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🎧 Discover the agents behind the For Sale signs and the sales pitch.
Elite Real Estate Agents of SEQ is the go-to podcast for anyone buying, selling, or simply curious about the people driving Southeast Queensland’s dynamic real estate market.
Hosted by Adam Bell, each episode features a genuine, down-to-earth conversation with one of the region’s top-performing real estate agents. From the Gold Coast to Brisbane and everywhere in between, these agents share their personal stories, expert insights, and what it really takes to succeed in a competitive market.
✅ Learn how top agents win listings, build trust, and deliver results
✅ Get local property insights straight from the people making the deals happen
✅ Find out what to look for in a great agent—beyond just a flashy billboard
✅ Meet the agent who could be the perfect fit for your property journey
Whether you’re a homeowner researching agents, an investor watching the market, or a fellow agent looking for inspiration, this podcast puts a spotlight on the real people behind real estate in SEQ.
Welcome to the Elite Real Estate agents of SEQ podcast, where I sit down with some of the most successful and respected real estate agents working right here in one of Australia's most beautiful and sought after regions southeast Queensland. This podcast gives you a genuine behind the scenes look at who these agents are as people, what makes them stand out in the industry.
And most importantly, can help you decide if they're the right fit to guide your property journey. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation. You might just be listening to the perfect
person to sell your property.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Elite Real Estate Agents of Southeast Queensland. My name is Adam Bell, and today in the studio my guest is Sarah Schultz from Schultz Realty, a multi-award winning operator known for strong results across the 4 2 0 7 corridor. Sarah's been ranked top 100 in Australia, 2025, ranked at 55, and has won multiple rate.
My agent. Agent and Agency of the Year awards across key suburbs in that area, including Mount Warren Park Bars, scrub and Windoo. Sarah, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Now, I've known you for quite a while now, and you've been, uh, consistently, uh, getting. Incredible results around that region.
'cause you're a local, aren't you?
I was, yes. For a very long time. That's why I sort of chose that area was 'cause I had a lot of family in the area, so I knew it very well.
Okay. Did you grow up there?
For part of my, um, grow up. I did my grandparents own a property and then my mother bought that property and it was in our family for over 42 years.
Okay.
Yeah. Pretty much majority of my life.
Majority of your life. But you've just moved slightly away. Now
I have, but only just because, um, I wanted to have like an office. So my office is 4 2 0 7 4 2 0 8, and then I live in 4, 2 0 9 now. So Right.
Just next door.
Just next door. Yeah.
Fantastic. What, uh, so tell me a bit about yourself growing up.
You grew up in, in the area, what, you know, what, uh, what did you like as a, as a young girl where, you know, tell me the, the Sarah Schutt story before becoming a real estate agent.
Wow, that's a long story. So I'll make it short. But actually the very first house I bought was actually at 18. I actually bought in Sunnybank Hills, which is a totally different, um, area again.
Um, but it was about price point, obviously, um, at that point and what I needed to get, um, into the market. So I've always been into real estate even before I became. A real estate agent, I had interest in real estate. Um, and we basically renovated that property and made a profit on that property. Maybe for the wrong reasons, because I was getting a divorce.
But either way,
look, life is what it is.
Either way, we did make a good profit and now, I mean, that property is probably worth quite a lot, being where Sunnybank Hills has actually progressed to, um, since that point. So, yeah.
So what, what would you be, what would you be doing if you, you weren't in real estate, do you think?
Probably self-help, like helping people no matter what. I've always been wanting to help people. So even with real estate, I see it as that way. I like putting people into their dream homes and I love seeing their faces and their reactions when they get accepted and they're buying that home. And I like working for sellers and achieving the results they want and then seeing them excited about their next step, whether that's going into something in a different area or up.
Size or a downsize or over 50. I mean, I see it all going to all different places all over Australia, some even moving back overseas, but just seeing that excitement is what I like to do to make people happy. And then on the other side of it, I've been studying the mine for a really, really long time. I like to help other people understand how they can have a happier life, a better life, a funer life if they can understand how to sort of manage their mind.
