An interview with Gary Peer

FROM PANCAKES TO PROPERTIES, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN:

AN INTERVIEW WITH GARY PEER

My mother was a very sharp and keen businesswoman: astute and tough. My father was an academic: a left-leaning engineer with a strong social conscience. I was the man in the middle!

You’ve seen his name on property boards across the lawns of our city’s southeast. You’ve heard his humorous, heart-pumping auctions resonate throughout side streets and suburbs.

You’re familiar with the name. But do you know the person?

Let’s take a closer look at the man behind the moniker. From paper rounds and pancake parlours to selling some of Victoria’s finest homes. This is the story of one of Melbourne real estate’s most prominent (and well-liked!) faces.

This is Gary Peer – as you’ve never known him before.

‘The man in the middle’: Gary’s early Elsternwick experiences

Born and bred in Elsternwick, Gary’s always been a local boy. Growing up in southeast Melbourne in the ‘60s and ‘70s, he was surrounded by people from different countries and backgrounds: from all walks of life. Even the dynamics of his own family gave young Gary a healthy respect for diversity. And a canniness for getting on the same page with a wide range of people – with deeply contrasting sets of views. “I had parents with very different outlooks,” he explains, “with their own priorities and political biases. My mother was a very sharp and keen businesswoman: astute and tough. My father was an academic: a left-leaning engineer with a strong social conscience. I was the man in the middle! “That exposed me to different views. It allowed me to see both sides of the story. And understand that, while we may not always agree with the points of view of others, we should always try to understand where they’re coming from.” It was an outlook that would set him up for success.

No smoke without fire: A friendship (and a restaurant) ignites

At the age of 12, Gary sat on a crowded bus, ready to depart for summer camp. Only the seat next to him remained empty – until fate filled it. As the bus was about to leave, a boy of his age jumped on. Plonking himself next to Gary, he introduced himself as Phillip. Three hours later, the two were best mates, and – though the camp lasted mere days – the friendship would last a lifetime.

“Phillip and I connected well because neither of us felt we belonged to the ‘gang’: we didn’t fit in with any particular crowd. We both felt like outsiders in many ways, and saw individuality in each other – a reticence to be like everybody else.” From there, the two’s futures would be intertwined. Facing their teenage years together as the ‘70s rolled into the ‘80s, Gary and Phillip shared jobs: working at the market on weekends, and as waiters at the local pancake parlour. (That was, at least, until Phillip overloaded the fireplace – smoking out the restaurant, enraging the boss, and earning both lads their marching orders.) “We’ve worked in different ways and capacities together. We’ve laughed together. And, while we’ve had our challenges in business, we’ve had very few challenges with each other as friends.”

In typical Phil and Gary fashion, we’ve never been good planners…and we’ve never worked well to budgets. We’ve never followed the ‘traditional model’ of success in many respects. We prefer to simply give it our best shot. To look for opportunities and take them as they come.

Above: Gary and Phillip – best mates from the age of 12

A date with destiny, and a brochure: Gary finds his career

A self-confessed “awful student”, Gary has always felt more comfortable working than studying. Lacking the passion and patience for academia, his 15-year-old self preferred hitting the streets on his paper round to hitting the books. Then one day, Gary’s mother brought home a real estate brochure. And as Gary sat – poring through the pages, transfixed – destiny dawned. “I said ‘that’s exactly what I want to do. It’s perfect’. I knew I’d found my career. From that point, I’d take the property section in the paper to read on the school bus. “To this day, I still count myself so lucky to have parents that understood me, and what I was likely to be good at. To fall into what I loved early – and to have remained in love with it.”

‘What do you know when you’re 23?’: A business blossoms

Fast-forward to 1986, and Gary and Phillip – armed with no regular income, no external funding, and a lifetime ban at The Pancake Parlour – took the plunge. With the minimum deposit, the two bought (then sold) several properties. Using the profits and a small bank loan, the pair then established their first office on Orrong Road. “We took an each-way bet,” Gary chuckles. “We opened shop on the corner of four suburbs – Caulfield, Armadale, Prahran and St Kilda – with the hope that at least one of them would like us!” All did. And these days, Gary Peer & Associates employs almost 200 people. But back in ‘86, it was only Gary, Phillip, and a parttime receptionist. “We weren’t sure whether the business would be successful. But we were hungry to work, and to do good work: to provide an excellent customer experience. We’re both obsessive about looking after people. And we could see there was an opportunity, in the real estate space, to go above and beyond in a way that others weren’t.

“But we didn’t know how we’d go, really. We were 23. What do you know when you’re 23?”

Viva Las Vegas: A ‘relentless discontent’ for the present

“How can you organise a business when you can’t organise your own room?”

