Ric Serrao 🎢 How to cope with the daily rollercoaster of emotions in real estate

Business / leadership overview (who & what)

• Rick Sorayo is a long-tenured, top-performing real estate agent (in his 32nd year) and an owner/principal with offices in Rain & Horn Bondi Beach and Rain & Horn Double Bay.
• He describes a restructured office where he operates as a principal/leader while still actively selling, backed by a management/admin foundation and shared selling capacity.

Org structure & operating model (how they run the business)

Core leadership + support functions

• Admin/back-end leadership: Grace and Lucy
  • Lucy: managerial/admin responsibilities, supplier meetings, and proposal logistics
  • Grace: prepares proposals by combining inputs from the sales workflow
• Property content support: Veronica (started with him; handles bio/work tasks)

Sales execution via “conjunct” (team-based listing delivery)

• For pretty much every listing, Rick conjoins with another agent in the office.
• Revenue split: 50/50 with the conjoined agent.
• Division of responsibilities:
  • The conjoined agent attends open homes and does the “heavy lifting”
  • Their responsibility includes follow-up in prospecting
  • Rick steps in to help close when needed
• Rationale:
  • Reducing “prospecting leakage”
  • Avoiding running too many auctions/open-home cycles alone

Frameworks / playbooks / management tactics mentioned

“More is more” sales capacity model

• Increase listings by building a team workflow, rather than relying purely on personal labor.

Referral & ecosystem playbook

• Build a referral network with:
  • solicitors/conveyancers
  • accountants
  • financial planners
• Aim for mutual referral exchange—and include even unexpected partners like barbers/beauticians.

CRM & pipeline simplicity rule

• Avoid CRM overload:
  • Thousands of tasks previously led to deleting/overhauling systems.
• Keep a small pipeline focused on people most likely to transact.

Profile-building system

• Use awards and consistent community visibility to attract business.
• Encourage customer reviews and promote/automate survey completion.

Emotional resilience operating practice

• “Don’t sweat the small stuff”
• Use a daily reset routine after losing listings:
  • celebrate wins
  • talk to the team
  • meditate/surf/walk
  • seek therapy support when needed

Key metrics & targets (explicit numbers)

Personal/team annual performance (last year reference)

• Commission revenue: “just over the $4.5 million mark”
• Properties written/sold: “just over 150 properties”

Recent weekly example (team top performer)

• Alex Lyons: “just over $36 million worth of sales” (as referenced in the conversation)

Productivity timing

• Describes the market as a “roller coaster”
• Highlights behavioral changes during cooldown periods (including COVID and later cooling context)

Marketing & sales strategy (GTM style, client acquisition)

Listing-driven strategy (not switching to buyer-only)

• He argues agents should not abandon listings for buyer-agency models.
• Reasoning: buyer follow-up is often weak in the industry, creating opportunity for a “US-style” representation model and off-market positioning—while still emphasizing the importance of maintaining listings.

Market-driven client messaging

• In the East, interest-rate / investment-sensitive buyers pulled back.
• Renovated homes outperform unrenovated stock due to:
  • builder availability
  • pricing complexity (making renovations more feasible/valuable)

Off-market + expired listings opportunity

• Explicitly encourages targeting:
  • expired listings
  • other active listing opportunities
• Avoid pivoting away from listing work.

Concrete examples / case studies

Price realization example: 88 Military Road

• Purchased < 2 years ago for $6.7M
• Seller completed cosmetic upgrades (paint + carpet re-carpet)
• Sold for just under $10M

Loss recovery example: competitive win/loss learning loop

• If a nurtured client goes to a competitor:
  • Rick calls to ask why
  • then immediately implements fixes (e.g., ensuring short agency agreements and building “round two” pathways after auction; “round three” possible)

Tactics for negotiation & sales process quality

Hand-on vs delegated vendor servicing

• For many clients, Rick is hands-on for vendor meetings, feedback, and negotiations.
• For some clients, he delegates when team members provide stronger support and salesroom ability.

Auction/presentation emphasis

• Recommends:
  • short agency agreements
  • maintaining an option to continue communication after the auction if it doesn’t sell (“round two… round three” possible)

Technology & operations tooling (how tech is used, without over-reliance)

Realty platform usage

• Uses realty/associated tools under one umbrella, including:
  • Docusign/contract signing
  • bulk emails
  • document workflows
• Standardizes “compliance-like” processes:
  • digital contract signing
  • managing repetitive tasks

Process automation examples

• Docusign for integrated contract signing
• Bulk emails for listing/sales booking follow-ups
• CRM data collection (e.g., birthdays/anniversaries)
• Digital/ops tracking for:
  • days on market
  • expired listings

Tech adoption philosophy

• Tech is necessary for competitiveness, but must be supported by:
  • high-touch fundamentals (“read the play”)
  • body language
  • room feel
• If someone isn’t tech-savvy, get help and stay open-minded about learning the platform.

Market diagnosis (business execution implications)

East Sydney trend summary

• Renovated renovated houses / semi-detached: stronger demand
• Unrenovated / older units and some apartment blocks: slower sales times
• Top end remains strong, with cooling limited by supply tightness among premium stock

Strategic implication

• Opportunity exists via expired listings and off-market perceptions, but offers/value must align with the agent’s ability to add value (renovation and improvements matter).

Stress management / performance sustainability

• Real estate is framed as daily emotional swings, not weekly/monthly pressure.
• Concrete coping steps include:
  • celebrate immediately after sales
  • after losses: talk to team/therapists, meditate, exercise (surf/walk)
  • don’t take competitor wins personally—turn it into system improvements

Leadership + culture outcomes

• Success is defined less by personal transaction totals and more by:
  • bringing on people who grow
  • earning mutual respect
  • creating an environment where team members can stay “for life” by staying growing and profitable

Presenters / sources (as mentioned)

• Rick Sorayo — Presenter/Guest
• Tom — Host/Interviewer
• Realty — Sponsored platform/tool mentioned (via Pete Matthews, also referenced as ambassador and “Pete’s team”)
• Additional individuals mentioned:
  • Alex Lyons, Dion Markovitz, Paul (and Hanan referenced)
  • Grace, Lucy, Veronica
  • Susan (chat/slide support)
  • Damien Crawley, Eric (event mentioned)
  • Ric Serrao (from the video title)