Should you sell your home with agents like this?
by Neil Jenman
Reading Time: 7 mins apx
Josh Tesolin is known as the ‘Number One Real Estate Agent in Australia’. It’s a title claimed by at least three agents.
But what is meant by “Number One Agent”?
Well, in the real estate world it means the agent who sells the most properties. With Josh Tesolin, it also means the agent who earns the most money. He openly boasts about earning as much as $9 million in commissions a year.
Number One agent does not mean number one in client care or client satisfaction.
And top agent does not mean top price – especially for agents who push the public auction system.
Josh Tesolin likes to sell homes by auction. And that, of course, means that he often under-sells homes – that’s what happens with public auctions. It’s a fault not unique to Tesolin.
To be sure, Josh Tesolin – a young man – is just doing what he’s been taught. He’s doing what many agents do.
Only he’s doing more of it.
As well as being the Number One Agent for sales and dollars earned, Josh Tesolin is currently the number one agent for negative publicity.
Following a number of media reports about him being investigated by the NSW Department of Fair Trading, social media is buzzing with talk about Josh Tesolin – much of it unpleasant.
He might be a hot agent, but according to a headline in The Sydney Morning Herald, he “leaves his clients cold”.
But that’s not strictly true. Not all his clients.
If you check Rate My Agent, you’ll find that many sellers and buyers feel hot about this agent. But then if you check Rate My Agent, you’ll also find that it’s near impossible for disgruntled former clients to leave negative reviews on that site (which is funded agents).
Josh Tesolin has a Ray White agency in the western Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill. He claims to sell 45 per cent of all homes in the area.
Which means that 55 per cent of home sellers do not choose Josh Tesolin.
And that can’t be because they haven’t heard of Tesolin. His black-bearded face is everywhere. He’s on the bums of buses. He’s on billboards. He’s on signs. And, of course, the ultimate sign of “success” in real estate, his face beams from dozens of ‘Sold’ stickers.
The complaints about Josh Tesolin are the same complaints about hundreds of agents – under-quoting the likely sale price to buyers.
For example, buyers might be told by the agent that a home may sell for $1 million. But, at the auction the home sells for $1.4 million.
Naturally, this causes an outcry among buyers.
However, in fairness, the price could have been driven up because there were more buyers than expected.
The key point to focus upon with under-quoting is the price the sellers are willing to accept. At an auction this is known as the reserve price.
In the above example, if the reserve price of the home matches the price quoted by the agent ($1 million), no matter how high the final selling price, the agent has done nothing wrong. The market drove the price up.
Where the illegality occurs is when agents know that their sellers will not accept anything less than, say, $1.2 million and yet the agent advertises a guide of $1 million.
As well as under-quoting to buyers, the agents over-quote to the sellers.
For example, in one complaint received by this writer about Josh Tesolin, home sellers were quoted a selling price of $800,000.
A mere 16 days after they signed up, Tesolin sent them a revised price estimate. It was now $650,000 to $700,000.
And then just six days later, Tesolin sent them another price estimate. Their home had plummeted as low as $620,000.
They were also given an offer of $550,000.
The sellers, understandably, were severely stressed.
The home eventually sold for $715,000.
But without the initial quote for $800,000, they may not have signed up. And without the downward price estimates they might not have agreed to sell for $715,000.
When compared with $800,000, a drop of $85,000 seems unacceptable.
But when compared with an estimate of $620,000, then an increase of $95,000 seems perfectly acceptable.
Indeed, at the auction, the sellers may have thought themselves lucky to get $715,000.
In the real estate industry, what has just been described is known as “conditioning”. Agents are taught from their first day in real estate that conditioning is the key to their success. As one of the real estate institute training manuals teaches agents: “Auction is the fastest and best form of conditioning.”
Or as Tesolin’s own trainer, a bloke called Tom Panos, teaches agents: You have to “grind” sellers down.
The average commission rate in Australia is two per cent.
Josh Tesolin charges 2.75 per cent. But that’s his base rate.
Tesolin is also involved in what some agents call “kicker commissions”. He calls them “incentive commissions”.
It works like this: The sellers are told – often at the last minute – that there is not much interest in their home. But, to create more interest and hopefully get a higher price, an incentive commission may help.
The sellers are told that if their home sells above a certain amount, the agent will be entitled to an incentive commission of – wait for it – 20 per cent. In one example, Tesolin’s sellers were persuaded to pay an extra 20 per cent if their home sold above $1.35 million. It sold for $1.55 million.
