The Harcourts Academy is the first real estate company owned training provider to achieve active RTO status in every state of Australia.

Just last week Harcourts achieved RTO status in New South Wales,   allowing the Harcourts Academy to become a nationwide supplier of real estate training.

Irene Green, Head of the Harcourts Academy, said the Academy had been established since 2002, providing top quality, up-to-date real estate education to hundreds of industry professionals on a monthly basis.

“We now offer 17 units of competency, including 30 specialist classroom programmes and 22 online learning programmes,” she said.

“Our online programmes are what are particularly unique to the Harcourts Academy.

“At Harcourts there is a large focus on technology, and the Academy has embraced this focus over the last year,” she said.

“We deliver our online programmes via state of the art systems created by our in-house multimedia team. Our platform includes an interactive online working area, video, live webinars, and online study groups,” she said.

In tandem with these offerings is the Future Leaders Programme, which is about developing the leaders of our future.

“With this programme, we are providing a quality career path and an opportunity to strengthen both personal and professional skills required for management and ownership,” Ms Green said.

“At our recent Harcourts Business Leaders conference, it was great to see more than 30 future leaders in attendance, which is a testament to the programme,” she said.

Going forward this year, the Harcourts Academy will be focusing on creating more training programmes and fostering the leaders of tomorrow through all business development activities.

“2010 has and will continue to be a very significant milestone year for the Harcourts Academy.

“Achieving active RTO status in all states of Australia is a major coup, and one we are very proud of. We are looking forward to further success throughout the year,” Ms Green said.

For more information please contact us at Academy.

Harcourts' David Martin collecting award at last years' conference

This year, the event’s slogan is “Leading the Revolution”. The real estate industry is changing at a rapid pace, and this conference will provide all attendees with the tools to achieve great success in 2010 and the years to come.

Mr Green is a LeadingRE board member and he also chairs the organisation’s International Advisory Board, comprised of non-U.S. members committed to expanding the value proposition of the company’s international membership programs.

While in the US, Mr Green will be attending several meetings regarding new opportunities for expansion for Harcourts.

“I will be talking with several parties in Los Angeles about Harcourts’ potential entry into the US real estate market.

“At this stage these opportunities are still emerging, so we don’t have one particular party we are in discussions with,” Mr Green said.

Already the largest real estate group in New Zealand and the fastest growing in Australia, Harcourts joined Leading Real Estate Companies of the World™ as the exclusive South Pacific member in 2003 in order to provide international marketing exposure for Harcourts’ clients’ property.

As a member of LeadingRE, Harcourts International can assist individuals to relocate virtually any community in the US or abroad and can meet corporate relocation needs through the network’s sister relocation company, RELO Direct.

With more than 5,500 offices and 170,000 sales associates in the United States and 35 countries abroad, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World™ affiliates sell more than US$400 billion in home sales representing more than 1.3 million transactions annually, outselling any international franchise and leading the world in the sales of $1 million-plus homes.

Harcourts Financial Services

experienced significant growth through 2009 with robust targets set for its next financial year.

HFS will focus on continuing this growth via some robust targets set for the next 12 months.

CEO of HFS Andy Graham said the division is looking to build on the good growth achieved in 2009.

“Our monthly written applications increased by 149 per cent from what we were achieving at the start of the year,” said Mr Graham.

“We have a base of 45 outstanding mortgage consultants right around the country, with the aim to continue to build our team to 70 high-quality, industry-compliant people over the next 12 months.

The opportunity that arises from the Harcourts Real Estate Gateway, coupled with our strong focus to add some real value to the clients property transaction gives our brokers an ideal scenario to build a significant business,” he said.

“We have a strong focus on developing our people via business planning, industry training, and personal development.

“This is evidenced by one of our team members, Meagan Fry, becoming a finalist at the upcoming MFAA Excellence awards to be held in Sydney on 12 March, Mr Graham said.

Meagan has been nominated in the highly competitive 2010 MFAA Excellence Award individual achievement category.

2010 will be a significant year in the mortgage brokering industry with the impending Credit Licensing Regulations.

“I see this new regulation as a real positive for our business and will assist in building the professionalism of our industry.

“It will weed out the cowboys and under-achievers from the dedicated industry participants, as well as improving our positioning and credibility in the market place.”

“We look forward to our next financial year, assisting our clients, developing a one stop scenario for all Harcourts clients, and continuing to diversify our business via other avenues such general and risk insurance sales, and asset finance opportunities.”

Harcourts has announced today a new joint venture with NAI Global that will significantly expand the commercial reach and services Harcourts can offer in Australia and New Zealand.

As the latest arm of the Harcourts global empire, NAI Harcourts will take its first steps in Australia and New Zealand this year.

NAI Global is the world’s leading managed commercial network of 5,000 commercial property professionals and 325 offices in 55 countries throughout the world.

A joint venture between Harcourts and NAI Global will introduce a strong global platform of commercial real estate brokerage services to support corporate end users, investors and financial institutions locally and around the world.

