6 July 2010

Raine & Horne opens two new offices on the booming Central Coast

Raine & Horne has opened two new offices on the Central Coast at Saratoga and Davistown, which are owned and operated by locals Bill Lincoln and Jan Gairn-Bowcock.

The offices officially opened for business on June 21, 2010 at Raine & Horne Saratoga, 8 Mimosa Avenue, Saratoga and Raine & Horne Davistown, Shop 2, 10 Davistown Road, Davistown.

With over 25 years experience as an estate agent and auctioneer on the Central Coast, Bill Lincoln was looking forward to a new business opportunity.

“After many years working for various agents and for myself, Jan and I saw an opportunity to join forces and at the same time fill a niche in the marketplace by going into the real estate business together,” Bill said.

“Not wanting to go out on a limb too far, we knew we wanted to be part of a franchise. I had previously worked with Raine and Horne so we decided to investigate franchise opportunities with them.

Born and raised on the Central Coast, Jan Gairn-Bowcock started her career in advertising and marketing but has spent the past 11 years in real estate, on her own and also working with various agents.

Jan said Raine and Horne was highly respected in the industry.

"We were extremely impressed with their proactive approach to business and their investment in ‘cutting edge’ real estate technology and systems," she said.

“Both the locals many of our landlords welcomed the idea of a Raine & Horne office managing their investment properties, as it’s a name that they know and trust.

Bill said there was significant growth in the property market on the Central Coast.

"We are seeing many of buyers moving up from Sydney, due to the close proximity, lifestyle and price comparison compared to Sydney suburbs. About 40% of the population currently commute to Sydney for work," he said.

“At the highest end of the market, you can expect to pay up to $4.5million for a waterfront property in Saratoga, while waterfronts in Davistown are currently achieving up to $1.7million.

"Generally speaking, residential allotments in and around the Saratoga and Davistown areas are at the $400,000 to $750,000 mark, which is still reasonably cheaper than bigger centres such as Sydney."

Jan said the local property market was experiencing an increasingly strong demand for residential properties which equated to an even greater demand for rental properties.

“Roughly 75% of properties are owner/occupied while 25% are investment properties,” she said.

“Any homes that become available for rent are being snapped up within a 48 hour period and in the past six months rental return has risen from an average of $260 per week to the $330 / $340 mark."

Raine & Horne CEO, Angus Raine said he was excited by the prospect of working with Bill and Jan, who both had successful backgrounds in real estate and were well known and well respected in the area.

For all your property needs contact Raine & Horne Saratoga on (02) 4369 3078 or Raine & Horne Davistown on (02) 4369 4222.

Raine & Horne is an iconic Australian property firm, with more than 400 offices worldwide.

Also an established 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 further media information, contact:

Angus Raine, CEO Raine & Horne: 0409 920 697

Bill Lincoln, Proprietor Raine & Horne, Saratoga / Davistown: 0419 496 324

Jan Gairn-Bowcock, Proprietor Raine & Horne, Saratoga / Davistow: 0421 327 507

Rebecca Williams, National Systems and Support Coordinator, Raine & Horne: (02) 9258 5410.