So
look, I want to touch on that for a bit, because you have just released your own book, haven't you?
I have, yes.
Here's your chance. Give it a plug. Tell
us. Tell us us. I'm not sure it's really for the real estate market, but yeah. I've written a book and it's called Craft A Better Mind. S now release on Amazon and, um, Ingram Spark.
Um, there will be all formats available including ebook, but it is basically about, you know, I feel like after COVID, um, people got unkind, like it's like the opposite of what I thought COVID would do because I thought it would be. Bring more compassion for others for what people were going through. But I don't know if everybody else agrees, but I just feel like the world's gone a little bit crazy at times.
And, you know, it's, it's a, it's a, it's a mixture of learning how to be successful, how to set goals, achieve them. There's tasks to do, there's exercises to do, but it's also about learning how to train the mind, build a better self image. 'cause if you love yourself, then others can love you. Um, being kinder, respectful.
Um, so there's a bit of relationship stuff in there 'cause that's how the book originally started. Sure. So I originally wrote it in 2012. Um, my grandparents were married for 65 years. It was, um, you know, a testament to them to show, show that younger generation, that marriage can last and. You know how to help it make it last and how relationships can be better and things you can do.
And then it grew over over time to be more than that and be more about like manifestation, vibration, your mind goals, kindness, like there's a whole bunch of stuff in there.
Sure. And I'm, I'm. I'm certain that's probably things that you've woven into your, into your career as a, as a real estate agent.
A hundred percent.
Like if I, if I was to test anything, it would be that I do have a positive attitude. Um, and I do believe that pays off, like for sellers as well. 'cause we're trying to make the experiences stress free as possible. So I need to be in control of my emotions, but I also need to be in control of manifestation.
So I need to be manifesting their goals. I need to be manifesting a smooth settlement. I need to be manifesting the right buyer. Um, yes, things do come our way, but I do feel like our whole office has the attitude of let's solve the problem and move forward. Not focusing on the negative, not whinging, not complaining.
Yeah. Um, which then just brings more of that to be honest. So we try to see the positive. Outcome of everything I
love. We
can
that they're universal laws, aren't they? Yeah. And they work. They work everywhere. And if you can bring that into your workplace, then uh, generally speaking, you're gonna have a a lot smoother day and, um, everything's gonna go a lot better, isn't it?
That's right. If you stu your toe in the morning and you complain and you whinge, then you'll get more of that. But if you stu your toe and laugh about it and go, wow, that really hurt, but I'm still gonna have a good day. You'll have a good day.
Fantastic.
Yeah.
Okay. How did you get into real estate? What was the journey?
Where did, um. Where did the decision to to do that and when?
Look, I. We had a few investment properties, um, as a couple. My current husband, I've been with 17 years and, uh, we were going in and doing a renovation, um, finish the renovation and the local in that area, which is not where I sell, but in another area, um, couldn't sell the property.
And I had all these ideas of why they weren't selling the property and things they could do differently. And I'd been in sales for a really long time in the electrical construction sort of. Side, or I was doing estimating, or I was in whole, you know, I had that sales background, it was just always in me.
Uh, and my husband said, well, why don't you do real estate? And I said, because I don't wanna work weekends. And he's like, you won't even notice that you're working. Weekends don't be ridiculous. And I was like, well, maybe I am being silly. That was the only reason. Well, I think there's a lot of
people who think that
I never went into real.
Estate. And then I went, oh, you know what, I'll do it. So I did the full whole license so that I could then sell that home. And then I did sell it for 20,000 above when the other real estate couldn't. So then I was like, Hey, I've got this, like I actually have, you can do it. The gift. Like I, I actually came up with things that they didn't even think of.
