Justin Nickerson is finding it hard to take in the fact he is the Real Estate Institute of Australia's Australasian Auctioneering champion for 2016.

"It will take a while to sink in," he told The Real Estate Conversation.

Nickerson held an ambition for five or six years to become the Australasian champion, having already won the Queensland title three times, and practised in the lead up to the competition. "We practice and train," said Nickerson. 

Nickerson believes the competitions are a useful way for auctioneers to improve their skills.

"One of my early mentors was always big on competitions. So right from the first moment I started training as an auctioneer, I adopted competitions as a way to test my skills," said Nickerson.

Nickerson says being good with numbers, being able to build rapport with the audience, and being able to think on your feet are the key attributes of a good auctioneer.

"You've got to be proficient with numbers," he said. "We've got a saying inside our business that auctioneers should always be accurate before they're entertaining. It's not good getting the crowd to laugh and smile if you're getting the wrong figure."

"The ability to think on your feet is pretty important," he said. "When we recieve a bid and we're saying the nubmers, the things that might be going through your head are who just placed the bid, how much do I want on my next bid, what are the other bidders doing, what signals are they sending, how far away from the reserve are we? So to be able to process that at the same point as coming out with a one-liner or commentating on what's in front of you, is not something that's easy to do."

Nickerson began his property career in real estate sales, but was immediately drawn to auctioneering. "I can only think that I must have seen an auctioneer at some point and thought that would be quite an interesting thing to do," said Nickerson. "I adapted to it relatively quickly, and saw it as a career path, and something I would like to do every day."

Nickerson eventually made the decision to leave sales, and become a full-time auctioneer. "I always believe that whatever you enjoy doing, if you can make a career and occupation out of that, you're going to do it pretty well," he explained.

Nickerson counts himself lucky he was able to make the transition to a career he loves. "I can honestly say with my hand on my heart I have a lot more good days than bad," he said, adding that working with accomplished agents is another bonus of his work. "Some of the agents we get to work with, you see the way they work, and you work alongside them, is a reward in itself," said Nickerson.

Questions about the format of the competition emerged during this year's event, but Nickerson believes the current format is an accurate a reflection of real auctions.

"There's a debate around how realistic auction competitions are compared to what we do every day," said Nickerson. "There's no way you can measure how someone negotiates. So I think it's the best mechanism that's out there now. It puts you under the most amount of pressure, it tests your reactions, it tests your legislative knowledge, it tests your mathematics, it tests your ability to engage with the crowd."

Nickerson said the competitions are useful, and will remain a significant event on auctioneers' calendars.

"For our company and the guys we work with, we're pretty adamant they all have to go in the competitions," said Nickerson. "It's the only way really to put yourself under that strain, and push yourself out of your comfort zone and make sure you do keep improving and getting better," he said.

Nickerson is philosophical about his win, and says the award is highly regarded within the auctioneering community. 

"This award, for us as auctioneers, means a heck of a lot," said Nickerson. "To the external real estate public, and even to the general public, it probably doesn't mean anywhere near as much, but to us it is pretty special.

"I had a moment on Friday morning, I had the trophy on the plane and I was looking back at the names that had won it and there are some really influential real estate figures in there. So for me to be in that company is pretty special," said Nickerson.

So what now for the champ?

"I had an expectation when I won the Queensland auctioneering competition that my phone would be ringing off the hook, but that didn't happen," Nickerson laughed. "Probably for this one it won't either," he said. 

"A big part now for me is, how do I do what others have done before me, which is to help the next lot come through and really try to impart as much as I've learned back to these people. Hopefully they can be in a situation like this, and have the same feeling and the same reward as I've managed to get. People did it for me, and you don't forget the people who helped you on the way.

"If we want to be a good industry and a good occupation, there is a certain duty that you have to help people on the way up, because without the help when you started you wouldn't be able to accomplish what you've done."

Humble in the face of glory. That's quite an achievement.

See also:

Justin Nickerson is Australasian Auctioneer of 2016

Are Auctioneer Competitions a true reflection of the qualities needed?

Five finalists compete today for auctioneering glory