Tag Archives: One Agency Group

Trevor Manwarring One Agency

Real Estate Business: We Ask Trevor Manwarring Why One Agency?

Each month we interview ONE of our members to discover their story and have them share their experience with us.

Under the spotlight this month is Trevor Manwarring from One Agency Manwarring Property Group in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, where he covers the areas of  Wollongbar, Alstonville, Goonellabah, Ballina and Lismore.

Trevor has worked in real estate sales for 19 years and he joined One Agency in September 2013. We asked Trevor to share his experience with us.

What do you love about your work in real estate? What drives you?
Helping people, whether buying or selling. I enjoy being able to help by taking away a lot of their stress and by guiding them in the right direction.

What attracted you to the One Agency business model?
I was in a position to stay where I was working at another agency and get no further ahead or go out and do my own thing, so I heard about One Agency and I contacted Paul Davies by phone. After a long discussion he convinced me to go to Sydney to one of their conferences to speak to other members that were already involved with the group as well as to get to meet Paul in person. The thing that impressed me the most was Paul’s vision and he also was quite particular on who joined the group to protect the name and its members. When I finished the conference I had no doubt about my future with One Agency and joined approximately one month later.

How is the brand working for you?
The brand has been excellent, people comment all the time how sharp it looks and how it stands out from our competitors. We even find that older people find it easier to read with the One Agency colours!

Would you recommend One Agency to others?
Yes, definitely. I always speak highly about the back up from Head Office and all of the other members, you only have to email or *Facebook or even call and there is always someone there to help. At One Agency we are all ONE. 

* One Agency has a closed Facebook Group Page where members can share ideas and knowledge between themselves, it’s a useful tool.

What do you think keeps your prospective vendors awake at night when they are considering listing their property?
Which agent should I be trusting with my biggest investment that I own to not just sell it, but to give the service and feedback that they expect and the best value in todays market.

Land for sale One Agency

First Home Buyers Grants – Changes July 2014

The start of the new financial year sees changes to some states’ First Home Buyers Grant – some advantageous and others not so welcome. 

From July 1, first time buyers of new property (existing properties don’t qualify) in NSW are now eligible for a First Home Buyers Grant of $15,000 grant on purchases up to $750,000, increasing the threshold from $650,000.

“The latest figures show the number of grants has increased significantly over the past financial year,” says NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance. “First homeowner grants for new homes were 46 per cent higher in the four months to April 2014 compared to the same period the year before.”

However, the end of June marked the end of an era for South Australia’s First Home Owners Grant of $5000 with it ceasing to exist in its current form. REISA chief executive officer Greg Troughton says, “The one saving grace for South Australian homebuyers was the First Home Owners Grant for established homes. Although this has dropped to $5000 in recent years, it did go some way to ameliorating the effects of a $20,000 stamp duty for those wishing to buy their first home at the current median price.” 

Martin Merrit One Agency

Why Did Martin Merritt Choose Real Estate Brand One Agency?

Martin Merritt  joined One Agency in January 2014 after co-owning a Bevan’s franchise in the Illawarra Region.

‘I already had the premises and clientele I just needed the boutique brand and support without giving profit away.’ – Martin Merritt

Martin considered both the McGrath and Belle franchise models, but found it hard to justify the fees and restrictions. There were already three One Agency offices in the region and so he took a look at the One Agency business model and liked what he saw. He now owns One Agency Southern Division and they cover the south of Wollongong to Shellharbour.

‘I knew most of the OA members in my area and they have been an amazing support and really made me and my team feel welcome.’

One Agency Real Estate Group Celebrate 6 Years!

One Agency Real Estate Group celebrated our 6th anniversary last month and would like to thank all our members for choosing One Agency.

The business is evolving rapidly and we are thrilled with the positive response we continue to receive from both members and other real estate professionals about One Agency Real Estate Group.

‘I wanted to give real estate agents and business owners the freedom to build and control their financial future with the support of a national brand. I’m proud to say that we’ve achieved this and are now the fastest growing real estate group in Australia,’ says Paul Davies, the Managing Director of One Agency. 