So maybe I've got this. So. I kind of worked for a real estate agency for one day and I just didn't like for one day. One day, yep. I sat in the meeting and everything that they said they wanted to do, I went, yeah, no, I don't wanna do it that way. Yeah, no, I don't want that, or whatever. I came with them with the ideas and they're like, no, we don't want quirky flyers that doesn't meet our standard.
And I was like, well, I wanna have humor in my life. I wanna have fun, so this isn't for me. And then actually I interviewed with LJ Hooker and Ray White and the LJ Hooker principal I did interview with. I'm still friends with now. Absolutely love her. Yep. Um, so that was really my big decisions. Do I go work with her or do I start my own business?
And certainly nothing to do with her. Still love her, but I thought, no, you know, I can do this on my own. So I just started my business and I'm 10 years in October, so, yeah. Wow.
Well that's a, that's a huge step to make to firstly go get your license and then just go out on your own from, from day dot.
Yep.
And the sellers that took the risk on me in the beginning, and I can still remember my very first like listing and how exciting it was and sold it for 25,000 above asking price at the first open house in multiple offers. So
how long did it take you to get your first listing?
Not long. Yeah, I think it was a month or two.
So I actually thrived even in the first year, I actually held two jobs. I was actually working, um, trying to help a, um, training company, uh, get more people in to do their training. Uh, and I was doing quite well. I just did it as a subcontract on the side because I thought real estate might take a little while to build up 'cause it is quite a tough.
Industry. Um, but I literally just sat on the phones. I door knocked and I flyer dropped, and that's all I did every minute. I wasn't doing the other job. And yeah, I sold 17 in the first year.
Wow.
And um, yeah, I was like, oh, okay, this is for me. There's
still agents who don't sell 17 now.
Yeah. Well, I was like, this is for me.
But if you put in the work. You'll get the reward, I feel like, um, sorry if that offends anyone. He does put in the work and then they don't get the award. So, but um, yeah, so maybe it also comes down to the mind, I would say like if you don't, um, believe in yourself, um, and you don't have that self-confidence that might come across.
I'm certainly not trying to be a cocky, I'm not cocky. I, I like to think I'm confident, not cocky. But, um, I do try to obviously have confidence because that's really important Sure. For the buyers and the sellers. Sure. To know that I know what I'm doing, you know?
So you've, you've obviously built this, you know, boutique agency now and you've got a, a, an amazing reputation.
What do you think you, you've done differently that's, that's earned this trust, that's earned that reputation in the area that you work?
Look, I think I just genuinely care. Uh, I know other people might say the same thing, but I actually do genuinely care. I don't think I fit the mold of a normal real estate agent in the first place.
Like I am a very honest person. Even in my genuine life. I'm not good at lying, never have been. Don't have the time to even remember a light or remember the next. One. So I think that Wie wig, which is what I've been called my whole life, which is what you see is what you get, has done me well. It's also served me the opposite way.
I lose listings because I can be quite upfront. Um, and some people, you know, aren't always gonna like that, but I do say the truth, so I do think that honesty and that caring of the result for the seller does pay off. I do think the sellers know that I genuinely want the best for them, and I, I genuinely do.
I try to build long-term relationships, like I want to know them after the sale. I'm not just wanting a transaction, I suppose. Yeah,
sure. Now, you have won a lot of awards for both agency and agent. What does elite service look like to you?
Um, I think it's just like we are always on, I think, I mean, real estate is in general, but I mean, when we are looking ourselves, like we're currently looking right now, we're not getting responses from real estate agents for a week on a property for sale.
I would be mortified if I was a seller and knew that some of them, they're not even giving us inspections. We have. A motto. I have a team. I've hired three people to work with me, so they're working with me on my listing so that I have, I obviously can't be in a hundred places at once, but that way my phone is being answered all the time.
That way the emails are being responded to immediately. We are working on getting a buyer through straight away. We are answering emails at, you know, 8:00 PM at night. We are doing everything we can, like I said, to do for the seller, the best thing possible, but also for the buyers. People work like life is tough.
