For the 18^th straight year, Raine & Horne Double Bay/Bondi Beach led by the impressive Ric Serrao and Martin Maskin has retained its mantle as the Superbrand’s best office in NSW.

However, the Eastern Suburbs juggernaut had some company this year with Raine & Horne’s offices in Batemans Bay, Mollymook Milton and St Marys among the major winners at the awards held at the imposing International Convention Centre (ICC) at Sydney’s Darling Harbour.

The Double Bay firm was named Top Office for Dollar Value, and second for Number of Sales. Mr Serrao was named Top Salesperson (Principal) Dollar Value and placed second in the Top Salesperson (Principal) – Number of Sales. Regularly recognised as one of Australia’s best agents, the hardworking Mr Serrao was named the network’s Top Auction Lister and Raine & Horne Double Bay/Bondi Beach won the Auction Shield – Metropolitan, in recognition of its commitment to the auction process.

In the Top Salesperson (Dollar Value) category, the Double Bay office’s Hannan Bouskila, Paul Langsam and Graham Berman finished in the Top Ten. Mr Bouskila also finished fourth in the Top Salesperson Number of Sales criteria. The Double Bay-based office was also named Top Multiple Office (Dollar Value), while Matt Serrao won recognition as Business Development Manager of the Year.

Mr Serrao told the 400-strong audience at the prestigious event that he was thrilled with his firm's award-winning achievements. “It’s incredible to have a team like we have, where everyone has each other’s backs. They put in so much hard work and it’s awards like this, which provide the recognition for our team.” In addition to its acknowledgement on Saturday night, the Double Bay firm will be recognised as Australia’s best in the Real Estate Agency Single Office category at the Asia Pacific Property Awards in Bangkok on the 14th-15th May.

Head of Sales, Luke Hogan, who has a long history in property sales management, said, “I have never come across a group of individuals quite like this. Ric, Marty and I are blessed to have such an incredible group of real estate professionals who really embody the true meaning of teamwork. They all work tirelessly to achieve the best results possible for their clients whilst living our values of trust, integrity and respect.”

Led by principal Adam Porteous, Raine & Horne Batemans Bay, from the NSW South Coast, was able to upstage its Eastern Suburbs rival by taking first place in the Top Office (Number of Sales) category. Mr Porteous says there is no secret to the success of his team. “It’s a combination of doing the right thing by our clients each deal at a time and the longevity of our team in this market. We don’t have any sales agents with less than ten years of experience,” he said.

Mr Porteous says his team is also happy to adopt the latest technologies such as Amplify, a world first initiative in artificial intelligence (AI) technology that enabled the entire Raine & Horne global network to promote and sell over 6,500 listings in 2018 through social media. “All our agents have used Amplify on campaigns and we even have our administration team encouraging vendors to use it to market their properties as widely as possible.”

In a successful night for the South Coast, Raine & Horne Mollymook/Milton also grabbed Top Ten finishes in the office sales categories. Meanwhile, Ben Pryde, Co-Principal of the Mollymook/Milton firm, won first place in the Top Salesperson (Principal) – Number of Sales, and second in the Top Salesperson (Principal) Dollar Value category.

The Batemans Bay business also finished first in the Top Coastal Office (Dollar Value) category ahead of Raine & Horne Kiama and it took third place in the Top Office (Dollar Value). Also, the firm’s star sales agents Aristotle Stavros, Kate Quinlivan and Bronwyn Geppert were placegetters in the Top Salesperson (Dollar Value) and Top Salesperson (Number of Sales) categories. The trio finished behind the dual winner of these categories, Peter Diamantidis from Raine & Horne St Marys.

Mr Diamantidis, another regular winner of real estate industry awards paid tribute to his long-time principal Vince Turner after scoring his pair of awards. “Since I started at St Marys as a 15-year-old work experience student, Vince has been a fantastic mentor who recognises changing market conditions and has helped me keep my feet firmly planted on the ground,” said Mr. Diamantidis.

“We have also won these awards because, in 2018, we responded to the challenging market conditions in Western Sydney by looking at ways we could enhance our services to buyers.

“Our firm has a strong name in this region, so buyer management is a priority. It means if a buyer doesn’t like a property, we find out what they want and match them to the right house or apartment.

“Our office has leading-edge systems and support in place, and we are using trailblazing social media marketing technology such as Amplify on our campaigns. These campaigns are helping attract more eyeballs to our properties, along with our own social media activities.”

The 2019 Raine & Horne NSW Awards for Excellence winners include:

Top Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Double Bay/Bondi Beach

Top Office (Number of Sales)

Raine & Horne Batemans Bay

Top Salesperson (Number of Sales)

Peter Diamantidis, Raine & Horne St Marys

Top Salesperson (Dollar Value)

Peter Diamantidis, Raine & Horne St Marys

Top Salesperson – Principal (Dollar Value)

Ric Serrao, Raine & Horne Double Bay/Bondi Beach

Top Salesperson – Principal (Number of Sales)

Ben Pryde, Raine & Horne Mollymook/Milton

Top Auction Lister

Ric Serrao, Raine & Horne Double Bay/Bondi Beach

Top Country Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Bathurst

Top Rural Office (Broadacres) Dollar Value

Raine & Horne Southern Highlands

Top Coastal Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Batemans Bay

Product Engagement – Amplify

Raine & Horne Marrickville

Product Engagement – Digikit

Raine & Horne Gosford

Graeme Skarratt Award

Geoff and Sue Tilden, Raine & Horne Gosford and Raine & Horne East Gosford