NAI Harcourts have now appointed commercial real estate industry veteran Christopher Nicholl as CEO for the new venture. Mr Nicholl recently spoke of the company’s plans in Las Vegas at NAI Global’s annual convention and at Harcourts’ annual Business Leaders Conference.

He comes to NAI Harcourts with more than 20 years’ experience in the commercial property industry. Prior to NAI Harcourts, he was based in Singapore as International Director and Regional Managing Director, Project and Development Services, Asia Pacific with Jones Lang LaSalle. Nicholl also previously served as Executive Director and Board member of Colliers Australia.

Harcourts Managing Director Mike Green said Harcourts is a global real estate franchise group that has more than 625 offices around the world.

“Expanding our presence in the commercial sector is a significant step for the Harcourts Group, and a necessary one to take the company’s growth to the next level,” Mr Green said.

“Over the past few years the market has grown to exceed $1 billion in revenue; yet at the same time we have seen very few new entrants, which offers NAI Harcourts a tremendous opportunity,” Mr Green said.

President and Chief Executive Officer of NAI Global Jeffrey Finn said, “NAI Global has been looking for ways to grow a presence in Australia and New Zealand, and Harcourts is the perfect partner for us to do so.

“The quality and strength of the Harcourts organisation in Australia and New Zealand, combined with NAI Global’s international commercial real estate platform creates a powerful platform for NAI Harcourts,” Mr Finn said.

“NAI Harcourts will give us a strong presence and powerful business generation engine in this important part of the world, connecting businesses and investors from around the globe to this escalating market,” Mr Finn said.

“During the last 12 months we have seen the RBA act cautiously, which allowed market growth to gain its momentum before the RBA took further action. This is a very sensible approach in my opinion,” Mr Green said.

“Harcourts has seen a steady market, with figures across the Harcourts Group in February of this year reflecting a twelve per cent increase on February 2009.

“While this percentage increase isn’t large, it’s steady, which indicates a market that is ready for a minor increase like this rise of 25 base points,” he said.

“And interest rates are still very low compared to historical numbers, so I consider a cash rate of four per cent to be extremely favourable,” he said.

“We must bear in mind the Australian economy has performed well during the last two years in comparison with other countries.”

This is evident by Treasurer Wayne Swan’s statement yesterday, providing “further evidence that a self-sustaining private sector recovery is starting to take hold.”

This announcement was off the back of the Australian Bureau of Statistic’s data released just yesterday, highlighting Australia’s growth in 2009 with the economy up 2.7 per cent, which makes us one of the strongest advanced economies in the world.

“2008 and 2009 have people acting far more cautiously than they did before, and many live in fear of a second economic plunge.

“The RBA however acted based on statistical fact, rather than being led by trending emotions.

“In tandem with our economic growth rate, our unemployment rate is still sitting at a low 5.3 per cent and retail sales figures are surprising us each month,” he said.

“In addition, RP Data Rismark just released their latest report, which shows solid growth in the property market across the nation.”

“I believe this minor rise will ensure our economic growth is sustainable, rather than letting it perhaps escape our control once again.”

Business Owners Alex Ricciardi, Gordana Caruso and Tracy Garbes all gained management and leadership training through the Harcourts Future Leaders Programme. Each has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the local real estate market, equipping them with an intrinsic knowledge of the Hamilton Hill area.

Opening their own office was a natural progression for the trio, whose experience within the brand convinced them of the strength of support, systems and technology offered to ensure their long-term business success.

“Having been involved with Harcourts for some time, we know and trust the Harcourts support team and have seen how they have helped others get their first businesses up and running. To us, it was vitally important to ensure we have the right support and tools so that our business really thrives, and the best service is provided to clients.”

Mr Ricciardi has worked in the local sales industry for three years while Ms Garbes has worked in the local real estate industry for four years.  Similarly, Ms Caruso has a wealth of real estate experience, having progressed her sales, administration and management skills over the past 14 years.

“Harcourts is such a well established brand, we knew that the resources and support available to us would ensure a superior real estate experience and result for our clients,” Ms Caruso said.

Ms Caruso said the Hamilton Hill team, comprising of eight staff, are looking forward to providing a personal, ethical and exceptional service to the local community.  The team hopes to open a property management division in the near future.

CEO of Harcourts Western Australia, Andrew Moore, said, “The team of owners at the new Hamilton Hill office are passionate about providing the highest level of service, in all aspects, to their clients and we are fortunate to have this team representing Harcourts. We look forward to working closely with Alex, Gordana and Tracy into the future. ”

Harcourts is Australasia’s fastest growing real estate organisation, with offices in all states and the Northern Territory, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia and Singapore. Last year, it expanded its operations into Zambia, China, and South Africa., with a total of over 600 offices internationally. For decades Harcourts has prided itself as an industry ground-breaker in real estate technology.

Harcourts is growing rapidly, with nearly 630 offices globally. To cultivate this growth, the company has a strong focus on innovation and communication in all facets of the business.

