5 lessons learnt from 28 podcast episodes with top QLD property elites

When we started the Raising the Bar podcast, the idea was simple: sit down with the best people in Queensland property and let them talk shop. Two and a bit years on, we’ve recorded 28 episodes with some of the sharpest property experts in the state – top selling agents, auctioneers, buyer’s agents, mortgage brokers, building and pest inspectors, town planners, the CEO of the REIQ, and a few people who’ve quietly shaped the industry for decades.

We’ve had an agent, Ethan Petrie who went from $100k to $2.4 million in Gross Commission Income in just three years, Peter Burgin, an auctioneer who’s called over 15,000 auctions, and a finance legend, Mariangela Stagnitti who was knighted by the President of Italy. Different patches, different specialties, very different personalities.

But here’s the thing. When you listen back to all of them, the same handful of ideas keep coming up. Not the flashy stuff. The fundamentals. Here are the five that came up again and again – and what they actually mean for you when you’re buying or selling.

TL;DR

Across 28 episodes of Queensland’s best property experts, five ideas keep surfacing: trust beats the hard sell, consistency compounds, local knowledge wins, reputation is earned in the boring details, and cutting corners is the most expensive thing you can do. Whether you’re buying or selling, pick the people who tell you the truth, have the track record to back it up, know your patch, and never skip the due diligence. That last one is exactly why getting your contract checked before you sign matters so much.

1. Trust beats the hard sell, every single time

Almost every guest landed here eventually. The best in the business don’t sell hard. They build trust and let the work do the talking.

Tamara Hall, who’s built nearly 3,049 five-star reviews on the Bayside, put it bluntly: she doesn’t focus on commission, she focuses on her reputation. Matt Micallef – who’s sold over $600 million on the Gold Coast – calls the alternative “commission breath,” and reckons it’s the fastest way to lose a client. His edge instead? “I can’t guarantee many things in life, but if there’s one thing I can guarantee you, it’s my authenticity.”

Peter Burgin, a former REIQ Auctioneer of the Year, summed up a whole career in one line: “I truly believe between relationships and trust, that’s the secret sauce of business.”

What it means for you: the agent (or solicitor, or broker) who tells you what you need to hear – even when it’s not what you want to hear – is worth ten who just want the deal done. Pick the honest one.

2. Consistency is the actual superpower

Everyone wants the overnight success story. Nobody who’s actually made it believes in one.

Ash Hansom became the number one agent in Murarrie with 4x the volume  with a strategy that sounds almost boring: “the harder you work, the more consistent you are, the more you earn… rinse and repeat.” Tamara Hall swears by small daily habits over big swings (she’s a manifesting pro – but even she admits, “you can’t lay in bed eating ice cream saying you’re going to be a multimillionaire”). Aaron Woolard built a dominant position with a winning team in New Farm the same way: years of showing up, not one big moment.

What it means for you: look for a track record, not a sales pitch. Anyone can have a good month. The people worth trusting with the biggest purchase of your life have been doing it well, quietly, for years.

3. Go deep, not wide – own your patch

A pattern we noticed across the top agents: none of them tried to be everywhere. They picked a patch and went all in.

Rebecca Russell became number one in Richlands after taking one piece of advice to heart: don’t spread yourself across three suburbs, pick one and “really go for it.” Ash Hansom credits “the time we give back to the community… because I’m a local.” From the Bayside (Ric Medlin, Alec McEwan) to inner-city Brisbane (Courtney Caulfield at Kangaroo Point, one of the most influential women in QLD real estate), the message was identical: deep local knowledge beats broad reach.

What it means for you: when you’re choosing an agent to sell, or a buyer’s agent to find your next place, local beats famous. The person who knows your street, your school catchment and what the place two doors down actually sold for will get you a better result.

4. Reputation is built in the boring details

Reviews came up constantly – and not as luck. As a system.

Thomas Metos, who built his business on five-star reputations, boiled it down to two steps: “Do exactly what you say you are going to do,” and then actually ask for the feedback. Joanne Sourris  from Sourris Solicitors (who is also my amazing mum) built her whole firm on it decades before Google reviews existed: “It is just a word of mouth game from doing a good job consistently forever.” Mum has had repeat clients for almost 4 decades! And Mariangela Stagnitti, now serving the second and third generation of the same families, says it best: “What you do, your kindness and your understanding, and your willingness to help – that’s what sells you.”

What it means for you: check the reviews, and read the recent ones. A long trail of happy clients is the closest thing to a guarantee you’ll get in property.

5. Cutting corners is the most expensive thing you can do

This one’s close to our heart, because we see the fallout. Over and over, our guests warned against going cheap to save a few dollars up front.

Building and pest inspector Anthony Bartzis sees what gets missed when buyers rush. Pool safety expert Shane Lawson and town planner and founder of PropCheck, Vass Stammes both make the same case: a quick chat with the right professional before you sign can save you tens of thousands. Paul Watkins, who’s spent two decades in property risk in title insurance, shared client after client who got caught out by problems a standard search never picks up – people who, as the episode put it, “had no idea they could have been protected for the cost of a nice dinner.”

And on conveyancing? Peter Burgin didn’t sugar-coat it: “Cheap conveyancing is, you get what you pay for. It just leaves people disgruntled.” Or as Joanne always says: “If you wanna pay peanuts, you’ll get monkeys doing the work.”

What it means for you: the cheapest quote is rarely the best value. Good advice before you sign a contract is the single best money you’ll spend on a property deal – which is exactly why our pre-contract advice and property reporting exists.

The throughline

Twenty-eight conversations over two years, one message: in Queensland property, the people who win are the ones who build trust, show up consistently, know their patch, earn their reputation honestly, and never cut corners. It’s not complicated. It’s just hard – which is exactly why it works.

That’s the same bar we hold ourselves to at Empire Legal. If you’re buying or selling and you want the contract checked before you sign – by real solicitors who pick up the phone – we’d love to help. Give us a call on 07 3088 7675, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

And if you want to hear these conversations in full, the whole Raising the Bar back catalogue is on our podcast page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Raising the Bar podcast?

Raising the Bar is Empire Legal’s podcast, hosted by George Sourris. Across 28 episodes we sit down with Queensland’s best property experts – top real estate agents, auctioneers, buyer’s agents, mortgage brokers, inspectors, town planners and industry leaders – to share honest, practical insight for anyone buying or selling property in Queensland. You can listen to every episode on our podcast page.

What do Queensland’s top real estate agents have in common?

After 28 episodes, the same five themes keep coming up: they build trust instead of selling hard, they’re relentlessly consistent, they go deep on local knowledge rather than spreading thin, they treat their reputation and reviews as a system, and they never cut corners on due diligence. None of it is flashy – it’s just done well, for years.

How do I choose a good real estate agent in Queensland?

Look for a genuine local track record, recent five-star reviews, and someone who tells you the truth rather than what you want to hear. The best agents know your specific suburb at a street level and have a long history of happy clients – not just a polished sales pitch.

Why does cheap conveyancing end up costing more?

In Queensland, only a solicitor or law firm can handle your conveyancing – and the cheapest quote often skips the careful pre-contract review that catches expensive problems early. As one of our podcast guests put it, “cheap conveyancing… just leaves people disgruntled.” Getting your contract checked properly before you sign is the single best-value money you’ll spend on a property deal.