Warren Ginsberg: From Rejection to Ray White Success

Written by Acme Mag

From Ray White’s top Australian office, Ray White Double Bay, Warren Ginsberg has consistently excelled in a competitive marketplace. For the past eight years, he’s ranked in the top one percent of the Ray White Group as a Chairman’s Elite Agent. We had the opportunity to sit down with Warren to discuss his journey from being rejected by Ray White Double Bay at 18 to becoming their Principal and Director.

Acme: Tell us a bit about how you got started in the industry. What was your inspiration for getting into real estate?

Warren: Right after finishing school at 18 years old, I traveled and backpacked around Europe with a few friends. In Croatia, I remember telling a friend, “I’ve decided I want to make a career in real estate. I am passionate about helping people with their biggest assets and essentially changing their lives”. Encouraged by my mate, I came back to Sydney, walked into Ray White Double Bay with my resume, got an interview, and was then actually rejected — they didn’t think I’d be a good fit! 

I got a job at Century 21 in Bondi Beach, working in leasing. After a year, one of the top agents at Ray White Double Bay was looking for an associate. At 20, I moved from being an associate to an assistant in sales. I became a standalone agent at Ray White Double Bay at 24. Around 25, I achieved elite performer status, which was a significant milestone. By 27, I reached Chairman’s Elite, the highest status at Ray White. I’ve maintained that status for nine years straight.

Acme: If someone walked in off the street like you did, would you give them a job now or would you decline them and wait for them to come back? 

Warren: Ideally for where my business is at now, I would potentially ask them to get experience and come back. However, everyone deserves a chance and if you show me you have the drive and energy, how could I say no?

Acme: Do you have any advice for agents as they enter the industry? Especially as technology changes and grows.

Warren: You’ve got to build relationships with people. You can’t just rely on technology to build a relationship with someone. Whether it’s a buyer or a seller, you have to have that genuine rapport too.

Acme: Speaking of record sales, 31 Reina Street North Bondi is your most famous sale from 2021, is that right?

Warren: Yes, it was a bit over $1 million over reserve, guiding $3.9 million, and it sold for $6.1 million. It was just as the market boom started. That was the sale that kicked off the eastern suburb boom.

There were 17 registered bidders at the auction – a super competitive auction too – and it went all over across the media. I had 21 appraisals in North Bondi that week. I listed a lot of properties and sold a lot of properties off the back of that sale. It definitely kicked my career to another level.

Acme: Achieving the Chairman’s Elite Agent status for nine consecutive years is no easy feat. What strategies have you employed to maintain such a high level of performance?

Warren: I work in a very competitive market. I’d probably say it’s one of the most competitive markets in the world with a lot of luxury properties that sell for high prices – which means high commissions. As soon as you drop the ball in our marketplace, you’re wiped out. It’s extremely hard. You’ve got to consistently be at the top of your game. 

What’s helped me is building a really good team around me. I’ve got two incredible associates who are great at lead generation and managing campaigns for me. I’ve also got an EA who is essentially my business manager and does all the behind the scenes, backend work. Having a solid and supportive team around you who are reliable, helpful and hardworking all helps.

My team and I are very big on the phones, always calling, always prospecting. As busy as we are, right now we’re managing about 11 or 12 campaigns, but we’re still prospecting, always hunting for new business. We never stop hunting. No matter how busy we are, no matter how many sales, how big the month is, always looking to be better and do better. Never get complacent with what you are achieving.

Acme: From a marketing point of view, what are some of the key things that you do consistently that have a high success rate?

Warren: We have a 12 month marketing strategy set at the beginning of every year where we do it in quarters, but we catch up with our marketing girls and we have a strategy discussion about what’s going to be the best way to be seen online and especially in your core suburbs. There’s DL cards dropped for every listing, just listed/just sold texts to the database, social media etc. Every listing is on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Obviously, a lot of phone calls. We aim to try to do at least 40-50 conversations each per day. Being in touch and nurturing buyers so when they do come around to sell – whether that’s in two years or five years – we’re there.

Acme: You’re really taking more of a long-term vision, aren’t you? 

Warren: There’s agents I know whose business is based on the ‘catch, kill and quick kill’ method. It can work in the short-term but there’s no longevity to it. If you want a consistent business in real estate, you need to think long term. You need to have stronger relationships, bigger pipelines, bigger databases and nurture it over a long period of time. You need to give back to the community, to your database, and only strike when the time’s right. If they’re not ready to sell, it’ll be hard to push someone to sell their family home, no matter what price it is. If someone’s happy in their home, they’re happy. But if they’re ready to sell and you’ve got a good relationship, they’ll be in touch and that can take years and years to build.

Acme: Finally, what are some things that have contributed significantly to your success in the area? 

Warren: You have to always be on the ball and consistent. Obviously there are times in life where you are off or tired or burnout, however you need to find what works for you to bounce back from those periods. For example, I work in 12 week blocks and have a holiday or week away booked at the end of it so I have something to work towards. In those 12 week blocks, you can’t just expect to do the bare minimum ‘9am – 5pm’ and expect to beat your competitors, especially in the eastern suburbs. You have to be putting in extra effort every single day. It really boils down to that.

Want to read more articles about agents crushing it in Double Bay? Check out our interview with Laing + Simmons Double Bay’s D’Leanne Lewis.