AUSTRALIA UPDATE

Was HX2023 only last month? This huge happening still sits significantly in our minds. Words can hardly express the HX experience, yet it was words that made HX2023 so very, very special. This year’s Harcourts conference had by far the most impressive line-up of Keynote speakers ever!

Leading off with Neha Rajebhosale, Practice Director with The RitzCarlton Leadership Center, it was two solid days of amazing stories of inspiration, challenges, determination, and success.

Josh Phegan, internationally renowned go-to speaker, trainer and coach for high-performance real estate agents and agencies; leading expert in trust and authority Julie Masters; Tim Jack Adams, expert advisor on wellness for corporations; James Tostevin, and other real estate experts and trainers from around the world, to name but a few of the 38 (yes! 38!) speakers who presented their ideas and shared their stories.

Of course, Harcourts own leading lights were there to share: Mike Green, Steve Caradoc-Davies, Megan Alexander, Tolemy Stevens, Jesse Salas from San Diego, and more besides.

And in closing Samuel Johnson took no prisoners! We loved his passion, energy, and dedication because we too at Harcourts have passion and energy and dedication. HX is about recognising and celebrating our passion for our people. HX is about networking and energising each other to go that extra mile. And this year’s HX was about our dedication to providing this year’s theme: the finest experience in real estate.

A very special moment during the Annual Awards on the last evening of HX was, of course, this year’s induction into the Harcourts Hall of Fame: Mark and Sam Forde. Shining examples of going the extra mile, having gotten the last mile right, these 2023 Hall of Famers pride themselves on providing the finest experience in real estate. There are no better examples of our brand and culture. Congratulations to them, and all the night’s award winners.

What a remarkable HX! And I haven’t even spoken about the Under The Sea Networking Party.

For 2023, we’re going the extra mile. ‘One Team: The Finest Experience’ is the global focus for the network. HX2023 has solidified the One Team, and a collaborative journey with The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center has helped us identify and apply even more ways that we can deliver the finest experience for our customers.

I leave you with a challenge. I challenge you to create and action an Implementation Plan. What are 3, or 4, or 5 implementations that you’ve identified from HX2023? Put them in your plan. Put them into action, and kick the rest of your year into gear.

It’s been an incredible 2023 so far. As the market picks up, I look forward to moving further into this year, and alongside you, continuing in delivering the finest experience in real estate.

Adrian Knowles

CEO, Harcourts Australia adrian.knowles@harcourts.net

Property Management Update

HX2023 was a spectacular event, and we were thrilled with the feedback from our PM Breakout Session! With a strong focus on ‘The Finest Experience in Property Management’ our sessions covered a wide range of topics all aimed at upskilling our property managers. We started the day with our opening keynote speaker Shane Kempton, Harcourts WA CEO and mindset coach. Shane shared amazing stories about his time in the SAS and what it takes to get your mind in the game. With an increasing number of our businesses choosing to acquire rent rolls as part of their growth strategy we had a fantastic panel with Troy Pullar from Harcourts Carrum Downs and Janelle Bagley from Harcourts Property Centre share their experience with the process of acquisition. A big focus for us this year is also surveying our landlords and tenants to find ways to improve our service levels, which will be rolled out as a PM CX Project over the coming months. We had a power panel discussing their experience with implementing these programs including Johnny Lin and Dani Cowell from our Pinnacle Aspley office along with Jodie Stainton and Jess Calvert from Harcourts Solutions. Our final keynote speaker was Peter Thurin, the master of

Auction Update

Despite rising interest rates, the Australian real estate market has experienced a surge in demand, with buyers keen to secure their dream homes amidst low inventory levels. Against this backdrop, Harcourts auctions have provided a platform that enhances competition, to achieve premium prices for sellers, yet doing so in a transparent environment.

Given the volatile market conditions, buyers have become increasingly price-conscious, making transparency essential. This is why auctions are thriving. Auctions provide buyers with a crucial sense of confidence through their inherent transparency. Unlike traditional sale methods, such as private treaty, auctions are conducted in an open and competitive forum. This transparency assures buyers that the property’s value is determined by market forces rather than undisclosed negotiations. Thus instilling confidence in their purchasing decision. This renewed buyer confidence has resulted in a significant increase in bidder numbers across the Harcourts group, with an average of 3.8 bidders per auction property.

