Five Minutes With... Oliver Hume Joint Managing Director Brinton Keath

Oliver Hume Managing Director Brinton Keath has been in the property industry for 15 years, starting out as a qualified valuer. Since then, he has risen through the industry as a development manager, project marketer, and finally joint managing director of Oliver Hume's Queensland operations. Brinton sits on the executive committee for the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) Queensland office and the Oliver Hume National Executive Group.

What sparked your interest in property?

My father subdivided the family farm into 100 lots in country Victoria (Echuca) where we grew up and my interest in property stemmed from there.

What drives you – has there been someone or something that has inspired your career?

Doing a better job and selling more than our competitors. As an agent you have to be quietly competitive!

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Launching a new project is always exciting but daunting at the same time. Our business puts massive amounts of time into research and customer analysis in the lead-up to project launches, but what the market does always has an agent on edge. We love it though.

What is the highlight of your job?

When months of planning pay off and you have record sales months.

What project are you most proud to have been involved with and why?

I’m most proud of Providence at Ripley Valley for the AMEX corporation, which is a 7,000 lot masterplanned estate in the Ipswich corridor. A lot of the neighsayers said it was way too early to develop the location. We are now helping AMEX prove them wrong.

Where do you think the property industry will be five years from now?

Technology is going to continue to play a major role in the growth of the industry from a speed perspective, but building strong relationships with clients and maintaining face to face contact will always be the key to success in this industry. Without that as an agent, you’re not much.

What is the most pressing policy issue facing the industry?

Land supply – there is a complete lack of it.

Another another pressing issue is fees to retail valuations. These pitiful fees the banks offer to the retail valuers for end finance means the valuers need to do 12 – 14 a day to make it worthwhile. This means less time finding good sales evidence and analysis, hence mistakes are made and issues forthcoming. Make the fees a decent set fee so it comes back to do four or five a day and we all get a better job from the valuers. A more analytical valuation is only fair to all parties involved in the transaction.

What or whom have you learned the most from? Glen White who gave me my first job and Gordon Douglas. Both have very similar ‘ can do’ attitudes, but one was an agent, one a valuer. Different ends of the spectrum!