Tonich has the presence at Christmas

It has been a big year for real estate agent principal and Force First National director Paul Tonich, who has made the most of Western Australia’s record breaking property boom by posting some records of his own.

The 34-year-old is quick to play down the five consecutive annual number one salesperson awards he has won from the Real Estate Institute of WA.

Last month he sold 16 properties for a combined sale price of more than $8 million, becoming REIWA’s top selling representative by listings in November.

But Mr Tonich said the awards wouldn’t be paying the bills, and he was looking for other opportunities, including residential and commercial developments.

Building on his real estate consultancy business is another priority for the former police officer, who, with the help of his sister, trains students, business people and his real estate competitors across Australia and New Zealand in the art of winning market share and striking a work/life balance.

“I consider myself an extremely hard worker but I’m working a lot less hours now than I ever have. I learned two years ago that you can create a presence when you’re not present. Presence is what they measure,” Mr Tonich told WA Business News.

Mr Tonich travels for half the year and spends plenty of time with his family at home; the rest of his time is spent valuing properties and dealing with property owners and buyers from his offices in Duncraig and Balcatta.

He believes the most important skill in running any business is to have “leverage”, and is keen to use technology to his advantage in the marketplace.

“You’ve got to get away from the business controlling you by saying no to certain things and allocating non-essential tasks to others,” he said in reference to the role played by his personal assistant.

Having a virtual shop-front has also helped the business grow by providing convenience to customers on-line and generating faster deals.

In a cooling market, Mr Tonich said the days of the 48-hour sale were limited and the normal five to six-week sale pattern was returning, as was greater salesmanship.

“Agents have been slaughtering the buyers out there. I’ve been a buyer in this market and I’ve been kicked, too,” he said. “But the industry has done a total flip and salesmanship is coming back, buyers are savvy and are looking for value for money.”

Mr Tonich said the sacrifices made by many young people four of five years ago to secure their financial futures through real estate had been worthwhile, with their properties having more than tripled in value since that time.

“They gave up their trips to Europe and made sacrifices at ages 19 and 20 to buy modest units at $65,000, which are now worth $250,000. They didn’t get hands out either, they’re using their money to create wealth,” he said.

Looking to 2007, Mr Tonich and fellow Force First National directors Rory Trotter and David Brewer are expanding the business, opening of a third office called Force Projects, located opposite their Duncraig office.

They have their eyes on up to 11 potential joint venture residential subdivisions and beachfront developments in burgeoning South West towns such as Busselton and Augusta.