Property Point

As I approached the front door of the old West Mackay cottage I could see an elderly woman through the fly screen. She was sitting in a lounge chair and I could hear the unmistakable sound of the cricket commentary. It was very loud.

It was the summer of 2014 and two things were happening that day. Australia was playing a test match against Pakistan and I was a fairly new real estate agent desperately trying to get listings in the midst of a serious Mackay downturn.

The market had fallen dramatically and listings were difficult to get and, being a commission-only real estate agent, I had to create some business or I was going to lose my own house to the bank. Not ideal when you have a wife and a couple of young kids.

So I  started knocking on doors offering people printed market updates that gave them information on sales in their area. I would also offer an appraisal on their property … which might just lead to a listing.

Most people were pleasant enough but said “no thanks mate”. But every now and then, during a two-hour door knocking session, someone would say, “Oh yeah, come in.”

When I knocked on the metal frame of the flyscreen on the West Mackay cottage that day, the elderly lady told me to come in. Her name was Winifred and she was listening to, not watching, the cricket because she was pretty much blind.

We mainly chatted about the cricket but she did say that her husband was in an old people’s home and she was planning to join him there soon so she would have to sell her house.

I could see a whiteboard on her loungeroom wall that had, in very big writing, the first names and phone numbers of people I assumed were her family members. I asked if it would be okay if I called one of those people and she said, yes and told me to call the number of the one called Neil, her son.

The next day I called Neil and told him what had happened the day before. I reassured him that I wasn’t going to bother his mum but if she did decide to sell her house I would love the opportunity to talk to her and any other family members.

It turned out that Neil went by the name Norm and he was a friendly bloke who was not surprised that his dear old mum had been sitting in her lounge room with a stranger listening to the cricket and having a chat. He said it would be okay for me to call him in a couple of months.

We kept in contact and a bit over a year later I sold Winifred’s house. I got to know Norm pretty well.

I sold Winifred’s house to a mother and daughter who wanted to renovate and flip it. They got me to sell it. They then bought and renovated another house and they got me to sell that as well. A few months after that I sold another one for them.

A little while later Norm rang me and asked me to sell his house, which I did.

Knocking on Winifred’s door that hot summer’s day led to work and sales that helped me survive a terrible downturn, pay my mortgage and feed my kids.

It’s amazing how the important lessons in life happen during the tough times, not the good times. There’s a saying about how hard times create strong men and good times create weak men.

I reckon it means that no matter what times we are living in, we should all keep knocking on doors.

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