Sean Hughes, the Managing Director of Realmark Coastal, one of Australia’s top performing real estate offices, says gone are the days when only established, older agents could dominate the industry.

“We’ve noticed a leveling of the playing field in the real estate market where younger agents can perform just as well as those who have been in game for a long time, and we see that many sellers love the energy of our dynamic, younger team members,” said Mr Hughes.

“Previously, most people felt more comfortable working with established agents but we’ve certainly shown in recent years that at Realmark Coastal we can help build superstar agents from scratch, as well support more experienced professionals reach another level of success.”

Mr Hughes said award-winning 25-year-old agent Oliver Hess – who joined Realmark Coastal as a rookie five years ago – was a prime example of how things have changed for the better for younger agents who sought out trusted mentors offering authentic leadership.

“When Oliver started out working with us he absorbed so much and then when he felt he was ready he implemented what we showed and he took our experience and the trusted systems and processes of our office and ran with it.

“He then added his own spin, including his flair for using social media and current communication platforms and technologies to help sell homes, and is now a very successful agent.”

Mr Hughes said the industry changes didn’t mean though that age and experience weren’t still highly valued in the market.

“In the year after joining us, established agents Todd and Danielle Utley – who’ve been in the industry for more than 20 years – smashed their personal sales record, selling 75 properties with a value of $67 million in the coastal Perth suburbs of Iluka and Burns Beach,” he explained.

“So what we’re excited about is that there’s room in the industry now for young and experienced agents to do exceptionally well when supported by top notch systems and processes and when surrounded by other agents who are creative, interesting, generous with their unique knowledge, and who are focused on pushing personal and professional boundaries, as well as having a great work-life balance.”

Mr Hughes said his team believed it had a “map to success” for agents and one key part of that was giving people the opportunity to be around outstanding, likeminded individuals.

“Motivational speaker Jim Rohn’s famously said ‘you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with’ and we do see at Realmark Coastal that success breeds success and our team helps each other rise and flourish,” he said.

Oliver said “It’s been incredible to be able to quickly work my way up in the industry with Sean and Jenny’s help and I’ve learned if you have a passion for property, a great work ethic, surround yourself with the right people, embrace new ways of doing things, and always have your clients’ best interest top of mind, you can achieve whatever you want.”

Danielle explained: “They say a change is as good as a holiday and we’ve certainly found the fresh start has done wonders – from the new environment to new technologies, colleagues and conversations, we have experienced fresh motivation and embraced new ways of doing things.’