Shannon Molloy, News Editor
First published 16 Mar 2023, 1:17pm
With its big homes, big price tags, and even bigger egos, the inner-east and eastern suburbs of Sydney have a reputation for being the most cut-throat real estate patch in the country.
From newspaper headlines to reality television shows, there’s plenty of drama on offer in the high stakes of the property game in the cluster of suburbs from the city to the shore.
With tens of millions of dollars at stake each month – sometimes even hundreds of millions – it’s little surprise that some agents are just as flashy as the mansions they sell.
But while some have been pre-occupied with the spotlight, Thomas McGlynn has been quietly rolling out a cutting strategy to dominate this lucrative patch.
And the boss of the agency group BresicWhitney has made some big gains already.
Mr McGlynn grew up surrounded by the real estate sector thanks to his family’s successful business on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
But he never expected to go into the game himself, instead enrolling to study a business degree after finishing school.
“I probably had visions of being an investment banker,” Mr McGlynn recalled.
“But when I was in my first year of uni, I wanted to get some experience to see how businesses work. My cousin, who’s more like a sister to me, is really good at the management side of the real estate business so I thought I’d shadow her.”
BresicWhitney chief executive Thomas McGlynn is vying to dominate Sydney's sought-after eastern suburbs. Picture: Supplied
Within a month, having spent time on the road with sales agents, he was totally hooked.
“During that month, there was a day when we met with five potential sellers, all in different places – some in their houses, some at the workplace. We heard so many different stories along the way. There were different challenges. It was really exciting.
“I went to footy training that night and I was just buzzing. I thought, if one day in the week is like this, this is an industry I want to be in.”
He swapped lectures and tutorials for open homes and auctions, and 18 years later is the chief executive officer of one of Sydney’s best-regarded agencies.
BresicWhitney has been a force in the city for two decades now, particularly in the inner-east and inner-west. McGlynn was appointed to the top job in late 2021.
“That’s a lot of history,” he said.
“But for a business that’s been around so long and achieved so much, some really great milestones, it’s easy to feel the best is behind you rather than believe it’s yet to come.”
Sydney's east is arguably the most cut-throat real estate market in the country. Picture: Getty
There was a period before the latest boom where multiple opportunities for growth presented themselves at the same time.
Some were big, some were especially challenging, and some involved moves out of their usual patch.
“It was almost an opportunity bloat,” he said. “The business was trying to figure out which opportunity fit, what was the right one, but didn’t know what to do and wound up not taking any of them.”
It was a blessing in disguise, allowing McGlynn to come in with fresh eyes and overhaul the strategic direction of the agency.
“For me, I always think when you’re trying to bring clarity to an organisation, you have to simplify to amplify. The more you complicate things, the harder it is to navigate things when they’re up and down.”
So, the refined and targeted vision can be summarised in a few seconds, he said.
“We want to be considered Sydney’s estate agent. If someone in Sydney wants to buy or sell property, I want them to think BresicWhitney. It’s as simple as that.”
And the battle begins in the east.
The distance from the Sydney CBD to Bondi Beach is about 6.5km.
From there, it’s 5km north to Watsons Bay and the South Head of the harbour, or 12km south to Little Bay and the mouth of Botany Bay.
Within that relatively small geographic footprint is a lot of potential real estate business, but for Mr McGlynn, it’s not just the eye-watering sale prices that make this patch so attractive.
Thomas McGlynn has an ambitious vision for the BresicWhitney group. Picture: Getty
“There’s a lot of different people in that area,” he said.
“If you look at the cycle of homeownership in this part of Sydney, the property journey someone takes, someone can virtually stay local from their very first home to their very last home.
“You can’t say that for a lot of other areas.”
A young professional might end up in an entry level apartment in Surry Hills or Darlinghurst that does them for a few years, he said.
“From there they may upgrade to a terrace in the neighbourhood, then maybe jump to a bigger one in Paddington, outgrow that and upgrade to a home in Woollahra or Bellevue Hill, then downsize to a big unit back in Surry Hills or Paddington.”
A savvy agent can build a strong relationship and follow that person throughout the journey, helping them to sell each home they outgrow.
“That’s what makes it such a unique and desirable market for an agent – they can sell someone their first home, and if they’re good, keep the business for life.”
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BresicWhitney has done well for the first half or so of dominating that journey, but then lost customers as they’ve moved out of their reach.
“Expanding further east is probably the biggest missed opportunity the business has had,” Mr McGlynn said.
“Once a client moved up in their property journey and into suburbs like Vaucluse or Bondi, we tended not to be able to follow them. They started in our patch, somewhere we had market share, and then they bought and sold out of it.
“We’re ready to take hold of that opportunity now. We’ve got a strategy that’s really exciting and we’ve had some wonderful results.”
Real estate is a competitive game no matter the area, but Mr McGlynn said the inner-east and eastern suburbs takes the cake.
“I’d say this patch would have to be the most highly competitive marketplace in Australia,” he said. “It can be cut-throat.”
Take even a single suburb like Paddington and there isn’t just one agent operating at the top of the game – there are several.
Thomas McGlynn's battle begins in the prized eastern suburbs. Picture: Getty
That level of competition means finding an edge can help some swim while others sink.
“What it also does is breed a lot of big egos too, which we’ve all seen in the media from time to time,” Mr McGlynn said.
“The eastern suburbs property market is a lot more covered by the media over the past few years than anywhere else in the country.”
Is that shift from the home being the hero to the agent being something of a celebrity a good thing? It probably depends on who you ask, he said.
“It’s an interesting question. I don’t think you can sit on your high horse and judge what someone does.
“As long as the ethics of the people involved remain at the highest standard, if everyone is doing the right thing, then it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t hurt anyone.
“Some people have different approaches, and some people appeal to some clients for that reason. It works for them.
“Do we feel that’s the right angle for us? I don’t think so.”
A property trend to emerge during the Covid years was a shift in how potential homebuyers search for property.
Where once there was a small and often non-negotiable list of suburbs that purchasers looked in, Mr McGlynn said many now search by dwelling type.
“They’re looking for a particular property – a house with this many bedrooms, a unit with a view, somewhere that’s renovated, that kind of thing,” he said.
BresicWhitney is going "all in" on Sydney. Picture: Supplied
Something that fits the bill could be in east… but increasingly, it’s like to be in the inner-west.
“That whole part of Sydney has totally transformed,” Mr McGlynn said.
“I mean, Marrickville being named by TimeOut as one of the most liveable suburbs, not only in Australia but in the world, put the spotlight on that area.
“The other thing that sparked major renewal was the lockout law period in the city. It sparked a resurgence in great dining, great cafes, great bars… the quality of life in the inner-west got really high, and people wanted a slice of that.”
The value proposition also lured people to look further west than Surry Hills, with many buyers able to get double the bang for their buck.
“I don’t think people in the east realised you could buy a beautiful waterfront home with access to the Harbour for probably five times less than what you’d pay in the east.
“A lot of eyes were opened during Covid. I think that trend will stick around. People are far more willing to move from Paddington to Balmain than ever before.”
The evolution of the inner-west is part of BresicWhitney’s strategy.
The business has dominated this patch for years now, but Mr McGlynn has ambitious expansion plans, as he does for the Lower North Shore.
“We’re doubling down on Sydney. We’ve finetuned out strategy, it’s in place, and now we’re executing it.”
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