Agent spotlight on Clifford Nxasana from RE/MAX Tricolor.
My name is Clifford Nxasana and I’m an agent at RE/MAX Tricolor, which services Cowies Hill, Pinetown and surrounding areas. I am engaged to my beautiful Zanele, who is very supportive of me and my career; and we have a baby girl, Elihle.
I was born in Ixopo, where we were raised by my mum, Pretty. I moved to Pietermaritzburg at the age of six to do my schooling at Eastwood Primary School and Haythorne Secondary School, where I matriculated in 2002.
I worked as a salesman in Edgars and Jet, and then became an armed response officer for ADT Security. I didn’t like the risk. The job involved having to arrive at premises in the pitch dark of the night, not knowing the danger that you faced or whether or not you would confront armed robbers. However, I needed to work.
Alarm activations
I used to be responsible for the RE/MAX Tricolor premises in Cowies Hill. I met Gail Compton numerous times when responding to alarm activations at midnight and the early mornings, when she came to open the premises to check on attempted break-ins. While meeting Gail and chatting to her, I had a better idea of what RE/MAX was all about.
One day I decided to visit the RE/MAX Tricolor offices to find out more about becoming an agent. I was asked whether I had enough money to support myself for four to five months while starting up. At that moment I didn’t, but I went away and saved. I came back and joined RE/MAX Tricolor in March 2009.
When I began my career as an estate agent it was not easy. I didn’t have the equipment that I needed, but I came into a supportive office where I was given a PC to use until I bought my own laptop. I also didn’t have a car, I only had a bakkie. On the days that I needed to view properties, I had to swop my bakkie with a friend’s private vehicle so that I could take out my clients. Life was not easy, but because I have a strong, supportive family standing by my side, I made it through my worst year in 2010 – when the garden cottage that I rented was broken into twice, and all my clothing and possessions were stolen. In addition, the real estate market was at its worst.
My life has changed
Since joining RE/MAX, my life has completely changed for the better. Through the training that I have received, especially the Brian Buffini programmes, the way I now see life has changed and I “think like a farmer and work like a hunter”. There is also the fact that I am now a professional. This allows me to become a better person each and every day and to grow in my earnings and provide a life for my child that is better than the life that I had.
I now own my own house, I have a private car as well as my bakkie, and my lifestyle has improved to such a level that the people who I used to work with at ADT now see me as their role model.
It is things such as this that make me want to work harder still and to become the best person that I can be, and to help other people to succeed as I have. With Gail giving me the opportunity to become part of the RE/MAX Tricolor team and bringing out the best in me, as well as the training that Gail and RE/MAX have given me, along with the support of my colleagues, I have become a better person in life as a whole.
My next goal ...
Looking back I can see that everything happens for a reason. Most of the clients that I responded to when I worked with ADT in my area of Cowies Hill are still my clients and refer their friends to me when they need help with their real estate needs. The face that they used to see looking after their safety is now the face of their real estate agent. My goal today is that with all the tools and the skills that I now have, I will be known in the future as the best estate agent in Pinetown.
My family and friends have observed where I have grown to and are very inspired by how far I have come and how much I have achieved during my career at RE/MAX Tricolor.
