Michael White on Adapting to Change
1 March 2024
Written by Acme Mag
Intrigued by property as both a hobby and investment, Michael White gradually immersed himself in the real estate world, juggling weekend work in the field alongside a demanding corporate job. Fast forward six years, and Michael now works as a licensed Real Estate Agent at the forward-thinking Newtown Agency Adrian William. Acme had the opportunity to chat with Michael about this transition and how his finance knowledge has assisted in his real estate career.
Acme: What enticed you to transition from a 20+ year career in the finance sector to becoming a real estate agent?
Michael: While working in finance, property had long been a hobby and investment. I would always look at the auction results, and what had sold weekly. I had a keen eye for keeping across the inner west market. While working a full time corporate job, I did some weekend work in real estate that allowed me to get a better taste of what it’s like.
What jumped out was how customer facing the role was. You really notice the impact you have on people’s lives. A big corporate role was much more ‘internal and reporting up.’ I guess you could say it felt far closer to the action and to some extent that you could pick and choose who you wanted to work with.
It’s now been just over six years, and in the last few months I’ve moved over to Adrian William.
Acme: What made you gravitate towards Adrian William?
Michael: Even before I entered real estate, I knew one of the Adrian Willaim partners as a friend. Over the years, I’ve watched Adrian William grow from a start up to the success it is now. I was always very impressed at how the marketing felt fresh, integrated, edgy, and more targeted to inner west people.
As the business grew and became more dominant, I guess you could say that they wanted to boost their profile in areas I was growing in, and I was excited by being surrounded by an enthusiastic and growing team which is going to continue to call Newtown and nearby its home.
Acme: How do you feel your background in accounting and finance influenced your approach to real estate?
Michael: There’s really two factors that are helpful when it comes to my clients in real estate. I find a lot of my conversations are very relatable. It could be about my life experience with kids and schools or even dealing with councils when it comes to renovations.
When it comes to real estate, it’s often the most important financial decisions they’ll make in their life. With my understanding of finance, often I would find some of those decisions weren’t being made for good financial reasons or perhaps the order in which they were going about it could be improved. Clients would be grateful that rather than giving them specific detailed advice, I could help point out a few benefits of tackling it a different way, and advising them to seek some formal advice.
I can’t tell you how often a bank or broker for example is just getting the loan, when in fact it’s the loan structure and timing of the transactions that often can cost them tens to hundreds of thousands if not done in a tax effective way.
Acme: Does that come up a lot?
Michael: Almost weekly. I find clients are looking to upsize from their first home, and they really want to keep the first home. They fail to recognise that a considerable amount of debt is paid down in their first home and that when moving to their next, the interest or gearing available to them is rather unattractive to have that property rented out as an investment. Essentially it doesn’t give them the tax breaks that property investment can, all at the same time they are sitting in a new home that perhaps is highly leveraged and not deductible (their new principal place or residence). Testing their rationale here has often resulted in them changing tact and understanding it quicker, allowing them to act on the move quicker.
The old adage of time in the market beats timing the market still remains true.
Another recent example of this has been the government changing rules on expats owning property in Australia some years ago as their principal residence and subsequent cost base, this quickly capitalised massive gains that didn’t exist when they left the country. So warning my overseas clients about this change was a material impact to many of them.
Acme: How do you recommend others stay adaptable in an ever-evolving real estate market?
Michael: Read, listen to podcasts, be naturally inquisitive, stay across state and federal politics even if it’s just the property related ones, these decisions shape the future.
Acme: What advice would you give to anyone looking to transition into real estate from a different industry?
Michael: You don’t have to go cold turkey, it’s easy to start and you can start part time. It’s still not for everyone but I think you’ll quickly work out if it’s for you. You have to treat it like a business, it takes time to grow, but you’ll be starting from a low base. You get back what you put in. Your actions in the short term, often determine how successful you are in the long-term.
Already in real estate but still looking for change? Read our article on going from franchise to independent – or our piece on going from independent to franchise.
