Tenacious 27-year-old named Sydney's best young real estate agent

If real estate and rugby are the two big games in Sydney, then the new generation of agents are finding a competitive edge on an increasingly tough playing field.

Young gun agent Shane Sullivan took the risk of starting his own franchise last year in a new market during the pressure of the property boom.

The 27 year-old director of LJ Hooker in Drummoyne has won the inaugural Domain Rising Star Award for New South Wales.

The award launched this year to find the best real estate agents under 30 – tenacious young business people inking record deals, innovating in an ever-changing industry, converting cutting-edge social media to sales and making a grassroots contribution to their communities.

“You have got to want success as badly as you want to breathe,” Sullivan said.

“I don’t think most agents are aware of how much trust people place in us to help them maximise their biggest asset. I don’t take that lightly or for granted.”

Of the 13 finalists, highly commended were Dib Chidiac of Raine and Horne in Concord, a multi-award winner with tens of millions of dollars in sales under his belt, his own website and e-books; and Kristy Syaranamual from Elders in Penrith, who ignored her critics when she he returned to real estate after having a baby and was named her company’s best new talent in her first year.

The winner from several hundred candidates was chosen by judging panel including solo sailor and Young Australian of the Year Jessica Watson, Sydney Morning Herald editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir and Domain Group CEO Antony Catalano.

Mr Catalano said the finalists were at the forefront of real estate’s new media, including harnessing the power of Facebook.

“They are the leaders of their industry at the moment, and captains of their industry in the future,” Mr Catalano said.

“They will transform the way that real estate is conducted in the future. It is an important part of all of our lives – we all need a home, whether we own it or we rent it, and the real estate industry fulfils an important part of making sure that we are in the place we aspire be or serves our family needs.”

Domain, which is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of the Sun-Herald, is the organiser of the Rising Star Award.