Biscuits, boardrooms and bogged cars: The humble approach driving George Southwell

The link between an Arnotts Scotch Finger biscuit and real estate may seem tenuous, but for George Southwell, it symbolises his real estate philosophy perfectly.

The Ray White Rural Canberra-Yass chief executive officer takes pride in treating every client as his most important, regardless of the property’s value.

He’s a stickler for regular contact with his vendors and values their trust in his expertise, never taking it for granted.

Recalling a couple of his favourite 2024 listings, Southwell notes that he loves the variety of properties he sells and the people he meets.

A philosophy built on respect, not price tags

He says he started one day last year at a large rural property owned by a billionaire, where he was served an Arnott’s Scotch Finger biscuit with a cup of black tea by the vendor’s private secretary.

“I had a discussion with that gentleman about one of his properties and how we were going to go about marketing it, presenting it and helping him as best we could,” Southwell says.

“Later that afternoon, I had a meeting with another client about a $450,000 property and an elderly lady served me a cup of black tea and that same Scotch Finger biscuit. And I was using the same dialogue, the same skillset and the same process to help her. That for me is extremely, extremely humbling.”

Noting that it’s not unusual for him to start a day with boardroom meetings in Brisbane and finish it bogged in a paddock at a rural Yass property, Southwell says it’s a privilege to work in such a dynamic and special profession.

“The moral of the story is that this industry is what you make it,” he says.

“A mentor of mine said very early on in my career … that real estate can be the easiest working, lowest paid job in town or it can be the hardest working, highest paid job in town. The beauty of it is, you get to choose which one it is.”

A childhood passion turned career calling

Southwell’s passion for real estate started while growing up in the small western Queensland town of St George.

His father, Simon, was an agent, and Southwell joined him at inspections.

“It was the start of a passion to help people and meet different people from different walks of life who had different needs and wants,” Southwell says.

That continued when the family moved to Murrumbateman, 30 kilometres north-west of Canberra, in 2007, when Southwell was about 11 years old.

After finishing school, he had a brief stint at Pickles Auctions before pursuing his dream of owning a small business by establishing Ray White Rural Canberra-Yass 11 years ago.

“When I started, we had four pieces of data in our database and I went door-knocking for 18 months,” Southwell recalls.

“I literally looked like a little 12-year-old ginger kid walking around with a yellow tie on, knocking on people’s doors and patting their dogs and covering as many places as I could each day. Then I’d go back (to the office) and write a handwritten card to everyone and send it off to them. 

“I really just stuck to the basics of real estate to get me off the ground and I didn’t see the benefits of that for a long while.”

The lessons behind reputation and results

In addition to sticking to the basics, Southwell says following through on his promises and personalised communication helped him to get established in the market.

“I learnt very early in this industry that one of the biggest complaints from consumers is the lack of communication that comes out of the real estate profession,” he says.

“So, our vendors, if they’re engaged in an auction campaign, get daily communication. We focus on calls and in-person communication rather than text messages or emails.”

Southwell says his first deal taught him that not every sale is simple, after negotiating hay, machinery, furniture and equipment into and out of the contract.

He also has the honour of hosting the first-ever public auction held at Old Parliament House, where the feature property of the day – a farm in Canberra called Castle Hill – sold for $3.6 million in 2018.

Property with purpose

Perhaps his most memorable sale was that of 5 Harding Street, Watson, which sold for $761,000, also in 2018.

“It was the first unreserved property auction in the ACT and we handled the estate of Lionel Moore, who bequeathed his estate to Camp Quality,” Southwell recalls.

“That day, including the rest of his estate, we contributed to raising $1 million for Camp Quality. That was a really special, memorable sale.”

Looking ahead, Southwell says he’s looking forward to taking his agency to the next level, growing its market share, and expanding the team, which currently consists of nine people.

“Ultimately, we want to change and shape the way real estate is done in our community, in the sense that we would like to be a part of our clients’ decision-making process well in advance while also maintaining the highest level of integrity that we can,” he says.