Gary’s mum had a point. But despite the messiness of his quarters – and the recession of the early ‘90s, which put paid to profits – Gary Peer & Associates began to pick up pace. Spurred by their quick thinking, charisma, and knack for real estate, the pair began to make a name for themselves. Planning, however, wasn’t a strong suit. “In typical Phil and Gary fashion, we’ve never been good planners… and we’ve never worked well to budgets. We’ve never followed the ‘traditional model’ of success in many respects. We prefer to simply give it our best shot. To look for opportunities and take them as they come.

That includes, of course, opportunities to continue learning – and improving. Describing his attitude to success as a form of ‘restless discontent’ for the present, Gary visits real estate agencies around the world to glean invaluable insights. (Recent locations include Sydney, Singapore, San Francisco, New York – and Las Vegas!) But he doesn’t limit his research to real estate businesses.

“We’re always looking at what we’re not doing – and seeing if we can be doing it. Concierge services, five-star hotels…how can we apply the sorts of things they do and bring them to our business? “We’ll never stop asking what we can do to enhance that customer experience across the board. It only stops when you become complacent!”

Gary Peer & Associates: A family business (quite literally)

Over 25 years later and Gary Peer & Associates is one of Melbourne’s leading independent real estate businesses. It’s broken records, collected awards – and built a team of high-performing professionals. So, what keeps Gary going? What gets him out of bed in the morning? It’s the people. “My story’s been told – but the stories of our people haven’t. I have an almost paternal approach to the people we work with. It’s fantastic to see where they’re at; to help them grow. I love seeing them progress and succeed. We’re like a family business in that sense. “The future is about all the people who are here now. Where do they want to go? That’s the interesting story. Among those people are Gary’s son (and Licensed Real Estate Agent) Daniel, who joined the company at the age of 18. Like Jacob Kingston – also following in his father’s footsteps – Daniel has nursed a passion for real estate from an early age. But as Gary explains, neither receive special treatment. “We don’t work closely with either of them day to day – they need to be able to build and improve themselves independently. They often disagree with us, though, and that’s great. We don’t want them to be here agreeing with everything we’re doing. It’s good to be pushed and challenged.” Looking back at what Gary describes as the “general dislike and mistrust of authority” he and Phillip both harboured in their youth, Gary’s quick to acknowledge the irony. That they’re both now in positions of authority – that they have, in effect, become the establishment. But you won’t find any ivory towers here. “We’re never too hierarchical in our approach,” explains Gary. “We like to be on the ground with our people – particularly the more recent recruits. They see things that longer-serving staff perhaps don’t; things we do out of habit that could be improved. “We don’t think we have all the answers. And we’re not interested in having ‘yes’ people around us. That doesn’t help you.” In the same way Gary and Phillip challenged the system in their youth, they’ve continued to challenge their staff: and each other. Pushing themselves and the business to new heights – and forging a path forward through focus and family.

The secrets to real estate (not golfing) success

So – is there a ‘secret’ to success? A recipe for prosperity? According to Gary, there are three core ingredients. The first? Good, old-fashioned… “Hard work! We’ve never found a shortcut to it. Success comes with a price – hours worked, stress absorbed, time apart from family. But to achieve your goals, you have to pay it. We worked weekends for 30 years, for example. There are sacrifices.” The second? Fly in the face of fear. “Be a bit fearless. Understand that you will make mistakes. We do – it’s all part of the cost of growth and business. Plus, it’s amazing how many people will forgive you for those mistakes if they know you’re coming from the right place.” And the third? Surround yourself with the right people. “Leadership can be a lonely place – especially for sole directors. So having good support around you is vital: whether that’s your family or your colleagues, or both. “Phillip and I are very lucky to have each other.” Hard work. Fearlessness. A strong support network. The foundations of a thriving real estate agency: just not, apparently, the foundations of a good game of golf. “It’s fascinating to think that you can practise something so much, and get progressively worse at it,” Gary muses. “But that’s me with golf. I’m shockingly, horribly bad!”

A tireless thirst for talent – not expansion

So what’s next for Gary – and Gary Peer & Associates? True to form, he’s non-prescriptive. “We could say ‘we’re going to have another five offices in three years’ – but why would we, if we don’t have the best people running them? And if we do have those people, why not have 10 offices?

“We’re always on the lookout for people who are culturally aligned, and with the right work ethic and energy. Hungry, keen, entrepreneurial people with a burning desire to improve; those who’ve risen up through adversity.” As Gary’s already said, his story has been told. Has yours?

Want to see your story here someday? Head to our Recruitment page to explore our vacancies. And start your Gary Peer & Associates journey today.