Mario Grillo is a mature property advisor based at Alliance Pender branch in St Julians, from where she works mostly on properties in the South of Malta, especially around the localities of the three cities, Paola, Fgura, Zabbar and Marsascala, Tarxien and Zejtun.
Having worked in hairdressing and owned her own hair salon for over 30 years, gives Maria exceptional people skills that are definitely a huge asset in the world of real estate sales. “I’ve always enjoyed dealing with people and it’s what has driven me to go out to work every day. On the other hand, real estate has been a subject that I am very fond of and very much aware of it from home, so my shifting to become a property advisor was the most obvious career move for me”, Maria admits candidly. Like many other people working in real estate, she is now in the process of acquiring her estate agent licence and warrant by the end of 2021.
As most novices do in the beginning, Maria had started out working on some of the more challenging prospects for her to acquire the toughest experiences while she was still getting started. “My most memorable sale was with this client that I really wanted to help, after she had been rejected by other agents because she had a low budget for her purchase. Understanding her needs while keeping to her low affordability capping was a challenge that gave me a good understanding of what clients expect from a property advisor”, she explains.
Alliance property advisors receive induction training on the basic skills and technical issues they may come across before starting to go out on the field meeting clients. More advanced training is then acquired over time, but in the case of an ex-hairdresser and generally friendly person like Maria, sincere empathy comes to her as second nature. In real estate, this is a trait that clients appreciate, so it’s no wonder Maria is doing so well in this role.
Maria is married to Kenneth and lives in Fgura together with their children Sana and Beppe. In her free time, when she’s not at the gym, Maria enjoys reading and baking.
Asked for her best advice to property buyers, Maria insists that the most important thing is for buyers to level their expectations with their own affordability and nothing else. “For example, it’s not rare that you meet a young couple looking for a three bedroomed place when they could be very comfortable in a one or two bedroom property for the next 5-10 years or even more”, she explains. This is definitely sound advice, more so as society seems to be embracing more mobility not only amongst young people, but also older home owners looking to downsize for more comfort.
Meanwhile, Maria advises property sellers to be aware of the fast changing scenarios of today’s market. “It’s pointless hoping you can get yesterday’s prices or tomorrow’s because if you are selling today, it is today that matters”, she concludes.
Maria is based at Alliance Pender branch in St. Julians and can be reached on 99455763 or mgrillo@alliance.mt.
