GOOD MORNING FROM ELITE AGENT 👋

Losing money hurts. A lot. In fact, it hurts about 2.5 times more than making the same amount feels good.

Research from the Wharton School shows this “loss aversion” is why sellers fixate on what they paid, even when the market has clearly moved on. Emotionally, a $50,000 loss stings just as much as a $125,000 gain feels rewarding.

It’s also why pricing conversations can feel tense. You’re not just talking numbers; you’re negotiating with the brain, and the brain hates giving anything back.

In today’s edition of The Brief:

• If you’re the smartest person in the room, your leadership is the problem

• Over 200,000 investor loans have been signed off in the past year

• How to recoup 22 hours a week

Today’s read time: 6 minutes, 51 seconds

New to The Brief? Join us for free 🤝

LEADERSHIP

Why hiring smarter people is the ultimate leadership test

The leadership mistake that holds real estate teams back

In an industry built on individual performance, real leadership often gets confused with control. Harcourts NSW CEO Andrew McCulloch argues that the strongest real estate businesses are led by people willing to step back, hire smarter, and invite challenge. From ditching ego-driven hiring to creating clarity around roles, ambition and planning, he makes the case that growth stalls not when leaders lose authority, but when they refuse to share it.

Hire smarter or stall

One of the fastest ways to weaken a business is by hiring people who make you feel comfortable. Leaders who avoid recruiting people smarter than themselves often do so to protect their position, not the business. The result is a team full of agreement and very little progress. Strong leaders, Andrew says, hire people who challenge them, even if it means one day being replaced.

Clarity beats culture slogans

Team culture does not fall apart because people are difficult. It breaks down when roles, responsibilities and expectations are unclear. Andrew’s approach is simple and deliberate: define who owns what, make it visible, and remove overlap before friction starts. In competitive sales environments, clarity does more for performance than motivation ever will.

Retention starts with ambition

Most talent does not leave because of money or workload. It leaves because leaders fail to understand where people want to go. Andrew believes open conversations about ambition, paired with clear pathways, are the real key to retention. When leaders map the future with their people, recruiters lose their leverage.

Read the full story here

ICYMI, yesterday we discussed how to build an AI strategy that is human-led.

TOGETHER WITH THE ONE CONFERENCE

As scrutiny on the real estate industry intensifies, The One Conference has been created to reframe what effective leadership looks like today. Founded by Avi Khan, the conference was designed as a forum for the industry to slow down, reflect and lift its standards, rather than focus solely on short-term tactics.

In 2026, the event continues to prioritise intent over scale, reinforcing the view that how success is achieved matters as much as the outcome. “We’re in a moment where the spotlight is firmly on real estate,” Avi says. “With that attention comes responsibility. If we don’t hold ourselves to higher standards, someone else will do it for us.”

The program brings together high-performing professionals from across Australia who are recognised for both their results and their conduct. Leadership is intentionally defined beyond sales roles, with property managers, administrators, emerging leaders and industry partners included in the conversation. Partnerships with the Rise Initiative and Leading Ladies place wellbeing and diversity at the centre of the agenda, acknowledging the emotional demands of the industry and the importance of broader perspectives in leadership.

Read more about The One Conference here.

MARKET

Investor loans hit record high as Victoria leads

Australia issued 205,533 investor loans over the past year, topping the 2022 peak for the first time. Victoria grew fastest at 13%, notching its largest quarter ever for investor activity. Meanwhile, WA is the only state where owner-occupier lending declined with capital flowing east to NSW and Victoria.

AI

Your inbox is stealing your time. AI can help

Research suggests professionals lose 22 hours a week to document hunting and email triage – time you could claw back with the right AI setup. This guide, prepared by our AI guru, Samantha McLean, covers connecting ChatGPT or Claude to your Drive, calendar, and inbox, with ready-to-use prompts for contract analysis, client prep, and commission tracking. The two-hour promise comes with a learning curve, but the walkthrough makes it manageable.

HOW IT SOLD

$182k above median in just 15 days

Working both sides of a separate transaction gave Grant Matterson early visibility – he already had a buyer seeking a one-bedroom in Collaroy before this listing launched. Three offers arrived within a fortnight, pushing the sale to $1.01 million and clearing the suburb's $828k unit median by $182k.

Stories like this build your online reputation long after the sold sticker comes down. Want yours told? getailsa.com

CELEBRITY HOMES

Fresh Prince house hits market

It's been nearly five decades since this mansion changed hands – and now the estate made famous by Will Smith is listing for just under $30 million USD (roughly $45 million AUD). The 10,000-square-foot Georgian Colonial sits in Brentwood (yes, Brentwood – not Bel-Air). It's still earning its keep as a Netflix filming location.

MOVERS + SHAKERS

Ray White Alliance enters leadership partnership with Jet Xavier.

Ray White Alliance on the Gold Coast is set to elevate its leadership, culture, and sales performance with a consultancy partnership with high-performance coach and leadership specialist Jet Xavier. More here.

Success doesn’t rest on weekends! 
Get the latest on top agent and agency moves every Sunday with our weekly roundup in Movers & Shakers. Subscribe now.

AGENTS ON SOCIAL

From an agent’s perspective, pre-approval gives a buyer a VIP pass. No tyre-kickers here thanks. 🕶️🏡

Seen an Agent On Social we should include? Let us know here (email link)

Wishing you a productive day!

Elite Agent is the definitive platform for ambitious agents and industry players. Thought Leaders is the weekly show where top operators reveal how they’re reinventing real estate. AI-Powered Agents is your playbook for deploying AI that sells homes and scales teams.

Elite Agent is crewed by Mark Edwards, Catherine Nikas-Boulos, Rowan Crosby, Charmagne Arrubio and Samantha McLean. We aim to uplift the real estate industry by delivering forward-thinking, hype-free news and education that fosters knowledge and fuels ambition.

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