McGrath’s national stars continue winning ways

In the McGrath agency network across Australia, the Belconnen and Gungahlin office continues to shine in national awards, held this year in Fox Studios, Sydney.

During a glittering night that celebrated culture, professionalism and performance, the national awards were a reminder real estate can be fun, but at its core are hard-working, committed service providers.

McGrath Belconnen and Gungahlin received one of the highest accolades in the agency’s network of 97 offices, winning the coveted Office of the Year award.

While the 2018 financial year provided economic challenges, McGrath, which has three offices in Canberra, is enjoying unprecedented growth.

McGrath Belconnen and Gungahlin also celebrated wins for Client Service of the Year through Jess Doolan and Leasing of the Year through Alex Piatrova. The high-performing agency was also a finalist in the Property Manager of the Year category with Jessica Talbot.

Canberra Principal Craig Chapman says since country girl Jessica Doolan moved to Canberra she has given her all helping clients.

“Many of our clients have gone out of their way to let us know about the positive experience they have had with Jessica Doolan,” Craig says.

For the second year in a row Alex Piatrova has won the award for Leasing of the Year.

“We are fortunate in that we have one of the larger property management portfolios in town. By virtue of that we do have a lot of activity coming in and out.

“To have one single person to manage the entire process, from marketing property, meeting with customers (potential tenants) and choosing suitable tenants and getting them in, and doing due diligence.

“Alex does probably 40 to 60 leases per month. Some agencies would do that every six to eight months,” Craig says.

The awards’ haul brings to 15 the total of National Excellence awards for the agency. The ongoing success can be put down to recruiting and training people.

“Success at the back-end means you have to put more energy in the front-end, onboarding people, performance-managing people, also having the cultural aspects of them feeling comfortable and safe to grow and be who they are within the confines of our commercial business,” Craig says.

“While we are a fun business, we are a professional services firm and as such we have stringent processes to follow, for sure.”

As the managing partner, Craig gets involved in the recruiting process. “I am fortunate to have a fantastically talented management and admin team including Suzi Wells our general manager,” he said.

Towards the end of the recruitment process, Craig will chat with the short-listed candidates to discover who they are as a person and what they need to grow and feel comfortable and safe.

“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved in our 10 years and counting commitment to the Canberra real estate market and would like to thank our brilliant team and all of our clients who have given us the opportunity to make it easier to buy, rent and sell,” he says.

“We now boast one of the largest and most experienced real estate teams in Canberra with over 70 professionals working across residential and new home sales, project sales, property investment management and financial services.”

While tight lending restrictions have been eased, the flow on is yet to arrive in the residential market. Craig expects the easier availability of housing finance to be more evident in the spring selling season.

To experience the McGrath difference phone today on 6123 8000 or visit McGrath.com.au

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