REAL ESTATE COMMISSION
7 facts you must knowby Neil JenmanReading time: Apx 5 mins“You’ve got it all wrong!”That’s the statement that applies to most home sellers who search for a good real estate…
by Neil Jenman
Reading time: Apx 6 minutes
The story of how Josh Tesolin, the man known by agents as “Australia’s best agent” is fast becoming the man known by the public as “Australia’s worst agent” is a story that will be told for years to come.
Tesolin – formerly of Ray White Quakers Hill – has now had his license suspended for 120 days pending further enquiries into his conduct.
This follows an investigation into Tesolin and his company by the NSW Department of Fair Trading. The investigation uncovered a “laundry list of offences” including scores of cases of under-quoting, masses of dummy bidding, high pressure tactics and providing false documentation to the Department of Fair Trading.
The question is likely to be: “How did Tesolin get away with such nefarious conduct for so long?”
The answer is two-fold…
First, the real estate industry has one major yardstick by which it judges success. It’s called GCI – and it stands for Gross Commission Income.
GCI is the phrase on the lips of thousands of agents. The Ray White Network – as do many other networks – provides an ‘App’ showing a daily list of how its agents rank in GCI. The higher an agent ranks on the GCI list the more the agent is lauded by other agents.
There are almost no genuine awards for excellence in client service. Most agents want to know how to increase their GCI. They want to listen to agents like Josh Tesolin standing on a stage and being hailed as a hero by his peers.
Josh Tesolin loves to tell the story of how he was fired by his former boss, a decent older agent called Stephen Brodie.
Brodie says that, despite his high sales results and his indefatigable work ethic, he could no longer tolerate Josh Tesolin’s dishonesty.
Tesolin then opened an agency in competition with Brodie and seemed hell bent on destroying his former boss. As he would gleefully tell audiences of agents, “My first boss cut me off at the ankles, but then I cut him off at the neck.”
But, as written previously, Josh Tesolin is doing what most agents are doing – and what he has been taught to do – except for one factor. He is doing more of it.
If ever there was a case for the reintroduction of fixed commission rates, Toselin earning as much as $9 million in one year should be the poster-boy for fairer commission.
When an agent does a lot more of what goes on in the mainstream real estate industry, that agent will garner a lot more complaints. The only surprise with Josh Tesolin is why he has not come to the notice of the consumer regulators a lot earlier.
And that leads to the second factor within today’s real estate industry: The lack of complaints.
Despite the widespread prevalence of unethical conduct, only a tiny percentage of the public complain about real estate agents.
There are three main reasons for this atmosphere of silence.
First, many consumers can’t be bothered complaining. They are so relieved to be rid of the pressure from selling or buying, that they just want to put the dreadful experience behind them and get on with their lives.
Second, consumers are terrified of being sued. Agents often threaten disgruntled clients. A strong letter from a lawyer shuts down 99 per cent of unhappy clients.
And then thirdly, there is the issue of the phony reviews or making it difficult – even impossible – for unhappy clients to post a negative review, especially on sites such as Rate My Agent which is funded by real estate agents.
Respected and independent research (conducted by pollsters like Roy Morgan) shows that real estate agents have never been more distrusted.
A staggering 95% of people do not trust real estate agents. And yet, if you look at Rate My Agent, 95% of people seem to adore real estate agents.
Many agents use extreme pressure to persuade sellers to leave positive reviews. Thousands of reviews are written by the agents themselves – and then signed-off by bullied clients. Some agents offer financial rewards for positive reviews. Other agents refuse to resolve complaints unless clients leave them a positive review.
The Irish philosopher, Edmund Burke, famously said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”
Although he died more than 220 years ago, Burke’s quote provides a perfect explanation for why there is so much unethical conduct in today’s real estate industry.
If you are unhappy with the service from a real estate agent – no matter how minor your grievance – and you remain silent, you are rewarding that agent. And to quote another famous but more modern saying, “What gets rewarded gets done.”
For the sake of sellers and buyers coming behind you, if you are unhappy with an agent, you have a social duty to complain. One of the main reasons that you may have been treated badly is because earlier unhappy clients remained silent. Don’t do the same to those coming behind you. Speak out.
How can you complain about a real estate agent and to whom should you complain?
Leave a Google review. Unlike review sites funded by agents, Google Reviews are more accurate, and trustworthy.
It takes less than 5 minutes to tell your story. Do not swear, threaten or be needlessly rude. If you have been disappointed or let down in some way, just tell your story factually and sincerely.
