Elite Agent

  • 5 ways real estate businesses can save money on technology

    I may not be across every technology opportunity in the industry, but I do see the impact it can have on a business. More specifically, I see the impact technology changes can have on its bottom-line profitability. If you can juggle the changes required to introduce new technology, the rewards can be huge. Get it wrong though and it will…

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  • Steve Carroll: Leadership in a digital age

    By 2020, millennials will make up 50 per cent of the workforce. Whether or not you think technology has changed the face of leadership, three things we can agree on are: 1. The expectations of our employees, driven by millennials, are increasing dramatically. 2. The fundamentals are in place. However, they only keep our employees engaged for a short time.…

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  • Sales agent commissions tied to vendor ratings

    A Brisbane-based business has established the nation’s first carrot-and-stick agency model – and it gives clients direct influence on how much agents can earn. Under the model introduced by UrbanX, vendors can rate their sales agents, with the size of agent’s commissions on the line, if their service and results prove to be regularly sub-par. Head of UrbanX, Dan Argent,…

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  • What does the future of real estate hold?

    Tony Morrison has always loved to talk numbers. The Harcourts Tasmania and Victoria Chief Executive Officer has been in the profession 31 years. He oversees 82 offices, and Harcourts holds 25 per cent market share across the two states. The number 24 is also important for Tony – not only because it signifies the number…

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  • No matter what business you’re in, you’re always in the business of people

    What was your first job and what did it teach you?My first job (part-time) was at Coles as a checkout chick. It taught me the importance of money as we had to balance the till after every shift. How long have you been in real estate?I’ve been selling real estate for seven years. This time for about five years and…

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  • 7 tips for property managers to decrease stress and increase productivity

    Having just entered the new financial year, now is a good a time to take stock of the health of your portfolio and consider some of the following areas: Rent reviews and lease renewalsUpdate in line with the current market and ensure tenants are on fixed-term leases. Repairs and maintenanceHow many outstanding work orders are…

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  • Elite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    The Agency strengthens position after raising $4.5m capital

    The Agency is predicting a strong financial future ahead after raising $4.5 million as part of a share entitlement offer. Announced in July, the offer saw each eligible shareholder entitled to apply for a further four shares based on every seven shares held. They were also provided with one free attaching listed option for every two shares subscribed for and…

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  • The value of choice

    As I continued my crusade in the industry, shouting about the arrival of choice and the departure of disruption, I realised recently that I have started making different choices. Choices I never thought I would make. You see, I love grocery shopping. Yes, I know you may think I am strange, but cooking is my happy place. I’m no culinary…

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  • Weekly Auction Wrap: Sydney’s busiest week of the year

    In a weekend where Victorians were busy watching the AFL Grand Final, Sydney recorded its busiest Saturday of the year for auctions. Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 78 per cent from 939 auctions, according to the latest CoreLogic data, which was up from 608 this time last year. With attention elsewhere in Melbourne, there were only 103 auctions,…

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  • From property manager to trusted adviser

    Traditionally the role of a property manager has been administrative and task focused, which often results in clients perceiving them as low value. There are several reasons why, and it’s an important part of the conversation. We need to understand what we need to change to become more relationship focussed, with an emphasis on trust and wealth creation. This is…

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  • Elite Agent primer: 5 ways 5G could impact the property industry

    What is 5G? 5G is rapidly rolling out in many countries throughout the world and is the latest evolution of mobile connectivity. A step up from the current 4G, it plans to be more reliable and faster than its predecessor and could impact the property industry in a few different ways. Telstra has enabled 5G…

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  • struggle

    Are your landlords the right fit for your business?

    I spoke at the PPM National Property Management Conference on the Gold Coast in June and posed the question “who is the real boss”?

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  • Renovation activity keeps pace despite headwinds

    Renovation activity remained strong in 2018 and is destined for robust growth in 2019, according to the annual Houzz & Home Australia survey. Taking into account the responses of more than 8,800 people, the survey found kitchens were the most popular room to renovate, with 26 per cent of respondents keen to spruce up their cook’s room. Renovation spend in…

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  • The gift of real estate

    I recently spent time with some second and third year agents who have all been doing relatively well in the industry. I asked them to come to the whiteboard and map out the ideal real estate business. Save for a few minor details they could write down what it would take for them to become a $500,000-plus earner. With all…

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  • Weekly Auction Wrap: Clearance rate strong amidst a surge in listings

    It has been another strong weekend for auctions across the country as the national clearance rate once again finished above the 70 per cent mark. With the weather heating up across the country, so too were the number of listings, which jumped nearly 20 per cent. Sydney recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 76.6 per cent while Melbourne came in…

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  • Tony Heath: Your name is your reputation

    It might be unlucky for most, but for Tony Heath the number 13 has proved nothing but fortuitous. His wife, Julie was born on the 13th, as was one of his sons. On July 13th he celebrated 28 years in the real estate industry and 28 years with McLachlan Partners on the Central Coast of NSW. “I’ve only ever worked…

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  • Ray White Rural’s annual muster for 2019

    Ray White Rural & Livestock held it's annual muster on the Gold Coast yesterday with almost 200 agents coming from all over Australia to learn and get inspired. The speakers at the one-day conference at the Marriott Resort, Surfers Paradise were economists, industry thought-leaders, elite agents, progressive entrepreneurs and even disruptors. Stephen Nell, Ray White…

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  • 10 things every principal should know about property management

    From what I’ve seen, most principals have taken a similar journey en route to taking the reigns at their agency. You were a successful salesperson who embraced the natural progression of opening or buying your agency. You knew property management played a vital role in the future success of the agency, but it was an area you knew little about.…

