Industry Videos

▶ 02:31 2026.09.04 Leaving a NZ$200,000 Salary: From Corporate Executive to Real Estate Sales She left a NZ$200,000 annual salary and a cross-border executive role to become a real estate salesperson at Barfoot & Thompson. A career change is not starting from scratch: every experience helps prepare you for the next chapter.

▶ 3:17 2026.09.04 A Day in the Life of Top Real Estate Salespeople One has spent 18 years specialising in Auckland apartments. Another brings meticulous professionalism to every auction. Others have worked together for over 20 years. Follow three award-winning Barfoot & Thompson salespeople through a working day and discover how they serve their clients. Reporting period: 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

▶ 02:01 2026.05.30 KiwiSaver on Track to Become a Trillion-Dollar Market! Why Does Simplicity Keep Fees Low and Give 15% of Revenue Back to the Community? In just 10 years, Simplicity has grown to more than 186,000 members and now manages over NZ$10.44 billion across its KiwiSaver and investment funds, while donating more than NZ$13 million to New Zealand charities. In this interview, we speak with Sam Stubbs, co-founder and Managing Director of Simplicity, about the rapid growth of KiwiSaver, the economics of the financial industry, and why Simplicity has chosen a not-for-profit, low-fee model while giving a portion of its revenue back to charity.

▶ 00:29 2024.11.02 A Day in the Life of a Real Estate Agent in West Auckland From growing up and working in West Auckland to exploring its beaches, golf courses, walking trails and wineries, this is a personal journey through the places that make West Auckland feel like home.

▶ 01:24 2024.10.02 From Mission Bay to Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs: A Real Estate Agent’s Journey From the Mission Bay branch where his real estate journey began to his current focus on Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs luxury property market, he shares his journey in the real estate industry — from building relationships within the local community and working closely with homeowners to connecting with overseas buyers and developing his sales expertise. More than just a professional journey, this is a personal story about his connection with the Eastern Suburbs and the community he knows as home.

▶ 02:02 2024.07.02 From IT to Real Estate Management: How Did He Build His Career? After graduating from the University of Auckland and spending around a decade in IT, he made a career change into real estate, joining Barfoot & Thompson as a salesperson before moving into management and becoming an Assistant Manager at a North Shore branch. He shares his journey from learning the fundamentals of leadership to developing his team, running sales workshops, managing buyers and coordinating auctions. For him, effective leadership is not just about doing your own job well, but about supporting the team and helping every salesperson grow through real-world experience.

▶ 02:17 2023.11.02 From PhD to Real Estate Branch Manager — Betty Shao's Journey from Sales to People-First Leadership Betty Shao is a Relieving Branch Manager at Barfoot & Thompson's Support Centre, stepping in to run branches when their permanent managers are on leave or unavailable. Her role includes organising meetings, checking files, ensuring compliance with industry law and AML requirements, and leading the sales team on "caravans" to view new listings, as well as coordinating auctions and negotiations. She began at the Epsom branch as an assistant to Branch Manager David Kelly, then moved from sales management to a leadership role — in her words, from "individual heroism" to genuinely caring about what the team needs. Before that, she spent about ten years at the University of Auckland, completing her bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees, which gave her a disciplined, systematic way of working. Her philosophy: once you've made a decision, don't regret it or dwell on "what if" — focus on doing your chosen path well, because all roads lead to Rome.

▶ 01:48 2022.07.02 A Day in the Life of a Property Manager — 500 Tenants, Daily Inspections Kun Lu, a Barfoot & Thompson property manager, walks through his day. Each morning starts by checking emails — with more than 500 tenants to look after, urgent issues like leaks or power outages must be prioritised and tradespeople booked early to keep tenants happy. Between 10am and noon he is usually out on inspections, two or three a day, working through a checklist: whether glass doors are cracked, whether the kitchen has leaks (which can swell and damage cabinetry, costing a lot to replace), and whether mould on the ceiling comes from poor ventilation or a leak the landlord must fix. Completed inspection reports are sent to the landlord, and serve as evidence for future insurance claims; routine inspections are typically done every three months, per the landlord's insurance requirements. In his view, you must inspect the properties you manage yourself and know their condition — the longer you do it, the more familiar each home becomes, and the easier it is to manage. "A house is like your own godson," he says.

▶ 02:06 2022.04.02 A Day in the Life of a Real Estate Agent — Photography, Open Homes and Auction Day This video follows a real estate agent through a busy, highly professional day. With buyers harder to find in the current market, advertising and photography matter more than ever — to capture a home's exterior at its best, the agent often waits until around 5pm to shoot "dark night" photos and video, while relying on natural light day to day for the most authentic look, and making sure the signboard goes up before launch. The service goes well beyond listing: before each open home the agent talks the vendor through the preparation needed, then provides weekly reports and follow-ups — for older owners like Rod and Gaylene, visiting in person each week so they always know how their home is performing on the market. Weekends bring no family time, with the agent rushing from one open home to the next. Auction day raises the stakes further — with three properties going under the hammer on the same day, the agent coordinates vendors and buyers, sets aside a dedicated room for the owners, registers buyers on site, tracks the room and mediates between both sides. Success hinges on communication skill and precise knowledge of each property, and only when both parties agree can the sale go through — as captured when a home sold for $1,070,000.