Strategies for success and passion

An interview with Elfi Untergassmair, founder, managing director and licence partner of Engel & Völkers South Tyrol | Cortina d'Ampezzo, about the exciting profession as a real estate agent.

In today's interview, we have the pleasure of talking to Elfi Untergassmair, Founder, Managing Director and Licensed Partner of Engel & Völkers South Tyrol | Cortina d'Ampezzo, about her journey into the real estate industry and her working philosophy. She shares with us her experiences that led her to this profession and talks about her enthusiasm for the job and dealing with people. From her disappointed beginnings looking for a flat to her successful work as a real estate agent at Engel & Völkers, Elfi Untergassmair has travelled a remarkable path.

How did you become an estate agent?

Elfi: When I was just 18 years old, I was still living in Bruneck and wanted to move in with my boyfriend from the Burgraviato area. Together we went in search of a suitable flat. First we looked at rented flats, but then we came across a flat for sale in Gargazon that aroused our interest. However, the experience with the estate agent was so terrible that as a young girl or young woman I was disappointed by his lack of respect and passion. The desire grew in me to one day make this profession with real dedication to real estate and people. After 13 years of professional experience as a legal secretary, I finally started my career in real estate. In 2000, I first became aware of Engel & Völkers on the Costa del Sol in Spain. In 2004, I passed the real estate agent exam and managed the first Engel & Völkers shop in Italy on Lake Como. After 14 years of professional experience abroad, I have been working in South Tyrol again since July 2014.

What fascinates you about being an estate agent?

Elfi: What fascinates me about being an estate agent is the contact with people and their living spaces, the opportunity to assist with important life decisions (the first home of one's own, new needs with the desire for change) in all phases of mediation in sales and purchases.

What is your working philosophy?

Elfi: Either I do something with heart - if I am there and create something, then I am fully involved - or otherwise I prefer not to do it at all.

How does your way of working differ from that of other estate agents?

Elfi: What fascinates me at Engel & Völkers and thus with the way of working as a real estate agent with a "system": personal development goes hand in hand with the working environment and conquering the market.

Tell us about your best experience as an estate agent?

Elfi: My best experience as a real estate agent is the handshake at my first mediation as an Engel & Völkers real estate agent, at the same time also the first mediation and thus the first customer of Engel & Völkers in Italy: with a promise not to let the buyers down and to support them in many other matters as well, because they did not speak a word of Italian and only bought because I had promised my support. I am still in contact with the customers from Memmingen today.

In your opinion, what makes a good real estate agent and what qualities and experience do you look for in a potential agent?

Elfi: The qualities I am looking for are certainly empathy and passion, the willingness to acknowledge and apply a success system, as well as openness to coaching and the humility to be taught something and to stick to guidelines.

How do you promote and support the professional development of your employees?

Elfi: I support the professional development of the employees by offering at least three workshops on specific topics every year, by giving them the opportunity to participate in further education directly at the Engel & Völkers Academy in Hamburg and/or online. It is also important to me to promote the feeling of being part of an innovatively developing global movement on a local level with Engel & Völkers.

Finally, a personal question: Where would you like to own a property?

Elfi: I love nature, old trees, and the sound of the sea. Consequently, I would love to own two properties, one directly by the sea with a white beach and a bright blue sea and, of course, one in South Tyrol, a beautiful chalet in the middle of the mountains.