A born salesman, Bruce has been bringing house buyers and sellers together by any means necessary since 1996, including making yearly pilgrimages to the UK to promote local properties on the global stage on behalf of the company he created during the Global Financial Crisis to help overseas buyers move to Nelson – so he could sell them a house, and that effort was rewarded with many happy sellers during tough financial times.

What does that mean for his clients you ask? Bottom line is that he is in a unique position to obtain premium prices for his vendors – which he believes is the core principle of being a real estate agent. The search to uncover motivated and cashed-up buyers continues unrelentingly.

“The traditional model in business is to think of the buyer right in front of you, but technology has given us a global backyard, and those who don’t realise that are going to miss a wealth of opportunities.”

He points out that simply having a property for sale on the internet is not global thinking – that is simply an electronic version of a signboard or newspaper advertisement.

“Technology is great for sure, but if that was sufficient on its own, I would be out of a job! The best agents in this business realise that technology is simply a time-saving tool, a part of that job. A successful agent still has to be able to talk to people – face to face or on the phone - to uncover objections, answer questions, and ultimately to put a deal in place.”

If there’s one thing that symbolises Bruce’s work ethos, and helps fuel his passion for the job, it is setting records. Since the early 2000’s, he has time and again set new sale price records in Richmond, Stoke and Nelson, and since 2007 has consistently sat in the company’s New Zealand top 40.

Early on, Bruce realised he was better placed out in the field, doing what he is good at, rather than stuck behind his desk. He makes maximum used of the excellent Bayleys administration team so he can focus on the four key roles he is so good at – property appraisal, marketing/open homes, vendor communication, and most important of all – negotiation.

Negotiation so often requires innovation – seeing the barriers that are being put in place and finding new and diverse solutions for them so that both buyer and seller are the winners on the day. He recalls an example – “I managed to complete a sale between a British buyer and a local seller, where the entire transaction was completed in UK Pounds Sterling. It was an unconventional arrangement that suited both parties and increased the buyer’s comfort in paying a little more”

His buyer database spans the globe and he is in contact with them regularly, making sure that no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of the perfect buyer for a property.