He deals with the sale of premium real estates mainly in tenement houses in the centre of Warsaw, in Żoliborz and Mokotów. He also cooperates with developers, both in terms of taking over entire investments and selling individual apartments. For the past three years, he and his wife have been running the YouTube channel “Kręcimy nieruchomości”, which has 2 million views.
Being named 2020 Advisor of the Year is a great honor. What qualities do you need to have to earn this title?
You have to be able to serve and help other people. These are the most important qualities in this profession. Sales skills and legal knowledge useful in the work of a real estate agent, are not as important as the willingness to help and commitment. I help my clients sell a property or find one. Of course, this is not a simple task.
How many transactions have you completed? Or, to put it another way, how many times have you helped?
I have been working in real estate since 2006 and have completed over 500 transactions. After a while, I stopped counting…
What has this sales process taught you?
Above all, it taught me patience. These dozen years of working in real estate agencies have taught me – to wait. Today I am aware that some things need to mature, that we need to give them time. This knowledge now pays off for me not only in my professional but also in my personal life. That doesn’t mean I’ve lost that positive drive to accomplish everything quickly. These two qualities in me continue to clash, resulting in a positive mix. Today I know that you have to give the client time before negotiating, I don’t rush the process. I also value the experience I gained from talking to people. I have to admit that I am a rather secretive and closed-minded person and when I admit this, people are surprised that I can do this profession with these personality traits. It certainly helps that I always try to tell the truth and just – be myself.
Which transactions do you remember in particular? What kind of clients were they?
At Partners International we are dedicated to the sale of luxury real estate. These transactions range from several million zlotys – upwards. One of the most interesting ones was the sale of a penthouse in a tenement house in the centre of Warsaw. It was one of the best deals in DC. It didn’t even appear in the official offer, it went exclusively to our company’s clients and to the agencies cooperating with us. The property was being sold by a developer who was renovating the entire building. A 360-square-meter penthouse was bought by a foreigner with ties to Poland, for several million zlotys.
There are difficult clients and there are easier clients. How do you manage to deal with people?
Above all else I always try to remain calm. I never allow myself to be provoked, I do not give in to emotions and especially this would be unacceptable during negotiations. I conduct the entire sales process very calmly with a goal in mind.
Negotiation is one of the key elements in your profession. Do you have your own way of dealing with them?
I have a few developed methods that I use depending on client behavior. Many books have been written on the subject of negotiation and probably nothing more, apart from this knowledge, can be invented. It is important to be calm and confident in your actions. That’s when the mind tells us the best solutions.
You have a Youtube channel called “Kręcimy Nieruchomości”. Watching one of the movies I learned that you were a lawyer and your wife was a radio journalist. However, you decided to leave your professions and decided to sell real estate.
I just really like it! I didn’t see myself as a lawyer who spends a lot of time in the office, nor was the courtroom for me. Working as a real estate agent is really a free profession. We work hard but we decide for ourselves what time we start the day and when we end it. What I like the most is contact with people, negotiations and of course the transactions themselves. I also see this profession starting to become more and more trendy. My wife, after the birth of our youngest daughter, is still on parental leave but will be returning to her agent job soon. We help each other and support each other a lot. Last year my wife used a very effective motivational ploy on me that led to me winning the Advisor of the Year title.
It is because of her that I have achieved such high results.
How did she do it?
She made me a list of all the properties to sell. She also wrote how much money I could make on each of them. We sat down and thought together about what to do to achieve this result. That is to say – first there was the goal, and then setting the path to achieve it.
“Kręcimy Nieruchomości” channel – how does it help you in your work?
We set it up 3 years ago. Initially it was a place where we showcased our properties. It was simply supposed to be one part of the sale. We weren’t thinking about a Youtube channel, just a place for videos advertising the properties we sell. But that idea evolved and we became the first agent-youtubers, because that’s what we can call ourselves now, given the amount of material we post online. Over time running a channel became a demanding job, comparable to running a second business. This can already be considered a profession. It is an additional job for which we devote several dozen hours a week. It resulted in 2 million page views.
What do you do in your spare time, if you still have any?
I have very little free time of course but I try to make the most of it. Since I’m a proponent of a healthy lifestyle, I exercise a lot, I run, I go to the gym, which allows me to unload my emotions. I also enjoy reading books. Late evenings, once our three children are asleep, are time just for me. I also keep a journal recording the events of the day and my experiences. It’s a form of relaxation but I’d also like to pass my notes on to my children in the future, to share the experience I’ve gathered, so that they have a better start.