Life is stressful. It's not. Um, easy to look for a home. So I actually have a buyer's agent side as well, so I'm representing a few people on the buyer's agent side as well at the, in the market at the moment. Um, because it's a bit of a tough market, there's a lack of listings and more buyers and some people dunno how to navigate that.
So
tell us a bit more about that. It's seems something that, um, agents seem to. Be doing now. Like I, I know there are specialist buyers, a lot of them out there. Yeah. Where
they just do just
that now. Yeah. Um, so tell us a bit more, how, how did you transition into, um, you know, offering that to, um, to buyers?
Look, I actually have had it there for a while and I did dibble in a few, but I, I've never really marketed it. I would say I've kind of just let it fall where it's come and I've just had a few recently that have reached out and we've really quite enjoyed that. So we're just. Put a lady in a home that had been looking for a really long time, two years and hadn't been able to find something, and now she's now moved in and settled.
So that was really like nice as well to help someone. And sometimes it's like hard because you don't know in a multiple office situation what that means. You know, what does the, what, what does the agent really mean by that? And every agent does have a different way of, of marketing, so. Having an agent help you, I think can navigate like knowing other people and what that would be.
I feel like agents are nice as well because you're representing the buyer. You're not there to try to take some of their commission, um, they wanna sell the house. You've got a qualified buyer. It's a win-win like for everybody. Yeah, it's huge in America. Huge in America. And it's only just kind of dibbled over here, to be honest.
I guess you'd see that when you're the selling agent as well and you, you're dealing through Love it. Someone with, yeah,
love it. I've got like 120 really close buyers agents all over Australia for a reason because we want to help them because they've got buyers that we don't have. We're not gonna have those buyers, they're not actively looking because they've hired a buyer's agent to help 'em because they're sick of looking or they don't have time to look, or they've struggled to look or they dunno how to navigate it.
So then, you know, straight away, if you're getting an offer from a buyer's agent, you know you've got a qualified buyer, you know, it's not falling on finance, you know, at building a pest that the agent understands what a building a pest is about. They'll be talking to their client through that. So it's like a, a win-win situation for everybody.
The buyer, the buyer's agent, the selling agent and the seller to get a good transaction, good, good sale through the line at the right price, you know? Sure. And they don't. Tend to offer less or anything like that either like buyer's agents, um, you know, are in the mix. They know in a multiple offer situation what to do to sometimes elevate that buyer to get the property.
Sure. Alright. Tell us a couple of stories.
Okay.
What's, um, have you got a favorite sale, a favorite deal that you've done over that, that 10 years?
I don't, I, I really, honestly, genuinely do love everything, but I have a sale. That was a challenge, but probably my biggest challenge was a house. Sure. Tell us about that.
In wind DeRoo, that was, um, a Mexican style house and so it had been on the market with three other agents prior to me. Um, and when they got me in, they're like, what are we doing wrong? Just give it to me. We've heard you'll say it real. Um, so I did, and then she was like, wow, I wasn't expecting you to be that honest, but there were things that we needed to do to like change the property.
The, the issue was, is that. A lot of the time you can get biased to see the potential, but there, there was just too much where it was overbearing of one very isolated style only. Sure. So we had to change that. And some of that came from me coming up with ideas as well. Like they didn't wanna repaint the whole outside of the house, but I put up an illustration of what the house would look like in a different color.
Right. As part of the advertising. So buyers could see. What it would look like to get a feel for it just said illustration purposes, but, you know, just little things like that. Some, it was just moving the furniture around also, like the furniture made the house look small the way it was, um, situated. Um, some, some little, um, bits and, what do I explain, like maintenance things that didn't seem like a big deal were big deals to buyers.
Mm-hmm. So they needed to just fix some of those things to make sure that that wasn't gonna continue to come up. Um, and yeah, we ended up getting it sold so. Yeah. Fantastic. It was, it was an exciting sale at the time because it was, it seemed like the impossible and everyone in the street was talking about it and Sure.
