John Pawsey started working with Blackburn and Lockwood in 1987, in an era where properties were sketched by local artist Stan Thomas before being published in the Bendigo Advertiser, and when mobile phones and the internet did not exist.

He later spent time at Ellis Nuttall, where he met business partner Brad Hinton as the later completed work experience at the firm in the mid-1990s. A lifelong friendship quickly developed between the pair, giving rise to their own agency, PH Property which they established in 2006 and continues to operate and enjoy today.

The bond between Mr Pawsey as the master, and the much younger Mr Hinton as his apprentice, has evolved over the past 23 years to one where the obvious experience and age differences between the pair is acknowledged by both as a strength in a relationship where mutual respect and trust abound.

Reflecting on his time in real estate, Mr Pawsey said he was both excited and apprehensive to be stepping out of the industry that has been such a constant in his life, and that of his family.

He said the industry is buoyant, but with banks taking a lot longer to approve finance for prospective buyers, auctions are not as popular as they once where.

"You're more likely to have a sale by private sale than you are auction these days."

He said family life today is very different to what it once was, and that the dream of the quarter acre block is no longer the same.

Mr Pawsey acknowledges the age difference as having never being a negative, while Mr Hinton says patience and the ability to get along with people have also helped the pair as they carved their own niche in the cut and thrust of the competitive local real estate industry.

"It's been unique because partnerships are usually destined to fail."

His final tip on how to succeed, perhaps not just in real estate, but in life in general..

"You never stop learning and you must treat everybody the same."