Gai Waterhouse answers the question of the day: Is there a glass ceiling in real estate?

Is there a glass ceiling for women in real estate? Some will say yes, others will say no. We encourage you to have your say in the comments section and in the poll at the bottom of this post.

Just Think Real Estate’s Edwin Almeida took this question to Gai Waterhouse, legendary horse trainer and businesswoman, and purchaser of a Spring Street, Melbourne apartment.

“It is perhaps only when you stand next to celebrated women, iconic celebrities, if I can put it this way, that you truly understand how tenacious and well-grounded such individuals are in their knowledge of the industry,” Almeida explains.

“The question asked of Gai Waterhouse was; is there a glass ceiling that sits above professional women, particularly in regards to the real estate industry?”

The simple answer she provided was that yes, for professional women there is a glass ceiling.

“However, women that want to make it in any industry and be the leaders breaking new grounds, need to approach this obstacle with determination to be the best and to continually chip away until you break through. Notably, Waterhouse’s insights is grounded in experience and as I said, her expert knowledge within the racing industry,” said Almeida.

He explained that observing Waterhouse quickly identified some of the skills behind her successes.

With Waterhouse engaging every guest that visited at the Sunday charity event, including the children, Almeida noted that real estate agents could learn a lot – particularly for their approach at an open home.

She gave this advice: “Know your market, know your product, know your industry,” Almeida explains.

You can see the full interview, or read it in the transcript, below.

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Transcript:

ALMEIDA: Welcome, my name is Edwin from Oz Real Estate TV and I am delighted to have Gai Waterhouse with us today. Thank you.

WATERHOUSE: Lovely to be with you. I’m very excited.

ALMEIDA: Gai has made a huge contribution to our inaugural competition to raise funds for Westmead medical research foundation. Gai, your prize on the night raised just over $3,000. Thank you.

WATERHOUSE: I’m glad you’ve come out today as it’s very important, firstly to raise money for charity. It’s such a worthwhile charity that you’ve personally had so much involvement with.

ALMEIDA: Gai, there’s a perception out in the real estate world that there’s a glass ceiling for female real estate professionals. I’m sure you have a lot to say about that. Is there a glass ceiling for any female professional?

WATERHOUSE: There is a glass ceiling, and I just say you keep on chipping away and you crack it and you make sure you get to the top. You’ve got to be very focused, you’ve got to be very determined in life and you’ve got to know what you’re doing and do it well. Every Sunday at the stables I open the yard for my owners and friends and people from charities, like you Edwin, to be here and to see exactly what we do behind the shutter door here on Kensington Street in Bowral, Sydney.

ALMEIDA: So, you’ve heard it from Gai, there’s the perception that there is a glass ceiling but you’ve got to chip away at it. Gai, I’ve written a couple of articles about the real estate industry being poised for female agents to take over the industry. The platform, the springboard is there, I’ve seen you do it in the racing industry, and I’m hoping that somebody of your calibre actually takes that platform on and takes on John McGrath.

WATERHOUSE: [Laughs] Well, John is a personal friend of mine. All I know is that if you know your product, you know it well and, importantly, you have the right product to sell – you’ve got to have the credibility, you’ve got to have the determination not to allow the sale to walk out the door. That’s the most important thing.

ALMEIDA: And the question I’m sure all the viewers are waiting for me to ask – what’s your tip for the weekend?

WATERHOUSE: My tip for the weekend… well, horses you should follow is a horse called Access Knowledge, which is a horse bought in England by Bruce Slade, a very exciting horse. I also like a horse called Almaha, he races in Queensland. He’s really exciting. A filly called Bay Rock runs at Randwick, she’s delightful and the cutest horse called PJ, we call it PJ like Pyjamas, Pajero, who runs on Monday over the long weekend – a very nice horse.

ALMEIDA: Well, I’m putting my money on PJ. Gai, thank you very much for your time. Thank you once again for your charitable heart and you’re an absolutely gorgeous woman. Thank you very much.

{module Do you think there is a glass ceiling for female real estate agents?}