Media release - 21^st August, 2014

Sydney real estate powerhouse Raine & Horne Double Bay scoops the pools at the 2014 Raine & Horne National Awards held Tuesday night at Sydney’s iconic Opera House
Chris Weston, Director of Raine & Horne South Australia, won the coveted Max Raine award for service to the network
The awards were the culmination of the 2014 Raine & Horne National Conference, with highlights including the unveiling of Raine & Horne’s new residential and commercial websites, and a new extranet

Underlining the return to form of Sydney’s prestige property markets, Ric Serrao, one of Australia’s leading real estate agents, and his champion team at Raine & Horne Double Bay, proved the big winners at the 2014 Raine & Horne National Awards held at the iconic Sydney Opera House on Tuesday night.

The awards attracted over 300 of Raine & Horne’s best and brightest from its national and international network of offices, with Raine & Horne Double Bay, led by Mr Serrao, and co-principals Martin Maskin, Barry Goldman and Mark Goldman, grabbing the gold medal categories – Top Office (Dollar Value) and Top Office (Number of Sales).

The Eastern Suburbs powerhouse scored wins in the hotly-contested Top Salesperson (Number of Sales) category, where Mr Serrao pipped NSW Central Coast ace, Andrew Sorensen from Raine & Horne Charmhaven. Paul Langsam, a sales agent from Raine & Horne Double Bay, was named the leading network’s Top Salesperson (Dollar Value), finishing ahead of another NSW Central Coast agent, Garth Hunter, from Raine & Horne Terrigal/Avoca Beach.

Raine & Horne Double Bay also grabbed first in the Top Principal (Dollar Value) category, with Mr Serrao again tipping out Mr Sorensen. However, the Charmhaven sales ace got one back on Mr Serrao with his victory in the Top Salesperson (Auction Listing) category.

Other winners included Raine & Horne Bathurst, which grabbed first in the Top Country Office category, while Raine & Horne Wellington scored first place as Raine & Horne’s Top Rural Office. Raine & Horne Terrigal/Avoca Beach, ably led by Garth and Brett Hunter, was named the Top Coastal Office.

In a fitting finale to the evening, Chris Weston, Director of Raine & Horne South Australia, was named the Max Raine Award winner for 2014. The award recognises Mr Weston’s significant contributions to the real estate industry in South Australia and the Raine & Horne brand.

“This is a fitting award, as my father Max Raine was instrumental in recruiting Chris to Raine & Horne about two decades ago,” said Raine & Horne Chairman/CEO, Angus Raine.

“In this time, Chris has been hugely instrumental in building and expanding the reputation of the Raine & Horne brand in South Australia.

“He is a truly worthy recipient of the prestigious Max Raine Award.”

Apart from unveiling the network’s star performers, the Opera House spectacular was the culmination of a highly successful 2014 Raine & Horne National Conference, which included previews of a number of exciting new initiatives. This included the redesigned rh.com.au and rhc.com.au websites.

“With 80% of internet traffic expected to be on a mobile device by 2015, we are building our websites with a mobile first strategy – that is, with the mobile consumer top of mind,” said Mr Raine.

“This will deliver a more content-rich website that further increases our ability to capture vendors and landlords when they start searching for properties.

“The redesign will be completed with a large focus on delivering more information to consumers by way of video, blogs, downloadable guides and social media.”

The leading real estate firm also launched Scout, its innovative one-stop shop extranet.

“Via Scout, which will be integrated with our social media platforms, our offices will have access to the latest Raine & Horne, industry and regulatory news, as well links to other systems such as rhcompass, marketing materials, templates and user guides,” said Mr Raine.

“News feeds are continually updated, and it will also be a virtual podium for announcements, events and reward and recognition campaigns.

“Raine & Horne staff will also be able to complete on-line training courses – we have a few locked in currently, with more to be added over the coming months.

“Scout will let us quickly and easily add new sections and new content for people to access.”

As part of its new digital and content marketing focus, Raine & Horne also unveiled its own boutique video production studio, located in the Sydney corporate office.

“Quality video is critical to our sales and content marketing strategies, and the studio will enable us to cost-effectively shoot and develop broadcast quality video for Scout, our consumer communication platform Fusion, and the websites,” said Mr Raine.

The 2014 Raine & Horne National Awards for Excellence winners include:

Top Office (Number of Sales)

Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Office (Auction Listings)

Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Rural Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Wellington

Top Country Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Bathurst

Top Coastal Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Terrigal/Avoca Beach

Top Salesperson (Number of Sales)

Ric Serrao, Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Salesperson (Dollar Value)

Paul Langsam, Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Salesperson (Auction Listings)

Andrew Sorensen, Raine & Horne Charmhaven

Top Principal (Dollar Value)

Ric Serrao, Raine & Horne Double Bay

Max Raine Award

Chris Weston, Director, Raine & Horne South Australia

-ENDS-

For further media information please contact:

Angus Raine, CEO, Raine & Horne on 02 9258 5422 or 0409 920 697

Andrew Harrington, National Marketing & Communications Coordinator on 02 9258 5400

Sydney real estate powerhouse wins big at industry real estate awards