Raised in real estate: Sophie Luton’s story of trust, care and community

Real estate is in Sophie Luton’s blood. As a child growing up in Canberra, the Luton Properties director recalls deals being discussed over dinner with her dad, Richard Luton, who established the family-run agency in 1999.

“Working Saturdays comes with the job and, as young girls, my sister and I would pack his lunch and drop it off for him at his opens on the weekend,” she recalls.

“I also remember my sister and I riding our bikes around Forrest and doing letterbox dropping. We’d have our little baskets on the front of our bikes filled with all of the things to pop in the mailboxes. So real estate was really built into me.”

Despite the family connection and her now 17 years’ experience in the real estate industry, Luton says that when she finished school, she decided to defy expectations of moving into the family business and try her hand at another profession.

But she soon discovered working as a receptionist at an engineering company in Manuka wasn’t quite the right fit, and she found herself longing for the faster pace and excitement that only working in a real estate agency could deliver.

“An office administration job came up [at Luton Properties], so I applied for it and I got it, which was exciting,” Luton recalls.

“I started on the front desk in the Tuggeranong office, and then I was the receptionist in the Manuka office before I got the office manager role at our Weston office for about four years.”

Another stint in administration in the Manuka office followed before Luton decided to move into sales and work alongside her father.

“There was no conscious moment where I thought, ‘I’m going to get into sales,’ it just sort of happened naturally,” she says.

Like many other agents before her, Luton says working in reception and on the administrative side of the business provided her with a solid foundation from which to launch her sales career.

“I really believe everyone should do it because I think the back-end stuff is behind everything that happens,” she says.

“Obviously, without sales, we wouldn’t be able to employ our admin staff, but without our admin staff, we wouldn’t be able to support our sales staff.

“It really has given me amazing back-end knowledge that fuels the processes and checklists I have in my sales business.”

While some new agents take to the “flashy” side of real estate and prospecting like fish to water, Luton says her approach was less about immediate wins and more about developing a solid reputation and business long-term.

She’s grateful for having the fortune of trading under the Luton name, which already had a distinguished reputation across Canberra, and says her ethos was to focus on building trust and relationships for years to come.

“I think too many people see real estate as short-term, but relationships are built over time and trust has to be built over time,” Luton says.

“When I talk to our sales team, I always say, ‘You don’t marry the first person who asks you on a date,’ and real estate is not simple like that either.

“You have to build trust. You have to build rapport with clients, and you have to build a relationship with them for life.”

Luton says that while some agents are great at door-knocking and others at letterbox dropping, her talent is being able to share her learned experiences in a way that potential clients can relate to.

She also has a knack for filing away the personal details and stories of others in what she calls the Teledex in her head. Luton is then able to recall that information at the right moments.

“I think real estate is about building that Teledex in your head of information and learned experiences,” Luton says.

“I don’t think anyone is an expert; I just think we’ve all got experiences and learned experiences, and the more experiences you have, the greater knowledge you will have. I try to focus on building that knowledge bank.”

Luton’s highest sale was $6.66 million for a stately property in Morseby St, Red Hill, but she says every property she sells is important, not just the high-end ones.

For Luton, being a real estate agent is a privilege and not something she takes lightly.

“I think sometimes people forget the importance of what we do, which is helping provide a house or a roof to go over people’s heads,” she says.

Luton officially bought into the agency two years ago and says she’s looking forward to guiding the business into the future. She exhorts her staff to adhere to the values of being professional and accountable, support the community, embrace health and energy, believe in their people and their dreams, and bring a high level of care to everything they do.

“If you do great work and you look after people, that will come back to you,” she says.