Here are some of the many comments we received on LinkedIn:

‘Congratulations on 6 years Paul and thanks for creating a great vehicle for me to grow my business and keep the majority of our hard earned commissions.’ Grant Baker, One Agency Noosa

Dean and Peter Harper One agency

ONE Great Real Estate Partnership

This father and son team from Launceston in Tasmania have gone from strength to strength since launching their real estate partnership One Agency Harper Property in July 2011.

‘Becoming the best agent and having the best agency in my area is what motivates me,’ said Dean, back at the beginning of 2013. ‘I want our little boutique office to be a real challenger to the other companies in our city, and that’s what really drives me. Competition!’

Dean and Peter Harper are well on their way to achieving this goal. They’ve  been selling homes in the Launceston area together for the last 12 years and have over 30 years of real estate experience between them. 

One Agency Harper Property took out the prestigious Best Small Agency of the Year award for Tasmania in September 2012 after just over 12 months in business and then they won again in 2013 – making them back-to-back winners! In the same year they were a finalist in the Launceston Chamber of Commerce awards for the Marketing category.  In March 2013 they were finalists for the Best Small Agency of the Year awards held at Parliament House in Canberra.  

They welcomed established and well renowned agent Katrina Coleman to their team in 2013 and in 2014 Josh Hart joined them, after working for six years at one of Launceston’s largest real estate agencies. Daisy Richardson completes this successful team as their administration manager and receptionist.

We asked Dean what attracted him to the One Agency business model?

‘I love the brand. I love the fact that we keep 100% of our fees. I love the support we give each other and being surrounded by other agents who are doing the same thing as me, running their own business!’

 

Sandy Morris One Agency

One New Member – Sandy Morris Talks Business Set Up

Sandy Morris joined One Agency in April 2014 and is the Principal of One Agency Sandy Morris in Canberra. 

She initially heard about One Agency through a former colleague at a large agency who had made the move and with his encouragement Sandy took a look at the One Agency business model.

‘The decision to join One Agency was not one that I made lightly. I had a great offer to join one of the other large agencies in town but I put quite a bit of thought into what I wanted to get out of the next 10 years in real estate. The freedom to run my own business the way I wanted to run it was the deciding factor for me.’

Once the decision had been made the rest flowed very smoothly for her.

‘Head Office took over and provided me with everything that I needed to get myself started and I had some very supportive vendors that followed me to One Agency so that was a nice start and I am thrilled with how it is going now.’

Sandy set up her business at home and the team at head office organised all the stationary, signboards, sold stickers and branding, helping to keep the whole process simple.

News from One Agency Real Estate Group

One Agency News from Head Office – May 2014

In One Agency News for May 2014, we’re pleased to announce the details of our next One Agency conference. Are you planning on coming along?

It’s a great way to connect with our growing family of members and find your voice in our growing brand.

This time we’re hosting it in Queensland and extending it from a one day event to a two day extravaganza!

Keynote speakers will include Gary Pittard from the Pittard Training Group and industry marketing authority Tom Panos. Tom is the Real Estate Advertising Director for News Ltd and is one of Sydney’s leading real estate auctioneers. 

Tom is regarded as Australia’s premier authority on Real Estate marketing and considered by his peers and Australia’s leading real estate agents as the No. 1 educator and thought leader in his field. We are excited to have enticed him back to us for this event.

One Agency fundraising for the Great Illawarra Walk

ONE Big Helping Hand – Local Community Fundraising

Whether your motives are humanitarian or professional, getting involved in the local community at a volunteer level offers a variety of benefits.

There are two types of community involvement that real estate agents typically gravitate toward. The first is donating money to a cause, which is admirable and a boon to the charity recipient yet it involves very little effort beyond writing a cheque. Then there is hands-on volunteerism: the getting your hands dirty, joining in nitty-gritty of community involvement.

Both types of charitable donation are great but the latter is hands down better for your real estate business. The type of giving back that puts you face-to-face with groups of people who may turn into clients is good for business.

