1 March 2010

Lachlan Yeates named top salesperson for 2009

Leading Northern Beaches real estate agent Lachlan Yeates has beaten some of the biggest names in Australian real estate to win Raine & Horne’s prestigious 2009 Top Sales Person (number of sales) award.

Announced at the recent 2009 Raine & Horne Chairman’s Awards at the glitzy Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, Mr Yeates, a co-proprietor of Raine & Horne Collaroy, Raine & Horne Dee Why and Raine & Horne Commercial Dee Why, defeated strong field, including previous winner and leading agent Michael Pallier from Raine & Horne Double Bay.

Mr Yeates also grabbed fifth in the Top Sales Person (dollar value) and a Chairman’s Award for his outstanding service to Raine & Horne.

Raine & Horne Collaroy and Dee Why co-proprietor Peter Mosedale, said the awards reflected Mr Yeates’ hard work selling homes on Sydney’s Northern Beaches over the past 13 years, and his ability to relate to buyers and sellers.

“Around 50% of Lachlan’s focus is project marketing. In 2009 alone he sold three entire blocks of home units and this helped underpin his success,” said Mr Mosedale, who himself grabbed a top ten finish in the sales person (number of sales) category and a Chairman’s Award.

“Lachlan has a personable way that people relate to, which makes him a born salesman," he said.

The dynamic offices also combined to win the Top Multiple Office award for their work in commercial and residential sales and property management. The team also won fourth in the Top Office (number of residential sales) and third in Top Office (dollar value) categories.

James Daly and Martin Orth also won Chairman’s Awards, which were presented by property doyen, Max Raine, Chairman of Raine & Horne. Kirsty Poole won a Chairman’s award for Property Management.

Raine & Horne Commercial Dee Why’s Vincent West grabbed third in the Top Commercial Salesperson (Leasing) category.

Also, Jenna Patterson was named an Outstanding Receptionist for 2009, while Belinda Yeates won an award for Outstanding Corporate Support.

“Belinda has been in real estate for more than a decade and her holistic approach to the industry, from sales and sales support to property and office management, is unparalleled,” Mr Mosedale said.

“She has an excellent eye for detail from written communication to managing our systems, protocols and trust accounting.”

Another director of Raine & Horne Collaroy & Dee Why, David Gilmore, praised Jenna Patterson, who started her property career straight from school and was recently elevated to a role in property management. “We’ve seen a transformation in Jenna, who is a dynamic and bright eyed performer. She is instrumental in training new recruits to our business,” Mr Mosedale said.

Combined, the offices earned 15 awards and Mr Gilmore said marketing, hard work and enthusiasm were core ingredients in the team’s success.

“We spend four times the industry average on advertising and marketing. We run a sales team that works very hard and is passionate about the Northern Beaches,” he said.

“We’ve also embraced excellent technologies such as rh compass, Raine & Horne’s business and development contact management system. This has enabled us to build an active database of 5600 clients and help match buyers with the right properties.

Looking ahead, Mr Mosedale said a combination of buyer confidence and a shortfall of quality homes for sale will drive the Northern Beaches market in 2010.

“There is the same heat in the market we saw midway through 2009 when the first home buyers were driving demand. Now demand for homes is across all price points, which has forced days on market down from 90 to 25 days.

“If a home is priced correctly it will sell fast and it’s this knowledge that is continuing to drive demand and confidence.

Mr Mosedale said investors had returned, with a single two bedroom apartment in Dee Why attracting 20 investor groups out of a total of 47.

“Investors are not getting good returns from cash, while interest rates are still relatively low.

“Add a rental shortage and strong rental yields and it’s not hard to see why about 30% to 40% of groups through apartments are investors.”

Raine & Horne is an iconic Australian property firm, with more than 370 offices worldwide. It is a recognised, official Superbrand along with the likes of Qantas, Vegemite, Woolworths and Myer. The company has four distinct property service brands including Raine & Horne Residential, Raine & Horne Commercial, Raine & Horne Financial Services and Raine & Horne Rural.

For all your property needs contact: Raine & Horne Dee Why on (02) 9971 9000, Raine & Horne Collaroy on (02) 9982 7733 and Raine & Horne Dee Why Commercial on 9971 9000.

For further media information, contact Peter Mosedale, on (02) 9982 7733 or 0408 177 207.