Please note: If you want a laugh, check out an agent’s Google Reviews compared with that same agent’s reviews on Rate My Agent. For example, search The Professionals Parramatta on Rate My Agent and you’ll see they rate 4.9 out of 5. And then search them on Google – and you’ll see they rate 2.2 out of 5.
The same phenomenon applies to many agents.
Don’t bother.
Contrary to what most people believe, the entire purpose of the REI in each state is to protect real estate agents. They are not a consumer service no matter what you may believe. Complaining to a real estate institute about an agent is like complaining to the mafia about a home invader.
If an agent is a member of any group, such as Ray White, LJ Hooker or First National, you can sometimes get satisfaction by contacting their head office. All these companies are obsessed with protecting their brand. Again, do not threaten them (you might inadvertently be committing an offence). Just let them know how upset and displeased you are.
The Department of Fair Trading in New South Wales or Consumer Affairs in Victoria – and the equivalent in each state – are the state government bodies responsible for overseeing the conduct of real estate agents.
Don’t be cynical about these bodies. Most people who work in consumer protection departments are overworked and underpaid.
Although they may lack the time or the resources to investigate every complaint, every complaint will get logged. And, as happened with Josh Tesolin, if enough people complain, they will make the time to investigate.
To their credit, the Department of Fair Trading in NSW compiles a list of the most complained about companies each month. Many big-name real estate groups regularly appear on this list. For example, in June 2025, the Ray White group was the second most complained about company in the state. Only Samsung Electronics beat them.
Lodge a complaint about a real estate agent with your state’s regulatory body. It will count. Please do it.
Never think the media is too busy to report your story. All journalists wake up each day thinking about what story to focus upon. Unless they know about your story, they cannot write about it.
Just send an email to the general news section of any media outlet. You may be pleased with the response.
The Jenman Group has rejected or expelled more agents than any other group or network in Australia. We have lost so many agents over the years due to complaints from consumers that we stopped accepting agents into Jenman Approved.
Instead, in areas where we do not have Jenman Approved agents, we now spend our time searching for agents who will, at the very least, agree to abide by our eight protection points if we suggest them to a consumer.
If you have received poor service from an agent, let us know. We do not want to send sellers to agents we know are garnering complaints.
Fortunately, we have never sent any sellers to Josh Toselin.
And, for that, we thank the sellers who complained to us about Tesolin.
Complaining works. Step forward and do it.
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Peter Reedman says:
Excellent article Neil!
When it comes to complaints, complaining to a Real Estate Institute is like complaining to your mother-in- law about your spouse. .Good luck with that one ☝️
Stephen says:
Well said Neil, The industry needs a good clean up.
Jim Ballard says:
Great article Neil. Love reading your regular weekly articles which contain lots of great informative and valuable advice from many years of experience.
Des Bromilow says:
love the article, I jsut wish complaining about politicians would work….. 🙂
Garry Thompson says:
Another elucidating, but disturbing story, Neil. Thanks for all your efforts to give buyers and sellers a fair go.
I often wonder why an industry with such massive turnover, and whose business (mal)practices are legion has, to my knowledge, never been subjected to a Federal review.
I wouldn’t think it would take too much digging to determine that non-negotiable and clearly excessive commissions, added to the range of industry practices, designed to deceive customers, both sellers and buyers, constitute institutionalised rorting on a massive scale. My particular gripe is about advertising, specifically the ultimatum that distils down to; ‘if you don’t advertise your property, I won’t be able to sell it.’. No self-respecting salesperson working in other commission-based industries. (eg cars, insurance, boats..), would make such a weak assertion to a potential client. And then demand that the vendor pay the advertising cost, invariably full colour ads costing thousands of dollars.
Given the number of full page self-congratulatory ‘ads’ featuring ‘hugely successful’ real estate agents, in the same media (Realestate.com,and Domain com) I often wonder whether these are paid for, or represent a bonus reward to agents who side-hustle the most media space?
If it happens, (I don’t know, I’m just asking the question), that should be openly declared to vendors. I’ve bought and sold a few properties but it’s never come up in discussion.
All in all the modern real estate industry in Australia thrives on putting the income, of agents and real estate companies, ahead of working to achieve the best financial outcome for home buyers and sellers.
And imo, it should be brought to heel.
GT
Sabah Siddiqi says:
wish I had known all this before being misled and pressured by a top real estate agent in Melbourne. As an overseas seller, I was vulnerable, and they took full advantage of the situation. The experience has left me feeling deeply disappointed and angry about the way my house was handled.