And so, on the extra $200,000, Tesolin pocketed $40,000.
That was on top of the 2.75 per cent commission of $42,625.
Therefore, the sellers paid a total of $82,625 to sell their home for $1.55 million.
The question that needs to be asked, however, is whether the home would have sold for the same price with another agent – who charged, say, 2 per cent ($31,000). That’s $51,625 less commission.
I believe that sellers who are persuaded to pay these kicker commissions are not getting the best deal for themselves.
With the kicker commission, the person getting the best deal is Josh Tesolin and agents who use this method.
Even the NSW Real Estate Institute CEO, Tim McKibbin, reportedly said, “As for whether it’s illegal, I would say that there isn’t a good smell to it.”
According to one media report, Tesolin earned $420,000 in one day – more than many of his clients would earn in five years.
Most real estate agents are lazy. They work five days and go home at 5 o’clock. That’s also stupid because most buyers are available after 5 PM and at weekends.
If Josh Tesolin can be admired for anything, he’s a hard worker. He works seven days and well into the evenings.
And that, to most people, is far more admirable than his Bentley motor vehicle, his flashy Rolex, or being described as the ‘KING OF QUAKERS HILL’ and his foul language.
But, as already stated, Josh Tesolin is not doing much different to what most agents do.
He’s just doing more of it.
He’s working more hours. He’s charging more commission.
And, of course, he’s selling more houses.
To quote Tesolin himself: “I don’t think there’s one thing that I do that’s different to anyone else. I think real estate is a basic game. I think we can all do it. We list, we sell, we communicate, we reduce, we sell, we leverage, we move on. For me, it’s an energy game.”
The three key words in the above statement are these – list, reduce, sell.
And that’s today’s real estate world.
Quote the sellers a high price. Sign them up. Condition them down. And sell.
Do it lots of times and you’ll make lots of money. Too much, according to most fair-minded people.
If Josh Tesolin is found guilty of under-quoting, he faces a fine of up to $22,000. Based on what he earns some days, that’s the equivalent of about half an hour’s work for the agent who calls himself ‘Australia’s Number One Real Estate Agent’.
Josh Tesolin’s coach – and many others, including Tesolin – call Josh Tesolin “the best real estate agent in Australia”.
In my opinion, this is not correct. Not even close.
Being the best agent should not mean selling the most homes. Nor should it mean charging the most commission. Not even, to his credit, working the most hours.
Being the best, in my opinion means being the best for the home sellers, the people who pay agents’ commission.
If Josh Tesolin also offered the following services to his clients, then he may well, one day, be entitled to call himself “Australia’s best agent”.
Real estate is about control. Indeed, once sellers sign-up with agents they are often referred to as “controlled listings”.
And therein is the problem. The agents, not the sellers, have control.
Most sellers have little experience in selling homes. The agents have the experience. They know what to do. They know how to control the sellers, control the process and, as happens with Josh Tesolin, control the commission rate.
Would I list my home with Josh Tesolin or a similar agent?
Maybe. But on one condition.
That I retained control not the agent.
If you are thinking of selling your home and you want a hard-working agent who puts your interests first, the first thing you must do is make sure you control the agent.
Do not let the agent control you.
Make sure the agent gives you the benefit and protection of the eight points listed earlier. If the agent won’t agree – and most agents won’t – do NOT hire that agent. Keep searching until you find the best agent.
The best agent for you, that is.
It is much better to spend three or four weeks looking for the best agent than to spend three or four months stuck with the worst agent.
They may be hard to find, but you need an agent with a slogan (or an attitude) that goes something like this: “At our agency, we are not Number One, you are!”
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FOOTNOTE: If you have read this far – and you are thinking of selling your home (meaning that you are a genuine home seller and not a real estate agent) then I will gladly give you a copy of my highly acclaimed 2025 book, How to Control Real Estate Agents. Not only do I think you will love what you discover in this book, I am sure it will make sure that you have control over your home being sold and that you get the very best price with the least stress and without paying needless commission or costs.
To obtain your copy of HOW TO CONTROL REAL ESTATE AGENTS, please click here.
And, if you haven’t already received it, you can download a copy of the 42 Rules of Real Estate Negotiation by clicking here.
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Adriane says:
If sellers choose to believe one agent’s valuation of their home rather than getting a registered valuer or at least several other agents’ valuations, they shouldn’t be surprised if their property is undersold.