The Canberra agent who almost quit before closing 1000 deals

While some agents might have artwork hanging on the wall, Canberra agent Steve Lowe has a hammer framed in a glass cabinet with the words “break glass in case of emergency” emblazoned on it.

It’s the same hammer the former builder has had since he was 18.

In the past, it symbolised a career he could return to if he failed in real estate, but now it stands as a reminder of the success his determination, hard work and never-say-die attitude has delivered.

Lowe notes that he has always had an affection for property, forging a successful building career crafting homes in Sydney’s glitzy eastern suburbs for 18 years, while also fitting out luxury cruise ships and even working on the timber structures at Taronga Zoo’s chimpanzee enclosure.

“I was living in Sydney and enjoying some aspects of it, but I started to lose the passion for building because it’s a very challenging industry, especially the stuff I used to build,” he recalls.

“I used to build all of Sydney’s harbourfront homes in Sydney’s most expensive streets, like Wolseley Road [in Point Piper].”

Lowe’s solution was to follow in his brother’s footsteps and move to Canberra, where he bought a suit, a laptop and a secondhand Audi, and opened Agent Team a decade ago.

He quickly discovered that while real estate may appear simple and glamorous on the outside, it’s a lot of hard work.

“I found out that you’ve got to spend a lot of time on self-development,” Lowe says. “It’s not selling the houses that’s the most important; it’s the listing presentation. If I don’t have stock to sell, I can’t sell anything.”

Lowe says it took him six months of trying and failing before he landed his first listing, which came right at the time he started to consider breaking the glass, grabbing his hammer and returning to building.

“The hammer gave me the confidence that, no matter what, I can always survive,” he says.

“It got to a point where I thought I was going to have to break the glass, but then I met with another real estate agent and he gave me a tip that changed my career.

“I was doing all of these appraisals, but I wasn’t getting any listings, and he said, ‘Do you ask for the business? You need to say “Do you want to get started?” or “Let’s go!” You’ve got to close or be closed.’”

Lowe says that the average vendor needs to be “closed” five times before they agree, but the average sales agent only knows three different ways to close a deal.

“I worked really hard on figuring out different ways to ask for the business in nice, kind ways that were not pushy,” he says.

“I focused on understanding problems and helping people solve those problems and objections. Then all of a sudden, it all started to fall into place.”

Lowe sold that first listing in Kambah in just seven days after receiving multiple offers. He says he learnt a lot from that deal and the more than 1000 that have followed.

Preferring to come from a place of problem-solving rather than persuasion, Lowe also draws on his building background to offer vendors a point of difference in the market.

“We will literally pack them up, move them out, renovate the home, style it, put it on the market and sell it within 10 days,” he says.

“We take care of the entire process for them. We cover all the costs, and it’s basically a no-brainer because we really understand how to spend $1 to make $2 or $3 in return. Because of my experience in building, they can take confidence in the advice I’m giving.”

Lowe can assist buyers who are unsure whether their renovation ideas for a property are feasible, as well as help sellers who are upsizing to buy their next property.

“We might charge a little bit more than our competitors, but we’re doing it a lot more for our buyers and sellers,” he says.

When Lowe started Agent Team, he was a sole trader. Today, there’s a team of eight in Canberra, plus four offshore team members.

The next goal is to scale the property management side of the business and potentially open an office in the Broulee area.

Lowe says he has also just launched a series of free courses for buyers and sellers.

“In the sellers’ course, there are 30 different videos about selling property in Canberra; for buyers, there are 12 different videos about buying property in Canberra, and for downsizers, it steps them through the entire process and how we can assist with the decluttering and all of those objections are handled,” he says.

“We really want to make the process clear and straightforward for everyone.”