Not letting your fears outweigh your passion for real estate is the key to more female agents taking up auctioneering, according to Angela Limanis.
The selling agent and auctioneer, from Ray White Cheltenham, has called more than 250 auctions in her career and says women have a lot to offer in the auctioneering space but fear often held them back.
“That’s how I started, there was a fear in me of not valuing myself enough and not having the belief that I could do it,” Ms Limanis said.
“I believe that many would like to get into the auctioneering space, but self-doubt and their fears are stronger than their desire to do so – which is understandable.
“That was me in the early days.
“But if that drive becomes stronger, it takes passion, a lot of practice and knowing that all auctioneers started at the same place.
“Nobody was born an auctioneer.”
Ms Limanis started her real estate career in 1997, started calling auctions in about 2015 and joined Ray White in 2018.
She said she had long been immersed in the auction space, always acting as the penciller and talking to buyers at the auctions for her listings.
Absorbing things quickly, Ms Limanis said she knew calling her own auctions was the next logical step in her career.
“I wanted to give my owners a full, complete service, from start to finish,” she said.
“I also felt the area needed something different to every other auctioneer… and what if a female stepped out and did what she did with a little bit of her own personality and pizzazz.
“In my early days, I watched videos on YouTube and Gavl (online livestream platform) and various styles and techniques, and from there I resonated with a couple of people.”
Ms Limanis described her style of auctioneering as supportive and lighthearted, but with a fine attention to detail.
“I’m there to support both parties, vendors and purchasers,” she said.
“I work for the vendors, but I do work with the buyers to create that relationship so that they’re open to me on the day.”
Ms Lamanis said one of the most important things to do to foster a successful auction was doing a lot of work prior to auction day.
“An auctioneer is only as good as the work that goes into it beforehand, to make sure they have bidders there on the day,” she said.
“Also, understanding that you’re there in that public space and you need to capture and then hold everyone’s attention, and that’s a hard thing to do.”
Ms Limanis said female agents thinking of becoming an auctioneer could do a lot to ease the pressure and self-doubt and boost their confidence.
“In the early days I had all of these thoughts (of self doubt) but my desire and passion to get into the auction space was greater than my fear,” she said.
“I started small and built my confidence from there.
“I split the auction call into two parts. Because my biggest fear was the counting, the numbers, and taking bids, I thought I’d leave that until last.
“So when I first started, I’d go out and introduce the property and do the property description, and then I left it to my director at the time to take the bids.”
Ms Limanis said after about 10 auctions she then felt ready to call the entire auction herself.
She also suggests women practise speaking in public as a way to build their confidence before an audience.
Joining networking groups and improv classes can provide the experience needed to overcome those self-doubts.
“Just practise public speaking in as many ways as possible,” Ms Limanis said.
Ms Limanis said reaching out to other female auctioneers, including herself, for a coffee and a chat could be a great way to get some first-hand advice
She would also like to see auction training run for and by women, and make sure women are represented and present at annual training sessions Ray White runs.
Providing female-only training, Ms Limanis said, might encourage ladies to come out of their shell.
“It would show prospective auctioneers that these lady auctioneers have been in their shoes, running teams, and running families,” she said.
“Or, at the very least, to show that it’s not just males that have seen success in the field.”
