Transforming Nambour: Urban density via unit-style living key to CBD growth: agent

Tristan Brown: Urban density will encourage more retail, more coffee shops, restaurants & greater nightlife.

Transforming Nambour: Urban density via unit-style living key to CBD growth: agent

Q&A with RE/MAX Property Sales Director Tristan Brown 

In this interview, RE/MAX Property Sales Director Tristan Brown  shares his secrets to business success and ideas for transforming Nambour, focusing on urban density and revitalising the town centre to enhance community engagement and lifestyle.

Q: Real estate is a hugely competitive field and yet you’ve taken on two agencies in the last few years (Nambour and Caloundra). Can you share one secret that has helped you grow in such a short time?

“I think for me it’s energy. It’s always trying to operate with high energy and good intentions. At the end of the day, I think people feed off your energy, they want to be around good people, happy people, people that are striving for something more. That energy can become infectious. And also, the energy can help you when things aren’t going well, push you through. If I look back on the last three years in particular of running the business, we’ve always tried to maintain and remember how important it is to have the right type of positive energy in the office. And off that, you can build your culture.”

Q: What attracted you to the RE/MAX model?

“It was the people. 100 percent the people. I think when you talk to most people who have had interactions with any RE/MAX office domestically or internationally, they are good people with a strong culture and really important core values.

“For me, it starts at the top, and RE/MAX Australia is owned by a wonderful family, the Davoren family. And I just always felt that they were coming from the right place. They were interested in always helping me first. And that gives you great security.”

Q: What attracted you to Nambour? 

“Look, I’ve always been one for the underdog. I really have. And when I started selling real estate, I used to have a lot of people tell me, “Why would you want to position yourself in Nambour?”. 

“And that used to upset me and that was further drive to prove to them that Nambour had a lot to offer. And that the people of Nambour are incredible people. And that as a real estate agent, I could be as successful as any other agent on the Sunshine Coast, selling out of what people deemed as an entry-level location. That’s what attracted me to Nambour.”

Q: What would you like to see for Nambour?

“I think the next thing that I would love to see in Nambour is more high density or medium to high density unit-style living in the city centre. I’d like to see more two-bedroom units right in the middle of Currie Street, Howard Street, Lowe Street. I think that’s how we’re going to have that density of people that will encourage more retail, more coffee shops, restaurants, a greater night life. And that’ll create greater energy and excitement and more buzz in the immediate town centre. I’d like to see that more than the urban sprawl that we’re getting.

“Of course, people do still want houses and good size yards, but it’s not actually attracting people to engage with the CBD. They live around Nambour but they might not eat, drink, socialise, and traditionally shop in Nambour.  I think with urban density, that medium-to-high density, it’s far more convenient for somebody to simply jump in the lift and go down from their unit, and wander in and have a coffee downstairs or at the restaurant half a block away than it is for mum and dad, who live out on the fringe of Coes Creek, to jump in the car, and drive in, and try and find parking in town. They might as well drive to the Coast.”

Q: Are there any particular values or principles that guide your business practices?

“I really genuinely believe that passion gets things done and it gets them done all the time. I’ve always been passionate and I’ve always had a saying, and it sits on my wall, it says, ‘Always remain passionately discontent’. It is a reminder to myself that it does not matter what we achieve, what we do, to always have that little niggling thing in the back of your mind that says, ‘Hey, come on, let’s look for the next thing. What else can we get excited about?’ It is wonderful to look back and reflect on what you’ve achieved. But again, that is simply just the by-product of the actual journey.

“People tell me I'm always heavily focused on growth.  I am, because I find that through growth, you’re forced to learn, you’re forced to get better, you’re forced to make mistakes, you’re forced to take risks. And it’s a little bit scary, but what keeps me excited is that even if I fail, hopefully in some small way, I’ve improved personally and professionally."