Cruise ships, AC/DC, and The Angels: How Tracey Dixon took the road less travelled to the top

Tracey Dixon may have attended an all-girls’ school in Strathfield, but her real education was working in the Balmain pub her parents owned, where she hung out with AC/DC and The Angels.

After a stint on a cruise ship and as a teacher, she found her feet in real estate.

It was worth the wait: Tracey is McGrath’s No.1 female agent nationally this year and has held the title for nine years of the past decade. Tracey has a long-term partner and a daughter.

Your childhood sounds interesting.

My dad was a bookmaker, so I grew up going to the races. When I was a teenager, he bought a pub in East Balmain and I spent four years working there. It was the 1980s, and the AC/DC guys, Malcolm and Angus [Young] lived around the corner and they’d come in and play darts while my mother made them a cup of tea.

The Angels also lived nearby, so Doc Neeson would come in and sit and have a chat with me at the bar. Same with James Reyne from Australian Crawl. I used to swoon when he walked in.

Dixon says she used to ‘swoon’ when James Reyne walked into her parents’ bar.
Photo: EMI Records

What did you do after school?

I got a job on a cruise ship as stewardess in first class. The first night on board I was incredibly seasick, but it was a bit of an adventure. I then went to university and became a high-school teacher. It wasn’t really for me; I wanted to get into business. By then I was married and had a daughter, so we bought a motel at Gladesville.

• Related: Jason Boon doesn’t take anyone too seriously…
• Related: This agent has spent 50 years in real estate
• Related: How D’Leanne Lewis became a property powerhouse

How did you end up in real estate?

I became a single mum and wanted a career where I could maintain a good lifestyle. I started working with a local real estate agency part-time and I got quite passionate about it.

Windermere in Hunters Hill is Dixon’s most memorable sale. Photo: Supplied

Your most memorable sale?

Windermere. It’s one of the original Hunters Hill homes, located on the waterfront on a really large 3000-square-metre parcel of land. I sold it about five years ago for $11.25 million. It was bought by a guy they call the Chinese Gatsby. He is well known for his lavish parties.

What has this job taught you about people?

That the value of the house makes no difference: every person’s home is their castle and they have different degrees of obsession about it.

I once sold a house for an ex-lord mayor of Sydney. It was a big waterfront home with millions of dollars worth of art on the walls and yet he was so easygoing about everything.

Dixon: ‘Every person’s home is their castle.’
 Photo: Jessica Hromas

Where is home these days?

Woolwich, in an old house that needs a bit of work, but it’s on the waterfront. Rather than renovate straight away, we bought a boat.

I also spend a lot of time in Hunters Hill. It has a charming village-feel, you wander down the street and people say hello.

Dixon loves the friendly village vibe of Hunters Hill.
 Photo: Anna Kucera

Did you ever see Cate Blanchett?

All the time, yeah. Her kids went to the local school and we’d see her walking with the pram.

Where else in the world would you like to live?

I have a total love affair with France. My partner and I go most years, and we’re learning French. We’d love to spend four months each year there.

On her passion for online shopping: ‘I think presentation is really important.’ Photo: Jessica Hromas

If you weren’t in real estate, what job would you be doing?

I’d love to have been an art dealer. I sponsor the Hunters Hill Art Show and dabble in painting. I would like to pursue it more seriously later.

Name your guilty pleasure?

Late-night internet shopping is my thing, I think presentation is really important.