Too Expensive to Buy From: Why She Never Discounts - Monika Tu #93

Early on, Monika Tu was sent to sell a terrace at $430,000. The buyer saw her Mercedes parked outside and told her she was too expensive to buy from. She refused to discount, lost the sale, and decided from that day that she would only sell at the top of the market.

Monika Tu founded Black Diamondz, an agency built around international and Chinese buyers, and appears on Luxe Listings Sydney. She arrived in Australia in 1988 and started in real estate at the end of 2009.

What you will learn:

- Why she says the mistake female agents make is trying to compete the way the men do

- How running an IT accessories business convinced her real estate was the easier business to be in

- The conjunction deal that produced a $13.5 million first sale before she knew how to list a property herself

- What it took to hold out for $45 million on a property every other agent had priced at $30 to $35 million

- Why she picks the rubbish up off the floor before an open home, and the buyer who never forgot it

Chapters

00:00 Why she never tried to compete like a male agent

04:04 An IT business first, and why real estate looked like the easier one

07:43 Building an international brand instead of a local patch

11:03 What she is actually studying when she shops the luxury houses

14:16 The $430,000 buyer who said her car made her too expensive

17:22 A phone call in Mandarin, and a $13.5 million first sale

21:21 Start at the bottom, but never think of yourself as an assistant

24:56 $39.9 million at Mandalay, and picking up rubbish before the open home

28:39 Three months for one record, eight months and three agreements for the next

31:47 The $60 million sale, and what actually feels good about it

35:04 The penthouse that took three years, and how her weeks are built

40:13 The ultimate goal, and Paddy's Market thirty years ago

43:30 What she tells women who cannot see anyone to follow

46:41 Her grandfather on coming into the world with nothing

Monika Tu refused to discount and built a brand that commands its price. Property should work the same way.

Most properties only make money if the market does. The ones that pay for themselves from the day you settle are bought differently, and it comes down to four points.

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General information only. Not financial, tax, legal or credit advice. Bothsides is not a mortgage broker or credit provider.