Media release

Wednesday 7th March 2012

In-room auctions drive Raine & Horne Marrickville’s winning ways

A renewed focus on ‘in-room auctions’ has assisted leading inner west real estate firm, Raine & Horne Marrickville, to double its sales since 2008, and win a swag of gongs at the 2012 Raine & Horne NSW/ACT annual awards held recently at the prestigious Westin Hotel.

“Three years ago, auctions represented approximately 40% of our total sales, now it’s nearer to 85%,” says Michael Smith, Principal of Raine & Horne Marrickville, which grabbed a top ten finish in the ‘number of sales’ and ‘dollar value’ categories at the awards.

The leading Inner West real estate office, which employs Filippo D’Arrigo, named among Raine & Horne’s leading auction listers in NSW and the ACT, says developing a regular series of in-room auctions has also contributed to its achievements.

“We also decided to work with a regular auctioneer, David Gray from Auctionworks, and this helped us deliver Marrickville homeowners healthy sales results and fast transactions,” says Mr Smith.

“So far this year, for example, around 95% of all properties submitted for auction have sold, which is a tremendous achievement and augurs well for the remainder of 2012.”

In-room auctions, according to Mr Smith, not only take the weather and noisy neighbours out of the sales equation, but also deliver a professional location for sellers and buyers.

“While on-site auctions have their place, we believe in-room auctions provide buyers with a neutral and methodical environment, where they’re also less conspicuous.

“Staging an in-room auction also gives investors and homebuyers the chance to bid on several properties under the one roof.

“This is different to an onsite auction, because even if a bidder misses out on one property, they still have a chance to secure a home,” adds Mr Smith.

Apart from Mr D’Arrigo, who was also named among Raine & Horne’s top ten salespeople for ‘dollar value’ and ‘number of sales’, other Raine & Horne Marrickville winners included Tony Day, who grabbed a top ten finish in the number of sales category, while Maria Hodgson-Smith was named among the Chairman’s Club members for sales in 2011.

Meanwhile Michael Fragakis, Robert Alihodzic and Paul Signorelli were elevated to the Chairman’s Club for property management.

The hard-working team from Raine & Horne Commercial South Sydney/Marrickville also made their mark at the awards, with a top three finish in the Commercial Office (dollar value) category, while Rebecca Lopez was named among Raine & Horne’s best for her unfailing corporate support to Raine & Horne Commercial South Sydney/Marrickville.

“Raine & Horne Marrickville has won these awards because it has doubled its business in three years by immersing itself in Raine & Horne’s systems and tools, as well as totally committing to the auction process,” said Angus Raine, CEO Raine & Horne.

“Michael Smith and his team at Raine & Horne Marrickville are also totally committed to attending training sessions, and have created a dynamic and team-focused working culture, which is underpinning their success.”

For further media information contact:

Michael Smith, Principal Raine & Horne Marrickville on 0407 703 545

Kit Bashford, National Marketing & Communications Manager on 02 9258 5400