So charitable involvement or donation in the real estate world isn’t completely altruistic?

It may well start out as a selfless desire to give to others, but side benefits of community involvement include the fact that it’s a fabulous way to generate leads, get your name linked to the local community and increase your brand reach and public persona.

Grant Baker One Agency Noosa

One Great Agent – Grant Baker

Each month we interview ONE of our members to discover their story and have them share their experience with us.

Under the spotlight this month is Grant Baker from One Agency Noosa in Queensland.

Grant has worked in real estate sales for the last 10 years and he joined One Agency in October 2013. We asked him to share his experience with us.

What do you love about your work in real estate? What drives you?
I love the flexibility of real estate and the unlimited potential on what you can achieve. Sharing the excitement and journeys with buyers and sellers as they make the biggest decisions of their life is fulfilling. Being in control of your own destiny and achieving goals is what drives me. Having lost my Mother during 2013 also motivates me to make her proud.

What attracted you to the One Agency business model?
The modern world of real estate is forever evolving and One Agency is at the forefront of that evolution which is why I chose to join the group. The business model is perfectly geared towards the self-motivated agent wanting to achieve personal success and retain all the profits of their labour.

How is the brand working for you?
The response to the brand from the market has been very positive and we are looking forward to making it even stronger in 2014. Administratively it has been extremely efficient which has been very important to getting up and running. It is encouraging to see some of the leading agents in the area keeping a close eye on our progress and sellers being so impressed with the professionalism and sharpness of our marketing materials.

Would you recommend One Agency to others? 
Without hesitation! I have worked for some of the leading agencies in the country and volume is at the forefront of their business models to make profit. With One Agency you can market as many or as few properties as you like, allowing you to focus more importantly on service and maximizing profits. 

What do you think keeps your prospective vendors awake at night when they are considering listing their property?
Confusion. Every vendor knows what their property is worth but they are then often confused by discussions with agents. It’s a massive decision when it comes time to sell a property.

Housing Affordability

Tom Panos – Real Estate Myths Debunked

In this blog, taken from Real Estate Business Online, Tom Panos busts some common myths about real estate:

Myth #1: The most successful real estate salespeople are born, not made
Fact:
Incorrect. Yes, a good agent may have a tendency and inclination to be a savvier negotiator with better people skills, but these are things that can be learnt and nurtured. Research shows that at a maximum, people are operating at 50 per cent of capability which means the majority of human beings are not realising their potential.

Myth #2: Agents that write $1m in gross commission do a lot of cold calling
Fact:
There is no evidence that seven figure agents do cold calling. Seven figure agents run an attraction business that is built on momentum; their prospecting is best defined as either “warm” or “smart” calling. They simply are nurturing contacts they already have. In marketing this is called “lead nurturing”. At one stage they did have to do cold calling, but most of these agents have got to a level where they are having more calls come in than calls go out.

One Agency Christmas Wreath

Christmas Cheer after a Fantastic Year for One Agency

Christmas is almost here after an extremely busy and productive year at One Agency.

We’ve seen tremendous growth in the business and 2014 is already shaping up as we continue to welcome new members into our group.

We ran two very successful conferences in July and November at Brighton Le Sands which had record attendance and a great deal of knowledge sharing among our members. One of the big advantages of joining One Agency is the mutually supportive culture of our group and I’m pleased to say that this goes from strength to strength as we grow. 

Tom Panos presented at both conferences, he gave us many useful tools to help build and grow both our businesses and our lives. If you’d like a recap of his presentations or if you didn’t make it to the conferences you can watch some videos we made of him here.

Real Estate Business – Is FEAR Holding You Back?

As the Managing Director of One Agency I talk to a lot of real estate agents who are unhappy in their current situation.

Many are considering taking the leap into starting their own agency and the biggest hurdle in making that decision is often fear.

An acronym I like for FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. You may be sick of working for a principal who retains more than 50% of your hard earned commission, or you may be a principal who is sick of feeding the ever hungry franchise head office with your hard earned profits. What’s stopping you from taking control of your financial future?