Yeah. We made it. Love it. And now I really hope, um, you know, Dubai hasn't reached out to me for a little while now, but I know, um, you know, they were loving it, so.
Sure. Tell me about a time you've achieved a, a price well above what even maybe you expected.
Just recently, actually I had a double story in, which is just basically windoo.
Um, but it's like in that one area at around, at an intersection, you've got Windoo Bar scrub, Bannockburn, Andie, all in that intersection. It's kind of crazy to be honest, what the council was thinking. But um, at that time, I think the high sale in there as like a standard land size of like four to 600 is about just over 1 million.
We were going over one point threes, we knew it was a, um, you know, higher price, but it did offer a lot. So I focused on why it should be that price, but it is like obviously a record for that type of property. Um, and I wasn't sure, but we found the right buyer who was wanting to build didn't have the right land.
It literally fitted because again, it was a really big home fitted the size that they needed. Um, location's great. Like it's walk across the road from the shop. So. Yeah, I think I just focused on all the right things when we did it, and I was really, really stoked. There's a few times recently we've got some street records or suburb records at the moment, so yeah.
Okay. Well, I will ask you a bit more about those a little later on, but I now just want to talk a little bit more about, about you away from the, the job. Mm-hmm. What, what are you into, what are you, what are your interests? Um, tell us about your family.
Um, well, I've got four kids all up, but, um, currently one living with us full time because the others either were from a blended family or Sure.
My daughter's old, older now. No, she's not old, but she's 26. If, yeah. Um. Uh, but, um, yeah, my husband and I, we like to do Latin dancing. Yep. So we've been doing that for about four years and we're about to start getting into amateur competition.
Okay.
God help us. Um, but yeah, no, we do, we do enjoy, enjoy that.
Um, we, we actually really like the outdoors. I love to do rides and travel and um, uh, bush walks and like that kind of thing for me. Really enjoy seeing new things for the first time. So basically Christmas, when it gets a bit quiet, we try to do sort of one sort of trip where we're experiencing something, um, new where I know that the business is all, everything's all sorted.
It's all gonna be okay, you know, or it's closed because like everything closes for two weeks and we have a bit of a holiday. Um, so yeah, I, I do like to travel. And see new things and Yeah. Hobbies would be, yeah, like exercise I guess, which I know sounds really boring, but not gym, exercise, more like outdoor exercise stuff like walking and riding and um, even like swimming in pools and uh, things like that.
And your, your young son, he's a bit of an entrepreneur, isn't he?
Yeah. Yes he is. Yep. Darius is great. He's. Got a hundred thousand followers. He is like a dj.
A hundred thousand
followers. Yep. He's a DJ mixer. He's. Um, he
sings.
He sings, yes.
He, I saw something on social media where he was sending a message to Ri Richard Branson.
Uh, no, no, no. That was Elon Musk. Oh, Elon Musk. He absolutely loves Elon Musk's brain. Um, and he looks, he's reading a book. He just wants to be in the brain of a tech person. He sort of sees himself as a bit of a tech, so he does, he can make videos. He does graphic design. It actually blows me away. He's actually smarter than me and a lot of that stuff.
At the moment. He is getting all of our old computers and he is pulling them apart and studying them so he can learn. He just has that kind of interest. He had an idea of a car, which was a, a boat plane and car all in one for the future. And he even came up with how it could possibly work and did all these drawings and everything and wanted to pitch it to Elon Musk.
But Elon Musk never replied, but you know, I did. What do we really expect? But he put it out there. He did the universe. Absolutely. He put it out there. We were sure. We were hoping someone in that world. You know, but I mean, Elon Musk at the moment is doing all his other stuff, so He
is, he is
a busy man.
Okay. So tell me what's special about your area there in uh, 4, 2 0 7?
Look, I think what's really great about um, the areas I sell in is I just still think they're like huge up and coming. I think there, I watch this space area, they're literally in between the Gold Coast and um, Brisbane. So much happening really close by with the M two and, um, what's happening in ura, which is gonna be that next big hub.