The strong bidder numbers have been instrumental in bolstering our impressive clearance rate.

As a group we are selling 73% of our auction properties by auction day. Significantly outperforming the market average of 57%.

Furthermore, an impressive 86% of our auction properties are sold within two weeks of auction day. These are impressive numbers.

These numbers show that auctions are delivering the highest clearance rates, in the shortest time frame, making it an easy decision for sellers and agents wanting to maximise their results.

service excellence and all round great guy. His passionate presentation inspired all of us to find better ways to connect with our clients so that we go even further in delivering the finest experience.

Our national Property Management awards was a highlight of HX, with our incredible winners being recognised for all the work they do – these awards are fiercely contested every year and only the very best are able to be recognised. As with every conference, we all enjoyed fun and laughter with our business partners – I did discover that I have a high level of skill in bean bag throwing but should never take up golf! We encourage all of you to put HX 2024 in your calendar – a few days of connection, collaboration and learning will give you the energy and motivation boost to get you through the rest of the year and set ambitious goals that we can assist you reach.

Head

of Property Management Australia karmen.costigan@harcourts.net

Another key factor contributing to these exceptional results is the unwavering commitment of our agents to rigorous training and strategic stock management processes. Our National auction training is well attended every month with agents constantly refining their skills around vendor management and buyer work. A lot of our teams have also implemented auction stock boards, which monitor key metrics for each auction campaign, ensuring agents stay on track for a successful sale and providing solutions to course-correct if needed. The value of these stock boards is immense, as our most consistent offices now boast clearance rates exceeding 90% month after month.

Last but not least, our group has experienced a significant shift with the mass adoption of in-room auctions. In-room auctions take the concept of creating structure and control to the next level, enabling entire offices to operate more efficiently, while eliminating variables, to deliver an enhanced customer experience. The feedback from buyers and sellers regarding in-room auctions has been overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing their position as the future of auctions.

I couldn’t be prouder of the direction our business is taking in the auction space. Our outstanding results are a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence, which serves as the cornerstone of our success.

Head of Auctions, Harcourts Australia christian.hamilton@harcourts.net

It was great to see so many of you at the Harcourts Conference, what an awesome few days with inspirational speakers.Congratulations to all the winners and the events team for a successful result.

REIP was asked to share an update with the network on day two and if you missed the session or didn’t attend conference here is a quick update for you.

REIP in conjunction with Valocity our Joint Venture partner is excited to launch REIP Nexus to the Harcourts Network.

What is REIP Nexus

We are your industry CMA product, your industry partner bringing you the most up to date data, digital work flow solutions, customised CMA, insights and benchmarking.

How are we different

We built this solution in conjunction with the industry, we understood what your pain points were and we delivered. REIP Nexus brings you the ability to

1. Use your Harcourts Branded CMA templates

2. Access the most up to date listings data including state data, unsettled sales, partner data and on market listings

3. Integrations with Vault and Property Tree

REIP NEXUS IS HERE Sadhana

4. Rate My Agent integration enabling you to pull into the CMA your reviews

5. Digitised workflows

6. Transparency at agent and office level of CMA’s in play or that have listed

7. Client portal to upload documents

8. Benchmarking and insights at a national, state and LGA level You will be able to have access to the product for free prior to commencing subscription at an office level.

We are also excited to announce that Andrew Friebe has joined REIP Nexus as our Head of Partnerships.

What’s Next Contact me onsadhana.smiles@reip.com.au Many of you shared your current pain points with your existing suppliers, issues such as the two factor authentication, sharing of user passwords, use of multiple products, lack of integration and the cost. We can solve all of this for you. I look forward to connecting.

You can also register with the QR code above and Andrew will contact you directly.

Smiles

CEO, Real Estate Industry Partners sadhana.smiles@reip.com.au