Missed The Olympic Boom? Look Here …

Perth, Nov 2: Southeast Queensland buyers who think they’ve missed the Olympic property boom are simply looking in the wrong suburbs, according to top-selling agent Zed Nasheet.
With the Reserve Bank widely expected to lift the cash rate for a fifth time this year on Tuesday, Nasheet is urging first-home buyers and investors priced out of Brisbane and the Gold Coast to look one or two suburbs further out, to the growth corridors of Logan, Ipswich and Moreton Bay.
“The biggest opportunities are often found one or two suburbs away from where everyone else is looking,” said Nasheet, the founder of Z. Real Estate, which has offices in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Dubai. He says he was Victoria’s number one sales agent in 2021, after selling a record $209 million of property that year.
His picks include Woodridge, Kingston, Logan Central and Crestmead in the Logan corridor; Redbank Plains, Goodna, Bundamba and Brassall around Ipswich; and Caboolture, Morayfield, Petrie and Strathpine in Moreton Bay. On the Gold Coast, he points to Nerang, Labrador, Pimpama and Upper Coomera.
The Afghan-born agent, who spent his early childhood as a refugee in Pakistan, shares the lessons behind his career in his new book, The Art of Closing: Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime (Simon & Schuster). In this interview with DailyStraits, he talks about whether AI will replace real estate agents, why he is sceptical of a universal basic income, and why he would now word more carefully his claim that he doesn’t believe in stress, depression or anxiety.

As AI and automation transform the workforce, how will people afford to buy homes? Will we see fewer buyers or a different type of buyer?

Housing is like bricks, water and food: it is a need, not a luxury, and needs don’t disappear because technology changes. I don’t believe AI will slow the property market down. If anything, it will create more efficiency and more income, because there is more new money moving around the world today than at any other time in history.
Just look at how much has changed in my own career. Ten years ago I would put buyers in my car and drive them from property to property. We were known as “local agents”. Today, the digital presence Z. Real Estate has built means a buyer in Dubai can inspect a home on the Gold Coast from their phone. Buyers now do their own research, and that gives them power.
AI will take over a lot of admin and operational work, yes. But that frees people to focus on higher-value work, and it opens doors to entirely new industries and income streams. So I don’t see fewer buyers. I see a different buyer: more informed, more digital, more global, and a generation of young entrepreneurs earning money in ways that didn’t exist a decade ago.

What happens to the agent’s role when AI can value properties, manage marketing and assist with negotiations? What can’t be automated?

In a hot market, with high demand and low supply, almost anyone can sell a property. That’s not skill, that’s timing. But AI replacing a great real estate agent? Absolutely not. As much as real estate is about property, it’s really about people. People buy from people they like, and people sell through people they trust. Every transaction is a transfer of energy.
A home is where your heart is. Nobody wants to hand the biggest emotional and financial decision of their life to a robot. They want a genuine human connection.
AI will be a powerful tool. It will give agents faster access to comparable sales and market data, and it may bring real efficiency to the lower end of the market. But look at the online estimates on the major property portals today. They give you a number, but that doesn’t mean your home is worth it. Every home has different finishes, fixtures, fittings, light, outlook and street appeal. An algorithm can’t walk through a home and feel it.
What can’t be automated is reading a room, building trust, handling a nervous vendor at 9pm, holding your nerve in a negotiation and taking responsibility for the outcome. My view is simple: AI won’t replace agents, but agents who use AI will replace agents who don’t.

If governments introduced a substantial universal basic income, how might that affect housing demand, prices and where people live?

I’m sceptical. A universal basic income has to be paid for, and that money comes from taxpayers. If you put more money into everyone’s pocket but don’t build more homes, you simply have more money chasing the same number of properties. That pushes prices up, and the people it was meant to help end up no better off.
It could also shift where people live. If income isn’t tied to a job, some people will move to regional and lifestyle areas, which puts pressure on markets that don’t have the infrastructure to absorb it.
The real solution to housing affordability isn’t handing out income. It’s supply: building more homes, faster, and rewarding people who work, build and create value.

With AI and other economic changes ahead, is there a case for buying now, or could rushing in expose buyers to unnecessary risk?

When’s the best time to buy real estate? Twenty-five years ago. The second-best time is when you’re ready and you’ve done your homework. God doesn’t make land anymore, and over the long term, land has always rewarded the people who hold it.
Australia remains one of the best countries in the world: stable, safe and family-friendly. And wherever there is migration, there is demand for housing and infrastructure. According to the ABS, overseas migration added 306,000 people to Australia’s population in 2024-25, with international students the largest group of temporary arrivals. Add the infrastructure being built ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, and the long-term demand story is clear: we still don’t have enough homes.
History backs this up. People who held through the GFC were fine. During COVID, in the middle of a pandemic, borrowing costs fell to record lows. In many areas, what we’re seeing now is a correction, not a crash. The market ran too hot during COVID and needed to come back.
But never let the market dictate your decisions. Let your strategy dictate them. If you’re buying a home for yourself and your family, you’re buying and selling in the same market, so it can be a good time. If you’re investing, do your homework, buy right, stress-test your repayments, keep a buffer and have an exit strategy. If you invest $1 million, you need a plan for when and how that becomes $1.1 or $1.2 million. Never buy out of fear of missing out.

What should Australians weigh up if they want to keep their property while living and working overseas?

