Drug use call out by Tom Panos; Property agencies tough it out
Sydney real estate coach Tom Panos says people probably don’t want to hear it but he’s going to say it anyway...cocaine use is ‘common’ in the industry.
An emerging issue among agents is alcohol and drug usage, and the consequences.
Estate agent coach Tom Panos encourages his clients away from adverse behaviour but has suggested cocaine usage was “common”.
“It’s probably what many don’t want to hear, but they need to hear it,” he blogged.
“They like to do cocaine in real estate … it gives them a little bit of confidence.”
The most serious case came when Ray White Balmain principal Karl Howard stood trial in the NSW District Court over an attack on two women at his Annandale home in February 2021 that involved a samurai sword.
It occurred after Howard had been awake for seven nights while taking cocaine, alcohol, Viagra and diazepam. The court reports noted he had gone through 80 grams of cocaine in 15 days, and a $24,000 bill.
During this time, he did a couple of property deals, psychiatrist Dr Adam Martin advised. Howard had used cocaine heavily since 2019 despite having achieved the highest Balmain house price in 2013 at $6,050,000, then a record $4m in Rozelle in 2016.
He was spared jail in November as judge Antony Townsden noted there had been a year in incarceration before the trial, so he deemed it appropriate to set a 27-month intensive correction order, during which Howard must abstain from drugs and alcohol.
The judge noted his concern that Howard had breached his pre-sentence bail by buying a jug of beer at Maroubra Seals Club.
Toughing it out
The latest Macquarie Business Banking survey on estate agencies around the nation concludes it is a resilient industry, but with diminishing returns.
The 2023 financial year was challenging, with 6 per cent declines in typical agency revenue but, more tellingly, 11 per cent declines in net profitability. Just 29 per cent of agencies secured an improvement in profit, with operating costs outpacing revenue gains. Some 41 per cent of those surveyed saw decreased annual revenue.
The report highlights that the typical sales commission charged to vendors has fallen to 1.95 per cent, down from 2.11 per cent in 2019 and 2.5 per cent in 2009. Commissions range from 1.59 per cent in Victoria to Queensland’s 2.49 per cent.
This decline has been softened by rising property prices, but there has been a marked agency shift towards the stability of property management revenue.
Rental commissions have edged lower too over the past decade from 7.3 per cent to 6.7 per cent, to now range from 5.5 per cent in NSW to WA’s 8.5 per cent.
The sale of agency businesses by owners is set to rise after an unstable period of pandemic lockdowns and market volatility.
“But, with an ageing population of agency owners, the challenge for many will be navigating a highly competitive landscape to transact,” according to Domonic Thompson, national head of real estate at Macquarie Business Banking.
Some 55 per cent of surveyed business owners indicated an intention to sell, and or reduce their day-to-day involvement within five years.
The cost of staff attraction and retention was contributing to increased costs, as agencies seek to reduce annual turnover, which sits at 25 per cent and even higher in property management.
On the move
The flurry of new year relocations by estate agents was headlined by Charles Higgins’ return to the McGrath camp in Brisbane. He had been the residential chief executive at the Ray White Surfers Paradise for not quite two years.
The big shift in Sydney saw Maclay Longhurst quit BresicWhitney to open Sotheby’s Woollahra/Paddington office.
The Ray White Eastern Beaches office is losing Nicholas Wise to thenearby Sotheby’s coastal office headed by Clint Ballard and James Ball.
Wise topped Sydney’s weekend private treaty sales with a $7m-plus Randwick sale. The renovated 1930s Carter St house had sold in 2021 for $5.2m, with a $185,000 pool and spa subsequently installed.
In Melbourne, Tracy Tian Belcher kicked off her listings at Forbes Global having been at RT Edgar, The Agency, Kay & Burton and Marshall White over the past decade. The 1924 Bay St, Brighton offering has $7.3m to $8m guidance, having failed to sell last year when listed through then-Marshall White agent Matt Pillios with $7.6m to $8.35m guidance.
Awaiting sentence
Former Ray White Woollahra agent Phoenix Tysonn will be sentenced on February 20 by Justice Tanya Bright having pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.
Tysonn struck a woman in January last year and spat in the face of another person who had tried to intervene
The agent, who remains on bail, has appealed his local court sentence of five months’ jail. The court reports noted he had been taking cocaine up to three times a week. Tysonn’s most prominent property sale came in 2022 when actor Rebecca Rigg paid $3.1m in Queens Park. The sale was in conjunction with former colleague Augusto Gerocarni, who will be sentenced midweek after pleading guilty to an unrelated assault matter.
That June 2022 assault took place during an argument with Gerocarni’s partner about an overseas holiday and her passport.
Drink-driver
Ray White Double Bay agent Alan Fettes faces sentence on February 16 after pleading guilty to a 0.087 drink-driving charge. It was 4am when he was pulled over midweek in his BMW on Moncur St, Woollahra in December.
Fettes has been directed to complete the Traffic Offenders Program as a condition of his ongoing employment.
He recently posted on social media that he was abstaining from alcohol and running 150km during February while raising funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Cracking start
Tim Lawless at CoreLogic noted the first major capital city weekend of auctions had been an “absolute cracker”.
The 1671 auctions comprised the second-biggest start since its records commenced in 2008, and up 26 per cent on last February. The 73.9 per cent preliminary clearance rate was the highest since July.
The result was assisted by the 73 per cent rate when $128m was netted from 100 sales through the McGrath West/Northwest, Hills and Hawkesbury offices headed by Kon Stathopoulos. Their top sale was $2.8m in Oatlands.
“Some auctions had 20 registrations,” Stathopoulos said.
Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast had the nation’s most expensive result with $5,925,000 paid for a five-bedroom, three-bathroom home through Ray White agent Daniel Donovan.
The Cronulla Ave home had sold for $4.4m in 2022, but the Walton family relocation from Newcastle in NSW came unstuck as their three teenagers didn’t adjust well to the move. A magnesium pool had been recently added.
PropTrack calculates that the next fortnight sees 20 per cent more homes for auction nationally compared to the same time last year.
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