If you are fearful of opening your own business or moving out from the constraints of a traditional franchise, it would be productive to identify what the specific items are, that make you feel that way.

You need to analyse each of those fears and determine if they are ‘real’ or not.

Fear is a paralysing emotion and generally doesn’t achieve anything much positive. That is of course unless it’s fear your personal safety, such as crossing a busy road, which is to be respected. However for the most part, when we look back at what we were once fearful of we often find that we have usually moved on and it no longer applies.  This is what typically happens if you plan to open a business, you feel the fear and then do it anyway, then wonder what it was you were fearful about in the first place! The perceived fear is ALWAYS greater than the actual situation, in other words, it’s never as bad as you think.

So let’s talk specifics.  You’d love to have your own business (and who wouldn’t like the freedom AND BENEFITS that brings?) but you are fearful. The first thing you should know is that you are completely normal. Totally and utterly normal.

Whenever we step into unfamiliar territory and take a leap of faith, we don’t know what may occur and therefore it makes sense to have certain amount of fear and trepidation. That’s to be expected and it’s perfectly understandable.

Vince Salvatore

One Great Agent – Vince Salvatore Q&A

Each month we interview ONE of our members to discover their story and have them share their experience with us.

Under the spotlight this month is Vince Salvatore from One Agency The Parks in South Western Sydney.

Vince has worked in real estate for more than 11 years and joined One Agency just 6 weeks ago, we welcome Vince to One Agency and asked him to share his experience with us.

What do you love about your work in real estate? What drives you?
I love selling real estate, it’s very rewarding, especially when you get to meet so many lovely people that are looking for that right next home or their very first investment property or indeed first home buying.

What attracted you to the One Agency business model?
After contemplating working for myself again I didn’t really want to start from scratch with an office with high rent, multiple staff to man it and chasing a management portfolio too. The One Agency model works perfectly, as I have begun with a small office at home, no staff concerns, for now and knowing that I can be of even more service to my clients plus the rewards stay purely in-house.

How is the brand working for you?
Love it, love it love it!  People are commenting on it’s fantastic modern look , it looks professional and it’s really getting noticed.

Would you recommend One Agency to others? 
Absolutely.. All the above reasons just for starters. The flexibility of doing things your own way, being professional about it and knowing it’s your baby…..no one can spoil it, mark it, damage your reputation…….only you can. That’s a great motivator right there.

What do you think keeps your prospective vendors awake at night when they are considering listing their property? Ultimately it comes down to …WHO CAN I TRUST? That’s really the only question. If you have, and continue building a respected name & reputation for yourself, you are the ONE agent they will call.

News from One Agency Real Estate Group

One Agency News from Head Office – October 2013

We’re excited to announce that we now have more than 100 One Agency agents in Australia and are growing bigger every day – it’s a great to see our brand out there in competition with the big franchises.

We’d like to offer ONE big congratulations to our 3 businesses in the Illawarra just south of Sydney on the coast who recently featured 16 full pages in the local newspaper, the Illawarra Mercury –  One Agency Denison-Pender & Moore, One Agency Zeidler Hayman and One Agency Sally Absalom. They came only second to Ray White who have been long established in the region and have 9 large offices. 

The One Agency Head Office has recently moved to new premises in Brookvale – the  ‘Lifestyle Working Building’ . It’s a benchmark ‘green’ building that provides considerable energy and environmental savings whilst offering us fresh air, sunlight, creative spaces, health facilities and a great community to work within. Located at 117 Old Pittwater Rd, Brookvale, adjoining Warringah Mall, we’re loving our new home.

Real Estate Business

Real Estate Business – Why One Agency? Paul Davies shares his vision.

I’m often asked what inspired me to start One Agency. In truth, it was my wife Annie. 

They say behind every great man there’s a woman. While I’m not a great man, there’s a great woman behind me. 

Annie sparked my thinking back in 2006 when I’d just sold a major franchise business and started a boutique business. I experienced first-hand how the advantages of a major franchise could blend with a boutique business (which is essentially what One Agency is) and that operating costs were the critical factor that determined success or failure.

