Real estate is not about selling property.
This is what Mathew Ferraro, Sales Agent at Stone Real Estate Hornsby, believes.
It is about emotion, understanding people’s needs and their big, overarching “Why?”.
‘Anyone who’s thinking of becoming a real estate agent just to sell houses, it’s not the career for you,’ says Mathew. ‘It’s about helping people make their next step in life. One of the biggest steps they will ever make.’
For Mathew, since first entering the industry in 2010, the landscape has drastically changed. Before agents would print a contract out, drive hours interstate, get a signature, rip a carbon copy agreement and hand the client their half.
Now the industry, as with every industry, is digitalised.
‘The speed that things are happening is huge,’ explains Mathew. ‘People spent a lot more time in a home years ago… Generally, people lived in their house most of their life. The first home they bought, they stayed there.’
Stone Real Estate Hornsby’s footprint reaches from Waitara to Berowra Heights and Cowan. The Hornsby area, according to Mathew, has stayed consistent over time.
‘Hornsby is one of those suburbs that stays steady with no drastic changes unlike many other suburbs. Most people have been [in Hornsby] for 20, 30 plus years,’ says Mathew. ‘They’ve got themselves steady. It’s those people in the middle that find it hard… the second-generation residents are stuck between their parents owning a house in the area and them wanting to buy one.’
The key in closing a deal, so both the buyer and seller are in harmony. Mathew, the only way to facilitate that harmony is to be open and honest, and to have a consistent team steering the sails.
‘We are a family at Stone,’ explains Mathew. ‘We are a genuine team. It makes a big difference when you have their back and they have yours… If there is something somebody can’t do, someone else can, we share and this is one of the main reasons that sets us apart from other offices.’
Mathew Ferraro has been Agent of the Year, Hornsby for 2023 and 2025.
Though usually clean shaven, Mathew has changed his look up to support a local charity. Growing his beard until August, Mathew has a fundraising goal of $3,000 to help support the work of Dom’s Place, an organisation in Hornsby that works with people at risk of homelessness.
Find Stone Real Estate Hornsby at www.stonerealestate.com.au/stone-hornsby