Yep.
Um, which with the hospital going in there so close. Yeah, well there's two hospitals. There's Kay, there's the Pimpama, uh, homemaker Center, which is gonna be the biggest one. Um, but, and I think this is sort of a bit of a sleeping suburb, but Eagleby Bean Lee. Um, Yala, Windoo, Mount Warren, Oromo, um, bar scrub, like all of those, you've got acreage in there, like people don't even realize what you can get for where it is until they come in there.
When you look at the southeast Queensland area, it's probably the most affordable. Of all areas left.
It is, but also like you get like some really great houses. Like I just love rocking up because every house is different. Like it's very rare that I'll walk into a house and I've seen it before, which is what I absolutely love.
Like every property in Mount Warren, Windoo bus, they're all different, different land, different shapes of houses, different character, different um, shapes. Different outside form, like they're just completely different. So from a buyer's point of view, um, you know, they don't want the same as the next person.
So I do think you get character, you get raised ceilings, you get bigger bedrooms like. Yeah, for a really good price, I think.
Awesome.
Yeah.
So this podcast is set up for, for buyers and sellers to listen and really, you know, get to know agents and what the difference is. So I want to get your take on, you know, what the difference is between having a, a boutique agent, see like yourself, and, and dealing with a big brand.
Well, I can't say exactly because I'm not working for a big brand. Um, but I do know we have a very big database, so we match them in that regard. Um, we're not focusing on other areas and other listings. We're focusing, everybody in my office is focusing on the listings that are in front of us, so they do get that.
I guess one-on-one honing, um, honing in. Um, I do think we spend more time, um, being outside of the box and thinking of other things to do, um, to be able to sell the property other than just the standard because they all just get the standard because they're in a franchise, they have to follow the franchise.
So there's little movement. We have a lot more flexibility. Um, I think there's a little bit more of like, instead of someone being a number, they're a real person to us and we genuinely care. And I think that is a big deal. Um, yeah, there are some people that don't want that and they want it just a transaction, so then that might be the, the best way to go.
Um, but I'm constantly growing as a person. I'm constantly growing and learning. I'm very humble, but I also am an expert at what I do, so I think it's a win-win. I don't know that other people sit there and evaluate themselves the way that I do and evaluate the business on a month by month basis.
Constantly growing ways to be better, to do more or whatever for the clients that we're bringing in. Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
Mm,
absolutely. Alright, let's run through a few stats. You said 17 sales in your, in your first year. How many sales would you have done in the last 12 months?
The last 12 months was one of the toughest years actually in real estate.
Okay. Um, in the last 10 years, it's tough. Yep. Uh, I think I did 59 or 60 or something like that. Yeah. But at my peak I did like 108. Yeah.
That's huge.
Yeah.
That's huge. How many would you have done overall?
I was thinking about this the other day. I'd love to do A-A-A-A-A think about this and how much million dollars worth of like,
yeah.
Total
property and things. But I haven't done, that would be
an interesting
one. I haven't done it, but we, we, we think maybe in the eight hundreds or something like that. Yeah.
Wow. Wow. Okay. Now, um, tell us about your staff. How many staff do you have? Um,
I have, um, well, I have four all up. One being my mom who's worked for me for the last like nine of the 10 years.
Um, she's really wanting to retire, but I just can't go without her. She's just my rock. But yeah, no, she's still in the business like sort of 10 to 15 hours. She's really crucial to the other staff. I feel like she's really good. Um, mentor. Um, she's someone I can like, um. Go Like what do you, you know, when you're wanting to talk to someone and get Yeah, because you know, even as like the principal and the owner of the business, like I said, we're always growing and you need someone to be able to talk to.
