When Justin Merendino began social media videos of his listings, the ensuing cult following which has seen him become one of Perth's most loved real estate agents was not his plan.
The sales associate’s down to earth videos with his signature tag lines “remember the name, Justin Merendino is not far away” and “brick and tile makes me smile” has garnered the 28-year-old agent more than 31,000 Instagram followers.
“Whatever you see is a very natural me,” he told realestate.com.au.
“It is just being myself, doing my little videos with the same sort of outro, a little slogan and the public seemed to naturally gravitate to me.
“There's no money spent on it, because for me, that's not what I built my business model around.”
The relative newcomer has only been selling homes for a couple of years, but Mr Merendino is quickly making his mark in one of the country's hottest property markets.
His world famous property listing videos - he has followers in Germany and Canada – began about a year ago as a way to target a younger demographic when he was selling a friend’s newly built home.
After the amazing response it got, he kept the videos going and attributes his popularity on social media to the fact he embraces his culture.
“I'm very, very proud of being Italian descent,” he said.
“And I mark myself also to be of service to the Italians - more maybe of mature age, and also they've got the language barrier, but because I'm fluent, I speak it.
“I'm often amongst Italians now and I can have a full conversation (in their Italian dialect).”
Known for his tag line "brick and tile makes me smile."
While his videos have helped him sell homes, Mr Merendino said he did not rely on them solely to achieve a sale and customer service always reigned supreme.
“The majority of the people that contact me through that channel are probably aged 35 down,” he said.
With about 30 property sales under his belt in two years, Mr Merendino covers what he dubs “the golden square,” Perth’s northern suburbs of Tuart Hill, Osborne Park, Balcatta and Stirling.
It is a locale where he has found his niche, and one where the older Italian demographic are drawn to his old fashioned customer services skills, where social media is a foreign concept.
The Perth real estate agent has only been selling homes for a couple of years but is already making his mark.
His Calabrian heritage and friendly nature has earnt him a popular reputation.
“I gel very well in the community … I go into the post office and people welcome me, and it's just nice when you're known for doing a good job and being of service to people, I think it rubs off the right way,” he said.
It’s been a fast rise to success for Mr Merendino, who after a background in car sales and banking, embarked on a career in property after realising as a “people person,” sitting in an office for a bank was not for him.
It was advice from an uncle - who worked in commercial real estate - which gave him the idea for a career change.
“He says, ‘You’re a character, you can sit at a table and you're not shy at all. You amongst people is your prime, your passion - get into real estate’,” he said.
“And I thought ‘I don't want to work on a weekend’ but you know, something in my gut, my soul, my heart, said ‘You can do it’.
“And I'm glad I went with that feeling, because here I am and I love it.”
He hasn’t looked back and admits he wished he began his real estate career years ago.
“I love my job. I'm so passionate…because when you love something, you want to get out of bed in the morning,” he said.
Mr Merendino's own property journey began at 21 where he bought a home in his childhood suburb of Noranda, and he now has plans to buy a family home in the suburb before the year is out.
“I've always been one with passion of property and am always picturing where I can put my furniture,” he said.
As for other young real estate agents like himself wanting to make their mark in property, Justin’s advice is simple: “I never gave up, and I never will give up.”
He said starting out in real estate and buying a Mercedes Benz or a Rolex on hire purchase with the plan of paying it off with all the money one expected to make early on, was unrealistic.
“It doesn’t work like that. You need to start from your bottom and work your way up, and that's with everything,” he said.
English (US) · 