The rich-listers’ agent who sang with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Di Balich has a lifestyle many of us can only dream about. She gets to live full-time in the beautiful beach settlement of O¯ maha, north of Auckland and do a job she loves, selling stunning homes for Precision Real Estate in O¯ maha, Point Wells and Matakana. Last year she says she sold more properties than any other individual agent in O¯ maha, but she’s worked hard to get to where she is.
What do you do when you are not working?
I have taken to learning the drums and the cello. It’s a lot of fun and you get to meet different people but the main reason is that learning something new is good for keeping your mind sharp. Now I’m older — and a lady never tells her age — it is important to stay in shape mentally and physically. Music is quite mathematical so with my commercial background and being a bit analytical about things, it’s a good fit for me.
I also do Pilates and try to stay fit. You have to keep yourself in reasonable nick to do this job properly. It takes a lot of energy and stamina and you need to be functioning to optimal standards to do justice to your vendors.
Do you have a musical background?
I developed a love of music when I was a pupil at St Mary’s College in Auckland but I never did anything about it, other than singing in the choir. I was in the same stream as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and we were taught by Dame Sister Mary Leo, who was an outstanding arranger of music. I would be behind Kiri in the choir, hearing her sing and that was a real experience.
How did you end up in O¯ maha?
I did 25 years of commercial brokerage in [Auckland] city, which was very different to residential sales. It’s a very analytical process, based on yields and returns on investment. The focus was on, for want of a better term, hunting in packs [of agents] and you tended to get assigned a specific task. I’m more of a rounded person and a bit of a control freak and I wanted to do things my way.
Plus I was getting sick of having to fight for everything in the city — fighting for carparks, fighting to get from A to B. I was finding it challenging. I wanted a better balance in life and I think if you stay in a rut you don’t grow as a person. It was time for a change.
I had a few connections in the O¯ maha area and I really liked it around here, so I migrated north about eight years ago.
Was it easy to get a fresh start in a new place?
No. I didn’t earn a bean for at least six months. It was pretty scary, coming in cold to a new area where you don’t know anyone. Plus I was helping to set up a new office for another real estate company so people were dealing with a new brand, as well as me being a new person. It was a bit of a doublewhammy. The first thing I sold was a rural 1ha block of land. I started to make headway and then after 18 months I moved to Precision because I found their values and philosophy fitted me better.
Did it take long to get to know people?
I had a good friend living here who was a tennis coach and I would go along to her lessons and pick up the tennis balls. It was a good way of meeting people in a different environment, plus it helped me to exercise and it was fun.
People also get to know you through open homes and now a lot of people here recognise me. I can’t go out in dirty old jeans because I’m bound to see somebody I know!
You sell a lot of high-end properties — what’s it like dealing with rich-listers?
I do sell some absolutely stunning homes and the people who own them are not what the public expect they will be like. They are actually really neat people. I sold Paul Henry and Diane Foreman’s home and you couldn’t meet a nicer couple. They were very empathetic and generous. It was a pleasure to sell their home. I also sell less expensive houses and I treat all my vendors the same. I’m there to do my very best for them and I get a real kick out of achieving the best possible price. I like breaking records for sales, which I did a couple of times last year.
You have to work hard to get the results – it is not all about driving a nice car and having coffee and talking to people. They don’t see the hard yards you do behind the scenes, the hours you put in with things like marketing and the level of effort it takes.
What’s the secret of your success?
Tenacity and perseverance. My parents were orchardists and wine growers and I was brought up on vineyard in West Auckland, with a strong work ethic. Once you started a job, you finished it and that is something I have always lived by.
I’ve had a fairly eclectic background — one of the things I did before real estate was training racehorses as an amateur — and my life experiences have helped me to be able to put myself in someone else’s shoes and see things from their point of view. Experience teaches you to be patient and non-judgmental.
It’s really important to be a good listener and to understand where your vendor is coming from and what they really want. I jokingly say to my friends that selling property is a bit like being a counsellor, but it really is. You are listening to people and trying to resolve issues.
What do you love about living in O¯ maha?
It’s just beautiful. It’s got a great beach, amazing walks and all the amenities you need within 10 minutes’ strike. And you don’t have to fight for a carpark. People are very generous here — I’ll often get a knock on the door from someone who’s been out on their boat and says, “We caught too much fish, would you like some?” It’s a great community and people do seem a little more relaxed, especially when they’ve been here for a few days and have had a chance to chill out. It’s also a very safe place to live, which you appreciate as an older person.