Many of my clients rent out their home while they work overseas. They want peace of mind knowing they have a home to come back to, and that’s a valid strategy.
The practical side matters, though. Talk to your lender before you leave, because converting a home to a rental can change your loan conditions and interest rate. Get proper tax advice, because becoming a foreign resident for tax purposes can change your capital gains position when you eventually sell. Appoint a professional property manager, take out landlord insurance and keep a maintenance buffer. Managing a property from another time zone without a great team on the ground is a recipe for stress.
Then put your business hat on. If you’re leaving for five to ten years, ask yourself honestly: is this property growing? In parts of Melbourne, values have fallen or gone sideways for years. If you’re paying interest on an asset that isn’t growing, you’re holding on out of emotion, not strategy. At the end of the day, it’s walls, plaster and a roof.
The old idea of buying, setting and forgetting for seven to ten years is no longer guaranteed. Know your why. Wherever you live, invest where your money can grow and create passive income, because time is the most valuable asset you’ll ever have.

In a prolonged downturn, should agents retrain or diversify? Which real estate skills transfer to other industries?

Real estate is the easiest industry to get into and the hardest to survive in. Agents don’t get paid a dollar until a property settles. As I write this, I don’t know when my next deal will come, but I still have a mortgage to pay. That pressure builds a certain type of person.
Great agents understand houses sell themselves in a good market. What they sell is value: knowledge, advice and solutions. Today you need to understand marketing, branding, styling, interior design and the finishes and quality of a product. There’s no point walking into someone’s home and jibber-jabbering about price.
A downturn separates the professionals from those who were simply lucky in a good market. My advice is not to run, but to upskill. Work harder on yourself than on your job.
And the skills are completely transferable. If you can show up every day, speak to 40 people, handle rejection, persuade, negotiate and stay disciplined, you can succeed in any people-based industry: sales, finance, business development, hospitality or starting your own business. I just happen to sell houses. The real product is people skills, communication, confidence and self-discipline.

Your book says you don’t believe in stress, depression or anxiety. What did you mean, and have your views changed?

Let me be clear: depression and anxiety are real, and many people genuinely suffer from them. Anyone who is struggling should speak to their GP or a mental health professional, or call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. If I were writing that line today, I would phrase it more carefully.
What I was describing is my personal mindset towards everyday pressure. I believe life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond. Growing up in poverty and hardship gave me a perspective that most daily problems are not the end of the world. That’s my experience, and I respect that everyone’s journey is different.
You can’t change the seasons. You can’t change interest rates, the ATO rules or politicians. What you can control is your habits, your discipline and the energy you put out. I listen to a positive podcast every morning because it sets my mindset for the day. I have staff, clients and a community who look to me, so I have a responsibility to bring energy into the room, especially in the middle of a negotiation.
It’s easy to be negative and hard to be positive. That’s why it’s lonely at the top of the mountain and crowded at the bottom. You can’t force anyone to change, but you can inspire them by becoming the person you want them to be.

You recount telling a prospective client your father owned private jets, then acknowledging it was untrue. What did that teach you about honesty, confidence and trust?

I’m not proud of that moment, and I’ve been open about it in the book for a reason. I was dealing with a young man who wasn’t even the decision-maker. He sat at the table with real arrogance, as if his family’s money made him better than everyone else. I reacted to his ego by matching it with a story that wasn’t true.
It taught me that “fake it till you make it” has a limit. Confidence is essential in business, but it must be backed by substance. Trust is the real currency in my industry. You can win a meeting with bravado, but you only build a career with honesty.
Today I would handle it differently and let my track record speak for itself. Some of the wealthiest people I deal with are also the most humble; they never need to talk about it. I see a lot of young people on social media faking a life they don’t have. My message to them is: be authentic, prepare yourself to make it, and share the real you with the world. Honesty is always the best policy.

Could you clarify your family’s journey from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Australia, and how those experiences shaped your career?

I was born in Afghanistan. My family had a comfortable life there, but when I was still a baby we were forced to flee to Pakistan. My father went from a good life to starting again with nothing, in a country where Afghan refugees were not welcomed.
We lived in a one-room studio with no kitchen. One bathroom was shared by 14 people. We showered outside with a bucket, sometimes going four or five days without washing. I never owned a toy. My cousin had an ancient bicycle that had been ridden by so many people, and we took turns on it, and that brought us so much joy because we didn’t know any better. I had never seen a strawberry, a donut or a pizza. Soft drinks were for the rich. It wasn’t safe either. Violence and abuse were real, and many days we weren’t allowed to leave the house.
Then Australia welcomed us and gave us the land of opportunity. That’s why I’m proud to pay taxes in this country: it looked after us, and now it’s our turn to give back.
Every ounce of my energy and drive comes from those years. When you’ve seen the bottom, you never take the opportunity at the top for granted. I sometimes wish more Australians could see how lucky we are to live here. And for me, this is only the beginning.

How would you advise an agent selling a home near a proposed data centre?

It starts with preparation. Too many agents walk into a home without a plan, without knowledge, treating it as just a transaction. Often the homeowner knows more about the area and recent sales than the agent does. Would you let a doctor practise on your kidneys? Then why let an unprepared agent practise on your biggest asset?
So first, study the development: what is proposed, its size, what stage approvals are at, the timeline and the traffic and power upgrades involved. Then present both sides honestly. Yes, there may be jobs, infrastructure investment and better roads. There may also be construction traffic, noise, visual impact and questions about energy use. Never hide it. If a buyer finds out after they’ve signed, you’ve lost their trust, and you may have exposed yourself and your vendor to misleading-conduct claims.
On price, let the evidence lead, not hype or fear. Look at comparable sales near similar infrastructure, set your vendor’s expectations with data, and don’t inflate the price on promised benefits that may be years away.
At Z. Real Estate, we call ourselves advisors of real estate rather than agents. Ninety per cent of the time, we give free advice and watch what happens. That’s how we built one of the most followed real estate brands in the country. If you wouldn’t buy it yourself, don’t recommend it. Read more, study your market every day and know more than your competition. That’s how you earn the right to advise.