Nearly 20 Years Ago Bjorn Farrugia Hopped on a Plane to the United States
“I had never been on a plane in my life,” recounts the Melbourne native. “The first plane I went on was to come to America to pursue the thing that I had been dreaming about my whole life.”
That thing was tennis. Hailing from the sporting capital of Australia, Bjorn Farrugia grew up playing Australian football and cricket, but tennis was where he’d make his mark. Eventually, Farrugia snagged a scholarship to attend school in Georgia and play Division 1 of the sport.
“I wanted to be the Roger Federer of tennis,” he says. “Now I want to be the Roger Federer of real estate, but I’ve got a long, long way to go.”
RECORD SETTER
Farrugia achieved the highest volume of sales at Hilton & Hyland in 2016 and 2017
SPORTSMAN PLUS
He journeyed to the United States from his native Australia nearly 20 years ago on a tennis scholarship
WESTSIDE STANDOUT
In 2017, Farrugia held one of the records for the largest sale North of Montana in Santa Monica, and is currently listing the famed “Brentwood Villa”
Perhaps not too long. He also develops properties both here and in Australia, and has made a longtime wish come true—to buy his mother a home.
“My mum got the house,” says Bjorn Farrugia. “But I got so much more out of it.”
It was a gift of gratitude for his family’s support, but it also meant he had reached a certain level of success, and it felt good.
“To have the power and the ability to make it come to fruition—I feel really fortunate that God gave me the power to do that. It was one of the best things I have done in my life.”
Tennis may be part of a past chapter in Bjorn Farrugia’s life, but the fire and focus instilled in him during those years still burn strong.
“It really hurt a lot to realize that being a pro tennis player wasn’t going to happen,” he says, recalling how he abstained from the sport for two years in a kind of mourning.
But in the end: “I used that same desire and pursuit for excellence to take the dream I had for tennis and channel it into real estate.”
It was a field that had interested Bjorn Farrugia for years. There were family members in the business and even as a boy he had “a fascination for houses and architecture.” After a stint working in the dizzying world of New York finance for three years, the West Coast—and real estate—beckoned.
“Every business has a few fundamental characteristics that are needed to be successful,” he points out. “I feel that my strengths resonate with real estate.”
There was something else about it too; namely, the ability to directly shape and reach one’s goals.
“What really entices me about real estate is that there’s no limit,” says Bjorn Farrugia. “I am a direct result of my actions. If I do nothing, I get nothing—and if I can do it all, the sky’s the limit.”
His current firm is a strong match for his ambition, which is boundless.
“Working at Hilton & Hyland really opened up a lot of doors,” he says.
And last year was a good year for Bjorn Farrugia, who wrapped 80 deals—the most at the firm. Many people would be quite content with that figure, he explains, but not him.
“The thing for me is, I feel I can triple that. I always want more. That’s a good thing and not a good thing. Because you’re never really that satisfied—but it always keeps you hunting for more deals.”
Bjorn Farrugia
Hilton & Hyland
Christie’s International Real Estate
310.998.7175 | BjornFarrugia.com
Photos: Courtesy of Bjorn Farrugia