When Pat Lapalapa started in real estate in South Auckland six years ago it didn’t take him long to find his feet. In his first two years, he achieved $50m in settled sales and he’s now one of Ray White’s elite performers. He sold 36 houses alone in 12 weeks after Auckland went into lockdown. Yet growing up, real estate was never on his radar.
Q: What did you plan to do, career-wise?
I wanted to be an accountant, so I went to uni to do a B.Comm. That was after spending a year in Australia after I left school, working with my brother, Andrew. I was a store-person in a warehouse in Brisbane and it was hard physical work. I couldn’t slack off because my brother was the supervisor. I think he instilled a lot of my work ethic in me and that experience taught me a lot. It definitely taught me that that was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life!
I liked uni but a year and a half into my degree, my parents Maletina and Vince were struggling financially – my dad had to finish up work – and they said, “Look, we are probably going to lose the house.” I had a part-time job at a Middle Eastern food place called Fatima’s in Ponsonby, so I left uni to work there full-time and help my parents out.
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Q: Where you able to keep the house?
Yes. We had a broker at Westpac who said to me, “Pat, I need you to work for six months and show me you can save X amount of money. If you can do that, you can take over the mortgage”. I did that, and it stopped the house going to a mortgagee sale. I was gutted about having to leave uni but happy that I could help my family. They supported me for 18 years, I could support them for a few.
I have since paid off the mortgage for them, and also renovated the whole house, including getting a brand-new roof and doing up the garage for my auntie and cousin to live in. I put my mum and dad in an Airbnb for four weeks so the renovations could be done quickly, and when they came home, the look on my mum’s face was priceless. It felt so good, being able to do that.
Q: How did you get into real estate?
After Fatima’s, I was at Work and Income New Zealand as a case manager for a couple of years. That was an experience – it toughened me up. I got a few hard times from some of my clients but 95 percent of people were really cool and I was glad I was able to help them when they were in tough situations.
A friend I worked with at WINZ was studying to be a real estate salesperson and she said she thought I would be good at it. At the time I was thinking about going to Australia to work in the mines near Perth, because I was living paycheck to paycheck and it was hard trying to support my family.
I thought I might as well give real estate a crack first, even though it was commission-based. I said to my partner, Tina, “How do you feel about supporting me if I don’t make any money?” It was a hard conversation to have but she said she would support me, and my family. That gave me the motivation to try to do the best I could.
Q: Did it take a while to find your feet in real estate?
I couldn’t afford to take it slowly, I was living on noodles! I got my first listing pretty quickly by delivering 4000 letters a week to homes in Mangere East, Otara and Manurewa. The first house I sold was in Manurewa, and the vendors were a lovely elderly couple who were moving up north. I was very upfront with them, and with the first few vendors I had. I said, “I’m brand new to the industry but I will work harder than anyone else because this is where I am at financially and I want this so much.” I think because I showed that hunger, and because New Zealanders love an underdog, they gave me a chance. I’m very grateful to those first few vendors for trusting me.
Lapalapa gave up university to support his parents and pay off their mortgage. Photo / Fiona Goodall
After that, things snowballed and I got a lot of clients by word of mouth. I still do now – I sold a couple of houses next door to each other a couple of months ago and each of those vendors referred me to at least five other people.
Q: What’s the secret of your success?
Working hard. I work seven days a week. The last time I had a day off was for my birthday, on November 9. Actually, I still had meetings in the evening, so it was half a day off. But it was nice, I went for a hike with my partner.
I also always try to do the right thing by people, and put my clients first. I want to do the best for them that I can. I’m a big believer in karma – if you do the right thing, it will come back to you. For me, it’s not just about getting a listing or a sale. Sometimes, when I work through people’s options with them, I will tell them, “I don’t think it is in your best interests to sell at the moment, why not hold onto your house for another five years until you can get your mortgage down a bit?” I don’t get a sale out of it but those people then refer me to their friends, so it works out well in the end for everyone.
Q: What have been some of your most memorable sales?
The one that sticks out was a listing in Mangere East that ended up going viral. It was listed with someone else but when it hadn’t sold after three months the vendor asked me if I would take over. I was walking in the backyard when I realised I could smell KFC. I said to the client, “How far is KFC from here?” He said it was just around the corner. I knew straightaway what title we could put on the advertising: Walking distance to KFC. The client laughed but I was serious. We had nothing to lose, so we did it. We had three offers within a week and the house sold in seven days. I was surprised; I was just trying to do something that would catch people’s attention. It worked!
The “KFC” house that Lapalapa sold. Photo / Supplied
It was a good result – the vendors were happy, the purchasers were happy and KFC were happy – they sent me $100 worth of vouchers.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
I rarely get time off but the main thing I do is train at the gym. I was doing F45 until we went into lockdown – my partner and I have built a home gym so we can still train. It would be good to have one day off a week so I have started building a team around me so that I can hopefully have time off.
Q: Has real estate changed your life?
Definitely. It has been rewarding financially and that means I have been able to help my family. I have been fortunate – a lot of agents don’t earn very much at all and the average commission works out to be below minimum wage.
But the main thing is the people. I have met some amazing people through my work and helping them to get a good result in their time of need has been as lifechanging for me as it is for them. It’s been a humbling experience for me to be involved in selling what is their biggest asset.