After 35 years in the industry I was able to draw on my experiences to develop a new and innovative business model that would serve agents better now and into the future, being a more sustainable model.

I honestly I thought that straight away agents would be knocking down my door to join, but the first 10 were like pulling teeth! My belief in the idea kept me going… Now we appear to be an overnight success after 6 years! 

News from One Agency Real Estate Group

One Agency News from Head Office – September 2013

It’s been a busy month at One Agency HQ with a host of new members joining.

We are pleased to announce that we now have more than 100 agents in the One Agency Group!

With 12 new members and 17 individual agents joining us in the last month, we are Australia’s fastest growing brand. If you want to find out more, contact us in complete confidentiality.
Tel 1300 79 23 88.

We’d like to offer ONE big congratulations to Peter and Dean Harper at One Agency Harper Property in Tasmania who won the Best Small Agency of the Year at the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania annual awards last week.

Dean and Peter have worked tirelessly at building their business and are going great guns in their marketing campaigns – follow them on Facebook.

Vanessa Denison Pender One Agency

One Great Agent – Vanessa Denison-Pender

Each month we interview ONE of our members to discover their story and have them share their experience with us.

Under the spotlight this month is Vanessa Denison-Pender from One Agency Denison-Pender Property,  specialising in properties located from Stanwell Park to Woonona in the northern area of the Illawarra, NSW.

Vanessa has been in real estate for 10 years and she established her One Agency office just under 12 months ago, after being very active agents in the local area with leading franchises such as Ray White and McGrath.

What do you love about your work in real estate? What drives you?
I love real estate because you get to work with real people in real life situations, people needing homes for their families, downsizing their needs, accommodating the elderly, buying and renting investment properties etc. etc and so it goes on.  I love being part of my local community. 

What attracted you to the One Agency business model?
The simplicity of the model and knowing that I’ve been doing it so long now that it really was time to do it for myself.  The One Agency model is a perfect vehicle that allows established agents to take the next step and the people are so nice too!

How is the brand working for you?
It’s a great brand that people seem to be recognising as a new ‘boutique’ style of agency.  We keep a simple, hands-on approach.  Being business owners attention to detail and client care is our guiding principle.

Would you recommend One Agency to others?
Absolutely, if you’re thinking ‘I can do this for myself’ it’s probably time to do it. Back yourself and get on with it.  It’s a bit scary, but worth it.  You get to have a great business and even better lifestyle.  Instead of giving away 50% of your hard earned commission and selling twice as many homes, you can sell less and still earn the same amount!  As my partner says, ‘it’s a no brainer’.

What do you think keeps your prospective vendors awake at night when they are considering listing their property?
Will my agent give my property the service I’m looking for or just treat me a just another sale? How important is my business to them?

One Agency Tony Quattroville

One Great Agent – Tony Quattroville Q&A

Each month we interview ONE of our members to discover their story and have them share their experience with us.

Our great agent under the spotlight this month is Tony Quattroville from One Agency Tony Quattroville, specialising in the North Curl Curl, Dee Why and Beacon Hill areas of the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

Tony has been in real estate for 28 years and he has been with One Agency for the past 2 ½ years .

What do you love about your work in real estate?
I am a people person so I love the interaction that you have with sellers and buyers.

What drives you?
Referral and repeat business, and the challenge and success of knowing that I have achieved the very best result for my vendors, yet still having purchasers ecstatic because they have found the property of their dreams.

What attracted you to the One Agency business model?
1. The ease in which it enabled me to set up my own real estate business, providing an established and effective One Agency operating platform together with professional marketing material and branding.

2. The fact that the One Agency model is not a franchise, allowing me to retain control of my business and retain 100% of the selling fee. 

How is the brand working for you?
My clients love the marketing material and the fact that One Agency is a network of agents across Australia yet still retains a boutique agency feel.

