Singing auctioneer: ‘ I look ‘ scary but I try to be nice’

Barfoot and Thompson’s Murray Smith has been in real estate for 31 years – 28 of them as an auctioneer – and has called more than 20,000 auctions. He’s highly respected for his skills on the podium – not bad for someone who reckons his teachers didn’t think much of him.

Was being an auctioneer on the list of possible careers when you were growing up?

No, not at all. It’s not the sort of job the careers advisor suggests you do. For many people, real estate is the occupation of last resort!

I actually wanted to be like Corbin Bernsen ( who played Arnie Becker) in the TV show LA Law, driving around in a convertible and saying, “Objection your honour,” in a courtroom. But I knew I wasn’t going to be bright enough for that. I went from school to work for Masport lawn- mowers in engineering. Then one of the Porter brothers, who started the company, asked me what I really wanted to do and out of nowhere I said I wanted to be a salesman. I had no idea where that came from. A month later I had a company car and I was on the road selling. I liked the freedom, especially as it was before mobile phones and the boss couldn’t tell where you were or how many games of golf you’d played that week.

Did that lead into real estate?

I went to Melbourne for a couple of years, from the age of 24 to 26, and when I decided to come back to New Zealand I started thinking about what to do. My parents had a friend who was in real estate and he encouraged me to give it a go. I did my papers by correspondence course when I was still in Melbourne and came back with my sales certificate all ready to go.

At my first training session as a real estate salesperson I turned up to see everyone else in jeans and shorts. I walked in in a Christian Dior suit, silk tie and brogues. I must have stood out like crazy.

How long did you sell houses for?

About two and a half years. My first sale was a unit in Blockhouse Bay. After that I used to find properties that had been struggling to sell, talk the owners into holding an auction and get it sold. Auctions are a very planned approach; it’s not a case of throwing an ad in the paper and hoping the property sells. I had some good results with auctions.

At the time I was working for Ross Harvey, who founded Harveys Real Estate, and he kind of pushed me into being an auctioneer because he thought I would be good at it. I think it was my voice. Or the suit.

Can you remember your first auction?

It was September 19, 1992. I was living in West Auckland and they took me to Pakuranga to auction a house because there wasn’t likely to be anyone I knew over there! Somehow, it sold. I had practised a lot – often in front of the mirror at home – and I think that helped. I would also stand in front of a video camera and film myself pretending to do an auction. It was mortifying watching myself but I learned a lot.

What’s the secret of being a good auctioneer?

Remembering that it is not all about you. Often the outcome of an auction is down to the hard work the salesperson has done first. Yes, a good auctioneer can make a difference to the price a property sells for but you are part of a team.

Maintaining humility is important. It’s an occupation where we can be known for big egos, although often what you see is someone who is not egotistical, but someone who

“My hobby is playing in a band. We’re called Soul Agents and all of us except one person is in real estate. We play to raise money for Starship Hospital.”

has confidence. I would have never pegged myself as a naturally confident person when I was younger but it can come with age and experience.

You need to be able to have empathy. There could be a lot of reasons why someone is selling a property – not all of them good.

It’s also about making the auction as easy for people to understand and follow. I’ve learned some Mandarin from my Chinese colleagues so that I can speak to Chinese bidders and help them to understand what is going on. It’s especially helpful with numbers, as they relate to numbers in a different way to us.

Humour is also important but it has to be a balancing act. It has to be appropriate and you can’t be flippant. Getting the crowd to laugh can help to settle them. I think I have to work quite hard to make a crowd feel comfortable. I am a 110kg bald guy with a big voice and a dark suit. I can look as scary as hell but I try to be as nice as possible. Nice always wins the day.

Do you feel more comfortable calling auctions now?

Yes, but I didn’t really have a reasonable amount of confidence until about 10 years ago. I had a lot of those dreams where you turn up at work with no pants on, because I was worried about how I was doing. I think it is a sign of how much you care. I used to do national auction competitions and I won back in 2002 but I stopped because it was so scary. Even though it is not even a real auction, it is like doing your first auction all over again, which is harrowing.

I do love what I do, probably because I am a show- off.

How have things changed since you started?

There used to be full- on dummy bidding [ where the auctioneer threw in fake bids to try to raise the price]. It could a decent tool to use in some situations but it was misused and overused, and it ended up being dodgy. Barfoot and Thompson stopped doing that a year after I started as an auctioneer for them, and that was a good thing.

Online bidding is another major change. There’s been a lot of interest in it since we went into lockdown and people couldn’t come to auctions. Now we’re in level one we get people at auctions, and phone bidders, and then the computer dinging at you to let you know there is an online bid. It’s a lot of keep track of and you have to use your brain differently. I was getting home feeling really, really tired. But it’s a great tool for people wanting to buy.

What keeps you occupied when you’re not at work?

My family. My wife Nicki and I have a son Max, who is 20, and twins, Brylee and Tayla, who are 15. They keep us busy.

One of my passions is Formula One. The speed is just mind- blowing. I also love cricket. One of the best experiences I’ve ever had was watching the Ashes with [ West Indian cricketing legend] Gary Sobers in his house in Barbados. An old school friend of mine lives three doors down so I got to meet him. It was amazing.

My other hobby is playing in a band. We’re called Soul Agents and all of us except one person is in real estate. We play to raise money for Starship Hospital. I got involved when one of our salespeople, Tim Roskruge, said he was putting a band together, and asked if could I play guitar and sing. I said not really, but somehow I ended up playing guitar and singing. Luckily the others are decent musicians. Tim was the original drummer in MiSex and Tim Mahon and Mark Bell were in Blam Blam Blam. The other member is Andy Dye, who used to be Handy Andy on TV [ in Changing Rooms]. Then there’s me. I’m just nobody really. Well, I suppose I’m somebody who somehow has the guts to stand up and sing in front of people. We make a bit of noise. I love it.