Agent spotlight: Annie Kowal, sales executive, Ray White Inner North
29 March 2023"How did a former nurse become an award-winning agent? We spoke to Annie about her journey from medicine to property sales."
When you’re in high school and planning your career path, very few people say they want to be a real estate agent.
It certainly wasn’t Annie Kowal’s first choice; she went straight from school to uni to complete a Bachelor of Nursing.
Originally from Melbourne, a move to Perth in 2000 saw her transition from nursing to working in the government arena, running the Hospital at Home program, and then onto clinical research and pharmaceutical sales.
Annie made the move to real estate in 2015 and specializes in the Mount Hawthorn area. She has a passion for genuine customer service, helping people find the right solutions for their situation and is committed to getting the best result for her clients.
So how did a former nurse become an award-winning agent? We spoke to Annie about her journey from medicine to property sales.
How did you get involved in real estate?
It was two things.
When I worked in clinical research I was sitting in a cubicle on my own and had no interaction with people, which is what I love. My pharmaceutical work let me work with people and developed my love for sales and my skills.
Secondly, I have always loved real estate. When I was a nurse, people would constantly ask if I was buying a house as I was always looking at home listings. I would say I just loved looking at real estate.
Then a colleague moved into the industry and after some life changing events I decided it was time to do something I really wanted to do. It’s not an easy move, so I worked seven days a week for about eight months to make sure I had enough money to support me, and then started my career in real estate.
What is it you love about this career?
I love it all! I love walking through houses and talking with people. You have to work out who’s opposite you; what kind of personality you’re dealing with; how does this house fit their needs and how can you try and sell to that? There’s all these one percents that sit in the background and make the job really interesting.
Some people get into real estate because they think they are going to make a bucket load of money, but I’ve never been about the dollar. If you do a good job, the money side will take care of itself. I’ve done lots of things in my life, and I wouldn’t be anywhere else. I’ve run lots of programs and had different careers and this is exactly where I’m meant to be, I think you can really feel the difference when your agent really loves what they do.
With International Women’s Day earlier this month, do you have any insights to share on female real estate agents?
In real estate it’s often said that it’s the woman who makes the decision to buy a home. Having a woman’s perspective, I understand how a family is going to live in the house and how it will suit them, which is a benefit when it comes to selling.
Women make fantastic agents – from a Ray White perspective, if you look at our league table, it is dominated by females.
What are your tips for women, or anyone, looking to get into real estate?
For women, particularly if they have families, the difficulty is the juggle. The other day someone asked me “how many hours a week would you work?”. I said I don’t want to add them up!
My reality is that for January and February I would have worked seven days a week. My biggest tip for anyone looking to join the industry is you have to be prepared to work, and work hard.
It was a tough market when I started so already having good negotiation and dialogue skills from my pharmaceutical sales experience was a benefit. If you don’t have those, I’d recommend signing up for some training.
It’s an interesting market at the moment with properties selling quickly. What would be your tips for buyers?
Be ready. You need to go and get your finances sorted and be out there constantly looking for properties.
Have a list of features you must have, and then be able to compromise on some of the others because it’s very difficult to find the perfect home, and then when you do see it, you just have to be ready to go. If you’re not, someone else will be.
