviewer: Sure! Ok, awesome! So if – you started in real estate in 2002. So looking back on that time and obviously you’ve been doing it a long time now, if you were starting your career tomorrow cause there’s lots of people joining our industry, what would be the number one thing you would say to them to start straight away that you wish you had?

Marcus Chiminello: I mentioned before the cameras rolled, but I was – the very first 5-6 years of real estate, didn’t do much. I tread water, I had some great moments that really inconsistent – it goes back to some of the tips I gave at the beginning is I would probably be far more disciplined with my time and particularly time management. I would really in those infancy and those embryonic years, build numbers. And what I mean by that is just it’s a volume game, it’s about more phone calls, more appraisals, building a database and then after a period of time, once you’ve established yourself in your ideal exposure, then you can refine your database, your skillset and which market you want to be in. For the first 1-to-3 years it has to be really like an apprenticeship, you do all the things you don’t want to do, but you will do a lot of them. So it’s long volume, hard work, long hours. Then at a point you may elect, depending on your successes on the time, take someone on that will assist you in the journey.

Interviewer: And that worked for you, massively over the past 10 years. That’s awesome to see! So what are you using for inspiration every day?

Marcus Chiminello: That’s a good thing. I used to joke, I don’t anymore, my wife used to leave the credit card statement on my bedside table that kept me inspired to go to work. It’s a simple thing, it’s family. I find I enjoy great holidays and time with my family so when I do, when I’m working, I work because I actually find it’s disrespectful for me to be at work doodling when I could be with my family or doing something I’m passionate about like keeping fit. So what gets me going is making sure that A: I can provide financial security for my family, that would get to a point in our lives where if we don’t want to work or need to work, it’s very different. So we can elect to put your feet up or do something different. It’s financial freedom ultimately that does drive me, because I came from the absolute polar opposite in my childhood and my family so I know what I – I do know where I’m not gonna go so that really keeps the fire in the belly. But on a day to day term, I love getting deals together. There is I think a great feeling, particularly with the off-market deals we do. We married a buyer and seller up and it’s such a synergy for them and both are successful – and it’s a triple win so the buyers have the dream home, the winners sold it in a manner that they would like to sell and we won as well. So that – at the moment, I feel like a drug addict that hasn’t had a hit for 6 weeks because it’s been so quiet in Melbourne and I haven’t personally put a deal together for 6 weeks. I’m longing for the next one.

Interviewer: Sure! Obviously you really care about the outcome all the time and that’s obviously what drives you also, because it is about what they’re doing and where they’re going rather than just a transaction.

Marcus Chiminello: Everyone’s got a story and we’ve met such a dynamic range of people – you feed off of that. Not everyone is the most pleasurable to deal with but the majority are great to deal with and ultimately beyond the transaction become people in your life.

Interviewer: Yeah, sure! That’s excellent! I really appreciate you coming in and chatting with us today. It’s been wonderful to obviously getting to see you and I really appreciate your time.

Marcus Chiminello: Thank you very much!

Interviewer: Thanks, Marcus!