In early February, the Upstate sales team kicked off the year together with our third annual LEVEL UP Sales Conference. This exciting event is designed to prepare our agents with the unique skills, techniques and resources they need to succeed in the competitive real estate industry.
And WHAT an occasion it was!
Packed full of key training and insights, our agents got the opportunity to hear from several guest speakers, including Kon Stathopoulos, Chelsea Pottenger and Angus Moore.
Our very own Peter Mosedale also took the opportunity to emphasise our key points of difference and explain how Upstate continues to stay ahead of the curve with each new year.
This sales conference is just one of the secrets to our success and it empowers our team to be the phenomenal leaders they are every day.
Today, we’re giving you an exclusive peek into our 2023 LEVEL UP Sales Conference, sharing some of the key points from our esteemed guest speakers and shedding some light on why our team love working here at Upstate – and why you might too!
What makes Upstate different?
The day began with our incredibly passionate director, Peter Mosedale, taking the time to discuss with us the unique Upstate approach, as well as our commitment to helping our customers find themselves in a better place.
As part of this, he spoke about several key factors that make Upstate unique, including:
- Regular training
We invest heavily in training and upskilling our staff to be the best they can be in the ever-evolving real estate landscape so they can provide a premium service to our valued clients. This includes weekly workshops with coaches Kylie Walsh and Josh Phegan.
- 250,000 contacts in our database
We are constantly networking and growing our database of more than 250,000 buyers, vendors and investors to learn and expand our expertise.
- In-house digital marketing
Imagine having everything you need under one roof to market your property rather than having to rely on external suppliers – we have that!
- High-performance culture
Every member of our team helps to cultivate our amazing company culture to generate better performance across the board.
- Collaborative team
We believe in strength in numbers, and we collaborate together on every project to achieve the best outcome for our clients.
- A committed and supportive leadership team
Our strong leadership team has a vision for a better real estate service, and they work tirelessly each day to help our entire team execute this vision and better serve our clients.
Kon Stathopoulos – Principal, McGrath
Next up, we had the pleasure of hearing from Kon Stathopoulos.
Kon has 20 years of experience leading top-performing sales teams, and he joined us on the day to share his profound property sales knowledge with all of us at Upstate’s LEVEL UP Sales Conference.
There were several key takeaways from Kon’s talk, including:
- “The magic is in the gaps” – Kon told us to choose wisely where we invest our time and energy. We need to make sure that we are investing in the right avenues and always looking out for new opportunities. Remember that sometimes, sellers are disguised as buyers.
- Always lead with generosity and service. We need to lead our teams by example, and show accountability and humility in everything that we do.
- The more people we connect and have conversations with, the more we will succeed. That’s why we need to Launch, Leverage and Nurture our leads.
- “Data is the new oil” – Data is our biggest asset, and our database is rich with insights
- It’s not just about the property. We need to provide our vendors with a solution, build trust and focus on their unique needs first and foremost.
Chelsea Pottenger – Founder, EQ Minds
Chelsea is the founder of EQ Minds and author of the new book, The Mindful Higher Performer. Her mission is to help more businesses prioritise their employees’ well-being and mental health.
At our sales conference, Chelsea shared with us several tools that help to build resilience so every team member can perform at their best – both mentally and physically.
For example, she spoke about the need for intrinsic discipline in the morning, such as waking up to a calm song rather than an alarm, keeping our phones away from our bed, taking the time to reset our minds, and setting positive intentions.
She also covered transforming our mindset into a growth mindset using some simple self-talk techniques, as well as how to improve our sleep and diet for optimal physical and mental health.
Angus Moore – REA Economist
Finally, we heard from Angus Moore, an REA Economist, and listened to his take on real estate right now as part of his 2022 Market Summary. This included a discussion on several key areas, such as prices, market conditions, the rental market, investors, inflation and a forecast for the remainder of the year.
Here are some of the key insights that Angus shared with our team:
Market conditions
- Spring 2021 was the biggest growth period on record since 2008 and the Northern Beaches’ best-performing period.
- The impact of the pandemic saw many people moving out of inner-city Sydney, in what was called a “push to the bush”.
- 2021 was always going to be a huge year and a big year to benchmark against.
Rental markets
- Due to immigration, international investors/students, and more, demand for rentals has increased substantially. Vacancy rates on the Northern Beaches are at 1.4%, with Units at just 1.1%.
- Demand has now dramatically increased gross rental yields for investors.
- Investors currently make up 33.5% of all new mortgages.
- Units have a higher gross rental yield.
- The prediction is that inflation will come down in the next 18 months to 2 years.
- The unemployment rate is low, which is a key indicator of how the economy is going.
- The problem is the speed of interest rate surges within a short period of time. As fixed-rate mortgages start to roll off, we are beginning to see the effects of this correction.
Forecast and impact of rising interest rates
- Nationally, we will see a 7-9% decrease in house prices over the next 12 months.
- 1 in 5 mortgages are going to roll off their fixed rate, and around 8% of the Australian population is going to be impacted by this.
- There will be a decreased borrowing capacity for everyone – both buyers and investors.
As you can see, it was another jam-packed and enriching Level Up Conference here at Upstate.
We always love running events such as this, as it helps to bring our team together and keep them all up to date with the constant changes in market conditions and how we interact with our buyers and sellers.
Of course, our people are at the heart of our business – and always will be. That’s why we invite everyone in our team to attend because it’s events like these that provide them with the relevant and instrumental training and techniques that help them to grow into even better agents for the future.
Do you want to find yourself in a better place in 2023?
At Upstate, our real estate specialists help make our clients’ property goals come true. That’s because we’re a big agency, with the heart and determination of a boutique one. If you’ve been thinking about a career in real estate or you’re already in real estate and looking to advance your career, speak to us today to find out how you can become part of Upstate’s amazing team right here on the Northern Beaches.
We look forward to chatting with you soon.
The Upstate Team