The Business Leaders Conference is designed for Business Owners and Managers throughout the Harcourts Group to analyse the year gone by and share information about what worked and what didn’t to make the year ahead an even bigger success. Included in the programme are interfirm comparisons, where individual businesses provide their financial information which is then used to compile reports which benchmark their business against the entire group and industry.

There were many other sessions spanning the three days, including business sessions on recruitment, maintaining profit post-recession, property management and leadership.

Harcourts Managing Director, Mike Green made several significant announcements, including The Harcourts Foundation’s milestone achievement – it has now raised more than $500,000 since its launch only 18 months ago.

“Our heads of departments also outlined a number of significant initiatives being undertaken this year in technology, marketing and within our training Academy,” Mr Green said.

“Among the many achievements announced, Harcourts launched its latest iPhone application, http://news.harcourts.net/news/ and the Academy announced its RTO status now across every state in Australia, including Victoria, an industry first” he said.

The conference also featured several high quality guest speakers including keynote speaker Giam Swiegers, CEO of Deloitte Australia and motivational speakers James Castrission and Justin Jones; the two young men who kayaked across the Tasman Sea in 2007 unassisted.

“Mr Swiegers addressed Harcourts Business Owners and Managers about how driving deeply into his organisation has supported business growth, recruitment and performance. What Giam has achieved with Deloitte is remarkable, so to have him share just how he went about it was a real privilege for our Group.” Mr Green said.

“Our focus on innovation and collaborative communication is critical in a rapidly changing 21st century,” he said.

“In fact we regard innovation as a responsibility not just a right for all our practitioners.”

This is the first conference for the year for Harcourts, with the national sales Conference happening in May 2010.

“The Conference in May usually attracts upward of 800 delegates from within the Harcourts family, which is a massive event that only gets bigger with each year,” Mr Green said.

Local real estate agents Brad Nicholls and Silvio Pahor began negotiations at the end of last year and have now seen their dream become a reality.

Brad Nicholls is also the business owner of the award winning Harcourts Berwick, bringing significant experience to this new joint venture.

Both owners have been in the industry for approximately 15 years, and are excited about the strategic entering of the Beaconsfield market.

Brad Nicholls said after operating successfully in Berwick for nearly four years, now was the time to invest into this magnificent opportunity for growth.

“We chose to open in Beaconsfield because we thought with the strength of the Harcourts brand now in the South East and with the success of the office in Berwick, an office focused on the neighbouring suburb of Beaconsfield was a natural progression.

“The Beaconsfield market is currently very strong, which means there is great opportunity for growing market share with Harcourts’ superior systems,” Mr Nicholls said.

Business owner Silvio Pahor said there are future plans to expand into other areas in the South East region.

“Our initial focus will be on integrating the two offices, operating as one team, and obviously getting Beaconsfield office off to a flying start,” Mr Pahor said.

Both Brad and Silvio have been operating and living locally their entire real estate careers, which gives the business a significant knowledge base, for ensuring the best price is reached for each client.

CEO of Harcourts Victoria, Brent Pullar said how pleased Harcourts is to see Brad and Silvio opening an office in Beaconsfield.

“We know from his previous results of Harcourts Berwick that Brad is an outstanding business practitioner who has a passion for delivering the best possible results for his clients.

“Silvio has the same drive, and we look forward to working with these two gentlemen,” Mr Pullar said.

Harcourts’ WA team was actively involved in the interactive business sessions, with several leaders participating in panels and workshops, including Neil Honey of Harcourts Busselton (panellist), Ben Bernacki and Michelle Rigg of Harcourts Alliance (panellists) and Michael Clay of Harcourts Integrity (forum participant).

These individuals have been in real estate for many years, each shared their expertise, particularly in the area of residential sales and property management.

Harcourts WA CEO, Andrew Moore said the Business Leaders Conference is a significant industry event that this year attracted 520 of the group’s business leaders, including delegates from New Zealand, China and South Africa.

“I am proud to say many Harcourts WA business owners were actively sourcing innovative and proven business strategies to implement in their own business operations,” Mr Moore said.

“This year’s theme for Harcourts nationwide is ‘One Team, In Touch’. The value of effective, pro-active communication is something all Harcourts WA team members took out of this conference.

“We have more than 30 offices throughout WA, and Harcourts has nearly 630 offices globally, so it’s very important to keep in touch with each other, as well as our customers,” he said.  Along with the hands-on workshops, the conference key-notes were exceptional.

“Developing a company full of “agile leaders” was highlighted by Giam Swiegers, CEO of Deloitte.   The room was at times hushed but often hysterical as we heard the exploits of the inspirational young men, Justin and James, who kayaked across the Tasman Sea.

Harcourts is seeing a flourishing WA market this year after a year of instability in the marketplace.

“This conference was designed to aid owners in managing a business during this time of growth and assist in regaining stability in business practices,” Mr Moore said.

“Everyone was highly motivated with the information that came out of the seminar, the panels and workshops. I’m looking forward to watching the growth of our Harcourts’ offices as they implement the many strategies learned” Mr Moore said.