Would you recommend One Agency to others and if so can you state why?
Technology has now changed the face of real estate so any agent with a proven track record has the ability via the One Agency operating platform to run a successful real estate business without sharing the commissions with a Principal under a typical real estate agency office set up.  

News from One Agency Real Estate Group

One Agency – News from Head Office June 2013

In this edition of News from One Agency Head Office, we’ve welcomed more agents into the fold over the past few months including Peter & Angie Robinson from Western Australia.

In Tasmania, Phillip Kelly is setting up a second business to cover the Hobart area in addition to the Southern Tasmanian regions of Sorell and Bellerive. Annette Pinkerton also joins us in Newcastle and made the move to set up her own business with One Agency earlier in June.

Annette has worked in real estate for the past 4 years with Century 21 and has a diverse background in finance, sales & marketing, people management and training across a broad range of industries. 

Although her real estate experience is recent, Annette has an impeccable sales history spanning 20 years and since entering the industry she’s received many awards. 

News from One Agency Real Estate Group

One Agency – News from Head Office May 2013

In news from One Agency Head Office: May has been a busy month so far with preparations for AREC on the Gold Coast on the 19th and 20th May 2013.

Come and say hello at One Agency Head Office and discover why One Agency is the fastest growing real estate brand in Australia. You’ll find us at Booth 55.

There is an excellent line-up of speakers including Chris Gardner – the real life inspiration behind the Academy Award nominated movie The Pursuit of Happyness

We’ve had more new members join us this month and will be announcing them over the coming weeks. This week we’d like to welcome Trevor Byrne and Peter Cutuli from One Agency Carnes Hill in Western Sydney.

Michael Lister One agency The Forest

ONE Great Agent: Michael Lister Q&A

Each month we interview ONE Great Agent – one of our members to discover their story and have them share their experience with us.

Under the spotlight this month is Michael Lister from One Agency The Forest in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney.

Michael has been in real estate since 2008 after 25 years in the motor trade where he was General Sales Manager for Ferrari. He joined One Agency in May 2010 with business partner Chris Naylor. 

What do you love about your work in real estate? What drives you?
In real estate, you have an opportunity that is unique in the business of selling. You create your own inventory by gaining the listing. In my opinion this part is the ‘sell’ because you are selling yourself to the potential vendor. The ‘negotiate’ is to the buyer and it is here that your skills as a true sales person comes to the fore. Anyone can stand there, taking offers, but a true sales person will work those offers, extracting everything possible to create the best outcome for their vendor. Once the right outcome has been achieved you can then hold your head high, knowing you have done the best job possible.

What attracted you to One Agency business model?
One Agency works best for Chris and I as it allows us to tailor our business to suit both our style and our community. This ‘un-chains’ us from the complex corporate structures that the franchises are laboured with. When we were setting up in business, we were approached by some big name franchises and the set up costs were horrific. We figured ‘why are we going to work so hard for somebody else’s benefit?’ and so we decided to go with the One Agency model which suited us much better and allowed us to steer our own ship.

How is the brand working for you?
It is working very well for us, allowing us to grow the business at a comfortable rate. The brand gives us the freedom to build our business without constraint.

Would you recommend One Agency to others?
We would and have recommended the One Agency brand but only to those who have self-drive and who don’t want to be pigeon holed. You need to be a self-starter to build any kind of business and have the determination to achieve goals.

AREC-2013 One Agency Booth 55

Meet One Agency at AREC 19th + 20th May 2013

We will be at AREC on the 19th and 20th May 2013

Come and say hello and discover why One Agency is the fastest growing real estate brand in Australia. You’ll find us at AREC Booth 55.

There is an excellent line-up of speakers including Chris Gardner – the real life inspiration behind the Academy Award nominated movie The Pursuit of Happyness.

Where? THE GOLD COAST CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE
2684 -2690 Gold Coast Highway, Broadbeach, Queensland AUSTRALIA 

 



At One Agency we are always open for a conversation, so if you have anything to say in response or have any questions, please contact us.

T  1300 79 23 88 
+61 2 8039 2110 (International)

Arec Flyer 2013