So I actually have a coach as well. I always have a coach, whether it's a mine one or a real estate one. Always gotta have something where I'm continually learning and growing. So I use the two of them for that. But, um, you know, she's there 'cause I'm out all the time. I'm doing appraisals, inspections, seeing people, talking to people on the phone, um, you know, having open houses so the staff in the office have her there for someone to like talk to immediately if I'm not there, kind of thing.
So not just for the, um, buyers and the sellers, but also for my staff. So Maddie is, um, everyone's qualified in my business. They have to have the, the license so that everybody can do everything in the business. Yeah. I don't want people to not have, be able to have a conversation or not be able to do
Sure.
Something. But yeah, Maddie basically handles like all of the contract side and all of. The, um, typing and the administration side, but she's a really quick thinker. She's thinking about, you know, someone's fine as you have. We called them, um, you know, doing all of that. Chasing up. She's there answering the phone if it's in the office and, um, I'm out.
Um, I've got Emily who, um, she does all the stuff that, you know, people need to be doing flyer jobs. People need to be going out, um, and putting sold, so souls tickets on, there's actually a lot of things you gotta do. Like, um, there, there's a lot of things she does that she has to go out and do. Just purchasing all of the things.
We have settlement gifts, we have post appraisal gifts, we have like all these things that we have to buy. We have to, you know, make them up. You've gotta, like, even with flies, you gotta. Count them. Like there's so many little details that she does that are really important to the business. Jed is my, my right arm out on the, like, he's with me at appraisals.
Um, if I am unavailable to do an inspection, but we really wanna meet the buyers and sellers needs, he might do the inspection and then I do the follow up after that. But he's, you know, very good at that. He wants to be a real estate agent himself. Mm-hmm. Uh, one day I think he'll be a great. Real estate agent when the time comes.
Um, so he's like there doing all that stuff. He's preparing open house stuff that he's there with the open houses, signing people in. He knows everything about all the properties as well. And then you've got mom, uh, obviously in the background.
Great. Alright. Ready for my quick fire round?
Sure. Okay. I feel like I'm on a TV show, uh, like a quiz show now or something.
Well, you are, you are. Okay. Weirdest thing you've ever been offered in a negotiation that's legal.
Oh. Weirdest thing. I don't think I've really ever had anything offered to me. You know, sometimes they'll buy me a present, which I think is weird 'cause I'm supposed to buy them a present. But
yeah, maybe that.
What, what's, what's, what's the best present you've ever gotten? From someone who's, let's put it
that way. Look, I think this Christmas just gone, the photographer that we used bought me this humongous hamper, like, I mean, it was massive and it had like, even like a tray for, um, getting food in your bed. And, um, yeah, it just had, and everything that was in there I really liked.
Normally when I get all those things I'm like, I don't like that. I don't like that. But it was, it was good.
One word to describe your negotiation style.
Um. Look, a lot of the negotiations end up end being multiple offers. So I think my negotiation style is fair and by the book, I'm very much by the book if it's like one-on-one.
Um, results driven.
Okay? Most awkward thing a seller is left out during an inspection. An open home.
Oh, probably jewelry. I had really expensive jewelry left on a property. We were like, oh my god. Like that, like really expensive. So we're on the phone to the cellar going, you can't leave this out. Like we, we don't think people would, you know, do that.
We've never had that, but just in case, we don't even wanna risk it. So we were like trying to find a place in the walk-in robe to try and hide it.
What's, what's your, your agent pet peeve? What? What drives you nuts?
Um, I don't really know that I have one really, but I guess probably the one, I think it's not really a peeve, but I think it's just more misunderstanding, is when you have a house, it's not perfect.
It's 25 years old, a buyer purchase it. Seeing all of that. They get a building, a pest and then they ask for a reduction for everything they could see including like paint and like you can't ask like a building a pest is for things you can't see. Yeah. So it's like if there was a leak or if there's a termite problem or if there's a structural problem.
Um, but then they're asking for the concrete driveway to be fixed 'cause there's a crack in it. Well. Name a driveway that doesn't have a crack in it. So just frustrating things because you don't wanna be rude, um, to the buyer. Um, but obviously the sellers are going off because they're like, this is ridiculous.
