Harcourt Agency Switches To Local Property Team

Harcourts Agency switches to Local Property Team

Blue turning green is another sign of the dawn of a new era as agents and agencies are fleeing mainstream brands across Australia seeking improved technology, better commission splits, and franchise fees not to mention digital marketing strategies and a work-life balance that is simply more conducive to the modern day.

Brennan Hill the founder of Local Property Team is far too familiar with this as he has had the fortunate opportunity over the past 17 years to work in a gamut of real estate companies and roles from starting out as a junior property manager in a small boutique agency climbing the ranks to a leadership role in a massive publicly listed real estate company to then go and train and consult for Australia’s largest franchise real estate brand all before opening his own successful real estate business.

This unique exposure to the entire ecosystem of real estate businesses of all shapes and sizes is the university degree of credentials and expertise Brennan Hill has used to mold Local Property Team from the ground up. The Local Property Team CEO has seen first hand the limitations of each of these business structures and in particular, the career succession plans and technology required to balance work and life in this evolving industry.

Brennan was so passionate that change was needed in the industry he left his business in Australia’s largest franchise brand two years ago and strategically built Local Property Team from the ground up incorporating the professionalism of the corporate organisations Brennan has worked for in the past while being underpinned by world-class technology and next-level training all wrapped in a brand which is local by name and local by nature.

The brand was specifically created to allow agents on the ground to further embed themselves into the local community and build their personal brand awareness. Brennan Hill believes that the things that had to go from the typical agency were the mainstream brands' insistence on costly and unnecessary high street office locations, expensive franchise fee structures, low commission splits for agents, outdated training and development, no digital marketing strategies or tools for agents and a brand that is not flexible and bespoke for agents in their local area.

“Why should an agent work for an agency that is titled with someone else's name while earning a low commission split because of an office they get no benefit from? Some people close to me said I should just open Brennan Hill Real Estate in a shopping centre but that was never going to happen”

Local Property Team believes that brands should stop trying to overshadow agents and property managers' own names. 

Brennan goes on to say “The leadership of the mainstream brands know more than ever that the name of the agent is far more memorable to the community than the name of the brand alone”

Agents across South East Queensland were immediately attracted to Local Property Team and each of them has flourished giving Brenan the assurance that he was on the right path so he then went on to develop a fixed fee real estate franchise structure that incorporated all of these essential elements.

The marketplace swiftly responded to this fresh new approach to franchising with the switch over of a Harcourts business in Springwood to Local Property Team which cements the brand into the Logan marketplace. Peter Mitchell is the principal of the first Local Property Team franchise and made the decision to move over after being with Harcourts for five years because he says

“Local Property Team has the training required to support my agents in the modern digital era. My agents have commented that the training they have received since joining has been the best they have ever had”

Since launching just two short years ago Local Property Team has been able to establish its local presence in shires across South East Queensland with agents servicing suburbs on the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Scenic Rim, and Moreton and now adding its first franchise in Logan the growth curve of the business is sharp.

This engine room of this new franchise offering is a fully operational real estate business in its own right which allows the development and testing of systems, marketing, and processes in house before being extended to the franchise network removing the need for franchisees having to frustratingly be the test dummies for their traditional franchisor counterparts.

Ryan Pitts who is a lead agent with Local Property Team servicing Burpengary is excited about a career succession plan into business ownership and seeks to transition into a franchise over the coming 12 months through the Local Property Team leadership program.

Ryan listed 12 properties for sale in July in addition to completing $2.8M in unconditional sales all while working remotely with no fixed office and a generous commission split which has put significantly more money in his pocket than with his previous mainstream brand.

One of the wonderful milestones that have come from Ryan’s record month of fantastic results was when one of Ryan’s new clients said

“I’ve seen all the amazing results you have achieved since opening your new local business and I would be more than happy to list my house for sale with you”

This was an extremely proud moment for Ryan and the Local Property Team founder Brennan because the intention was always that a lead agent in any suburb in Australia could grab the brand, training, and support and quickly create a positive public perception in their local marketplace all without needing a high street office location allowing the agent to take a larger share of the commission they have worked so hard for.

Brennan says “This is a great example of how the community perceives that the agent is the owner of the company, just the way it should be.

Brennan says agents and business owners right across the country really need to take ask themselves:

• Do I get the best value for money and if I was to save money what would I invest into for the purpose of bettering myself or my business?
• Have the leaders of my brand ever practiced what they have preached in the modern-day while running their own real estate business?
• Do I have the best possible technology and digital marketing platform to be relevant today and in the future?

If the answer is no to any of these questions it might just be time for a change whether it's with Local Property Team or any of the other pioneers out there working hard to level up the industry and bring much-needed change for our hard-working agents.