McGrath's Alex Mintorn: on why he traded careers, and the most extreme thing he's done for a sale

Alex Mintorn honed his sales skills working the phones at Macquarie Bank. When the global financial crisis hit, he pivoted into real estate and hasn’t looked back.

The agent at McGrath Wahroonga specialises in selling family homes on the upper north shore. Away from work, his daughters Maggie and Tillie keep him busy.

Were you born and bred on the upper north shore?

I was actually born in France. My mum is English and dad, who is Australian, was working for the water board in the south of France. When I was three, we  moved back to Sydney. We lived in Turramurra and Wahroonga. I went to North Turramurra Public then Knox.

How’s your French?

Horrific. I studied it at high school but none of it stuck.

What did you do before real estate?

I did a bachelor of commerce at the University of Sydney, not because I really wanted to, it was more that everyone else was doing it. I spent six years with Macquarie Bank, selling structured products – derivative products, equity products and property products – to stockbrokers and financial advisers. They’d get you on the phone at 7.30am finishing at 8.30pm. You had to make a minimum of 200 calls a day. It was like a boiler room but it was good training.

When the global financial crisis hit in 2008, the volatility affected the price of our products. The whole business ceased to exist. I took a redundancy.

When did you first consider real estate as a career?

I sat down with a friend who was in real estate. He said, come and try it while the market is recovering. I decided to give it a crack.

Those cold-calling skills must have come in handy.

That’s what I always considered my point of difference: I knew how to sit down and make 250 calls a day. I knew how to doorknock and I loved getting to know people and putting deals together.

Tell us about your current beat.

I’ve been in real estate since 2008, with McGrath since 2013. We work in Warrawee, Wahroonga, Turramurra and Pymble. My average sale price is about $2.5 million. The highest is $7.6 million.

That $7.6 million property sounds like one seriously impressive home.

It was a 5500-square-metre estate at 24 Lucinda Avenue in Wahroonga, with a tennis court and pool. It was a really beautiful, stately trophy home.

What’s the most extreme thing you’ve done to get a sale?

We were selling a home in Turramurra that passed in at auction in the afternoon. We were about $50,000 away from a sale. The potential buyer had driven back to the south coast. I spoke to them about 9.30pm, knowing that if we could sell it before midnight, it would be under auction conditions, with no cooling-off period.

I got in the car and drove south. I got there after 11pm. We got the contract signed and took the deposit, then I drove back to Sydney. I couldn’t even get a beer down there to celebrate: everywhere was closed.

How do you like to spend your time when you’re not working?

I’ve got two little girls, Maggie and Tillie, and a third on the way. My wife, Angie, is amazing. I’m home most nights at 7 or 7.30pm. I might catch the girls before they go to bed. I spend Fridays and Sundays with them, too. We live in Paddington.

I’m up before 6am and in the gym by 6.45 most days. I love running around Centennial Park and I play tennis regularly too.