So yeah, that's probably a challenging situation. I wouldn't say a pet peeve
though. Okay. Biggest myth about real estate agents
that it's easy. Yeah, huge, massive, massive myth. Massive myth. Like there's a reason only 5% succeed in real estate. We are the only one of the only industries in the world that, that work for free.
We could work for free for a very long time, especially if you're doing it like me. Um, we only get paid if we settle a house like we, it can take years. Just to get one listing that you've been working on that you might've spent. Hours and hours for free on. Yep. And then get offers and the sellers refuse those offers have worked 90 days with all of your staff doing opens and inspections and your car.
You feel like everything. And then in the end them say, oh, we decided not to sell. Like, and we, there's a lot of that and there's a lot where I may have invested five years and been out there five times and sent many emails, letters, you know, texts called them, spent. Like hundreds of hours really over five years for them to go, oh, we've gone with LJ Hooker.
'cause they just called at the right time. Yeah. So, you know, I think there's a lot of that side and a lot of them, a lot of people quit for that reason too. Um, because they just can't handle it. It's very different than going to a job every day and just get paid a wage.
Sure.
I don't get a wage at all, so.
Yeah.
Alright. If your real estate career was a movie, what would it be called?
My real estate career was a movie. Um, oh geez. Um,
the Fast and the Furious,
um,
jaws.
I dunno, you've got me like, I don't know, something about growing and manifesting or something. I don't know.
Okay. The secret.
No, that's taken.
Yeah.
Fair enough. Alright, final two questions. What's your top tip for home homeowners when selling?
Um, I think the biggest tip I would give in the market right now is just to focus on the maintenance things. Like it's more. Um, you know, the style and all the interior and little bits and bobs, we can help with that on the spot.
We can move things, we can, you know, um, give you ideas that aren't like time consuming. But when it comes to a building a pest, if you've got big issues, you should resolve those. Like particularly checky showers not leaking. Um, you know that your roof's not got cracked tiles and leaks going in there. Um, and also I think just being upfront, like if you've got movement, it's okay.
It's just we need to be telling people and then they understand what they're buying. Sure. It doesn't mean you get less, it's just Yeah. Being upfront about any issues can help us resolve either being upfront with buyers or them fixing, and we can tell them what is needed. And also trusting, um, especially if they're listening with me, trusting that I have their best interest at heart.
So if they want a long settlement, I'm not going to make them move quickly, like, you know, we'll get a long settlement settlement. 'cause we can tell the buyers that at the very beginning. So again, as long as everything is all communicated well upfront, anything is possible.
Sure. If someone's listening now and considering using you as their agent, what would you say to them?
I would say you're choosing the right place. I would say they're in safe hands, they're in trusted hands. Um, I know how to market the property. I know how to get the buyers in. I know how to get the offers up, but I also, um, you know, can be trusted that what I will say will be the truth.
Fantastic. Sarah, thanks so much for joining me on the Elite Real Estate Agents of Southeast Queensland Podcast.
So if you are in that 4 2 0 7 area Mount Warren Park bars scrub wind Ru, uh, look out for the blue car, the very shiny big blue car with Sarah Schultz written all over it. Sarah will be in it wearing her, uh, her. It's, it's a, it's a standout blue. Um, that's everywhere. So look, if you do want to get in touch with, um, with Sarah, her details are in, um, in the show notes.
Please do get in touch and look, thanks for joining us again on the podcast. If you have enjoyed today's episode, please do give us a, like a, a, a share and, um, hit follow so you, you don't miss any other episodes and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Sarah, thanks once again.
Thank you for having me.
Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of Elite Real Estate Agents of SEQ. If today's guest sounded like the right agent to help with your next move, please reach out. You'll find all their details in the show notes and episode description. And if you're a real estate agent interested in being showcased on the podcast, visit www dot.
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