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We sat down with sales and leasing agent from Ray White Commercial South Sydney, John Skufris, who has overseen 600 commercial transactions in the inner south region.
How does your usual day look?
It normally starts with coffee and then I try to book in at least 5 appointments per day which could be with owners, previous contacts, tenants, contractors, suppliers, etc.
How did you start your career in commercial real estate?
I studied Land Economics at the University of Technology in Sydney. The course required practical work experience as part of its syllabus and so I worked part time at a commercial real estate office located nearby. The owner of that business is now at a Ray White Commercial office, too.
What do you enjoy most about being at Ray White Commercial? What makes RWC different?
- Meeting people and helping them with their requirements;
- The ability to help the same people, but in more ways. We have landlords that are also tenants elsewhere for their own businesses who come back for assistance. In other examples, some previous tenants have since become landlords and now we assist them with finding tenants and managing their properties.
What are your go-to property marketing methods that you present to your clients?
It all depends on the property. For example, we recently leased a training studio of circa 650sqm directly to a database tenant. In another example, we are marketing a fitted premises previously leased to a tech tenant, and the go-to for marketing was getting Paul from Castle Property Services in for new photos and detailed plans showing the current configuration.
Tell me about a unique success story?
I think a unique success story is the recent lease to the training studio noted above. The client said it is possibly the only leasing transaction completed to a gym or similar business for over 500sqm since covid anywhere in Australia. The property had an existing approval for a gym, visitor parking and partial fit out which minimised downtime and set up costs for both owner and tenant.
Do you auction?
Recent sales have been on market and by private treaty, either to eventual owner occupiers or SMSF purchasers. In one example, one of these properties passed in at auction last year with another agent. We sold the same property this year with the same price expectation during covid by private treaty. Most prospects we speak to are actually looking to lease.
What’s the one thing you know now, that you wish you knew when you first started out?
I think we probably could have benefited more by having better access to information that is on our fingertips now through mobile phones, laptops and tablets that we simply just did not have. We had to work with what we had.
What is your outlook for your core markets over the next 12 months?
From what I have seen over the past few months, I think landlords and agents will work more closely with their existing tenants where possible. There seems to be more opportunities for other tenants looking to lease, an increase in start ups and more non-traditional properties such as live/work space. Selling prices for traditional commercial properties may initially remain the same as the average rate is now at a higher base, partly due to strata law reform and possible redevelopment/amalgamation.
John Skufris
jskufris@raywhite.com
0414 969 221
