COLLEAGUES, CAMARADERIE AND THE COMPETITION

Geoff Cayzer is holding onto his wicket, enjoying an innings of 40 not out. Here he comments on the evolution of the Real Estate game.

In the mid-80s, large real estate agencies were hard to find in the Bayside area, and fewer than 10 agents pitched for business on the same patch. Despite playing for different sides, agents were a tight knit bunch. They shared office space, strategy, tea, wine and even a weekly lunch. The game was fair and played on an even field.

Geoff Cayzer opened Cayzer Real Estate in 1986, renting space from another agent and operating for the first few months without a front door. Things have evolved for the Cayzer business, but the principles Geoff started the company with still hold true.

"Being the local agent was always the goal," Geoff says. "In the beginning there was me, a typewriter, an assistant and a sale a month.

"When we were up and running, people would say, ’I’ve bought a property, now I’d like you to rent it’, so we needed a rental department. We grew organically."

Today the team – now a staff of more than 30 – occupies two bustling offices in Montague Street, Albert Park and Bay Street, Port Melbourne.

"When we started Cayzer Real Estate we rented space in the Dixon Kestles office on Park Street, near the Post Office, which was what you wanted in those days,"Geoff says.

"I ordered some glass partitions from Ballarat, but what they didn’t tell me when I placed the order, was that they were sending all the glass to the Rialto, which was being built at the time.

"So I opened an agency which didn’t have a front door for two months.

"Our clients used to come around the back way. Even when we had a front door some of those clients still used to come in the back door."

It wasn’t unusual for competing agencies to share office space.

"It was different in the old days," Geoff says. "We were all competitors but we all got along. We were all local agents.

"We all went for lunch once a month. We’d compare notes about the properties we’d seen, and it would explain why they or I had won the business."

The camaraderie wasn’t confined to business, offices or lunches – it wasn’t unusual for the agents to cause their fair share of trouble in the neighbourhood.

"After a particularly long lunch one Friday we went around putting sold stickers on all the boards in the local area, " Geoff laughs.

"It was an even playing field. With more and more agents entering the area, it has become more competitive.

"It went from six or seven agents – and you won listings on your merit – to 48 registered agencies and more than 100 agents walking this area.

"For me nothing has changed. Cayzer is still the local agent and selling a one bedroom flat is just as important as selling a large house that is worth $4,000,000.

"And over my 40 years in the area I’ve always played with a straight bat."