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  • Protect yourself, your business and your data from hackers

    Australia’s strong economy, along with high rates of internet and new technology adoption, has made our country, a lucrative target for attacks. Here’s two ways to protect yourself from hackers. Imagine this: Your client is ready to purchase their first home! You share bank details with them via email and SMS. Unfortunately, this leaves you…

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  • People Power

    On the surface, the link between producing commercial quantities of soup and selling houses is extremely tenuous. Dig a little deeper and you may find the connection not so far fetched. Former Campbell’s Soup CEO Doug Conant was renowned for saying “to win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace”. It’s an adage that Barry Plant Manningham…

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  • Property giant Ray White kicks off Australia’s biggest game of Hide & Seek

    Leading agency Ray White has just launched its latest brand campaign called Hide & Seek, a playful take on the childhood game in a bid to entice both buyers and sellers into the market. The property giant’s franchised network of more than 1000 offices sold just over 75,000 homes, worth $40.7 billion across Australasia despite the…

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  • What to do about that bad review

    Today I want to focus on rating websites, which is an area we all love. There are so many to choose from, and you need to work out which ones will get you the most leverage and best position online, so you’re visible to the consumer. The problem is how do we get the consumer to share across all review…

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  • Weekly Auction Wrap: Has the clearance rate topped out?

    While it was another strong weekend across the country for auctions, we’ve had the first downtick in a number of weeks, which could signal that the surge in the clearance rate is starting to ease. Over the weekend, the latest Corelogic data has shown 75.7 per cent of homes sold at auction across the country, marking what is expected to…

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  • Complete productivity plan for real estate agents: Tony Rowe

    Do you find yourself stuck in a continuous loop of procrastination with a to-do list as long as your arm? Learning how to be efficient, effective and organised can take some effort, but it is achievable with the right approach. Here is a list of 12 things you can do to become more productive, less distracted and better serve your…

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  • Highlights from Street MBA Melbourne tour

    For Street MBA tour #2 we headed to not so sunny Melbourne, and what an insightful tour it was.  We had three well-respected agencies on the agenda and were hosted by exceptional operators: Sophie Lyons and Sam Nokes from Jellis Craig, Simon Fung from Woodards and Evan Thornley from LongView (aka the quiet achievers).  Unsurprisingly, key takeaways for this tour…

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  • Weekly Auction Wrap: The buyers keep coming as spring arrives

    The traditional spring selling season has officially begun, but it’s still the buyers who remain in control at auctions around the country. This weekend saw Sydney finish with a preliminary auction clearance rate of 83.1 per cent while Melbourne was also higher at 76.6 per cent. Nationally, the clearance rate was an incredibly strong 77 per cent. However, the number…

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  • Elite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    How population is impacting house prices

    Population movements are one of the key reasons house prices rise and fall, and according to Herron Todd White, it’s not just about how how many people are moving to or from your city, but also the demographics of those people. The leading Australian valuer has studied the impact that the current population trends have been having in our major…

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  • Zig while others zag – Manos Findikakis

    For years the industry has been hearing the agent is now more important than the brand. In 2015, Eview founder Manos Findikakis took that philosophy to a whole new level. Now he will share his recipe for success at the Business of Real Estate 2019. Eview Group founder and CEO Manos Findikakis readily admits when…

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  • Elite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    CoreLogic appoints new executive

    core logic core logic core logic

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  • people looking at copy on a tablet

    Convert copy into clients

    Not everyone has the luxury of hiring a copywriter to draft their prospecting emails and letters. But with a little bit of practise, anyone can nail the five principles of sales writing that converts prospects to clients. 1 RIGHT MESSAGE, RIGHT PERSON, RIGHT TIME These are the three elements of all successful sales and marketing copy. The goal of marketing…

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  • The number one reason partnerships fail

    Many businesses are owned by more than one principal. Sometimes these multipleprincipal businesses are family businesses with one spouse looking after sales and the other looking after property management and back office. Sometimes, they are successful businesses with unrelated principals working together. However, not all partnerships are successful. Many of them fail. There can be a whole range of reasons…

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  • Elite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    The RBA leaves interest rates unchanged at 1%

    The RBA has left the official cash rate unchanged at one per cent at its September meeting, however, more cuts lie ahead if global conditions continue to weigh on the economy. In a statement that largely mirrored the August update, RBA Governor Philip Lowe suggested Australia is still in for an extended period of low interest rates. “It is reasonable…

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  • Life begins at 40

    Rockend will mark 40 years in business in September. This is an impressive milestone for any technology company, especially when you consider the internet only became widely available to Australians and New Zealanders in the mid-90s. Reaching this milestone lends itself to looking back on how much the real estate industry has changed over the past four decades. As a…

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  • Weekly Auction Wrap: Are the boom times back?

    It’s been another strong weekend for auctions across the country as the clearance rate remains at boom-time highs. Sydney had a preliminary auction clearance rate of 78.9 per cent while Melbourne was also strong at 76.1 per cent. These are the same types of numbers that we were seeing in the recent housing boom in mid-2017. Across the country, the…

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  • Elite Agent The News Source for Real Estate Professionals

    The Agency reports strong growth

    Industry newcomer The Agency has notched up an impressive year of growth, with financial results indicating annual group revenue increased 86 per cent during the 2018/19 financial year to $31.3 million. It follows on from 75 per cent growth and 70 per cent growth during the prior two years. Across the board, The Agency figures…

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