The programme is part of a national drive to offer job opportunities to those who have skills in business, wish to change career or are looking for a chance to retrain and ‘earn while they learn.’

Supported by New Zealand’s largest real estate company, Harcourts, select offices nationwide have jumped on the chance to upskill and provide employment for professionals who may have had a career in another industry such as teaching, nursing, in a trade, or maybe even the police force.

Harcourts Group Chief Executive, Hayden Duncan says this is an opportunity to provide careers to skilled professionals and to continue to extend the quality of the real estate industry.

“Lately there have been reports in the media about the lack of employment, and skilled professionals unable to gain employment in their particular field of study or trade. What we are offering is an opportunity for educated people with experience in the workforce, a chance to upskill themselves with full support and training so they have a chance to have a successful career over the rest of their working life.”

“The New Zealand Real Estate Scholarship Programme offers a retainer and many benefits that support it to be a substantial package for recipients. Recent regulations and requirements introduced into the industry have ensured that certain levels of professionalism and accountability are delivered to all sellers and buyers.  We want to share the knowledge and professionalism our brand is associated with, to grow the industry in a way that not only delivers outstanding real estate experiences, but in doing so maintains the ‘Harcourts Way’ as the ‘industry standard’ in terms of real estate services,” says Mr. Duncan.

“Real estate is no longer a job that just anyone can enter into as once thought – it is a profession requiring in depth training and for some it can be a life changing career move,” comments Mr. Duncan.

Recipients of the New Zealand Real Estate Scholarship Programme receive a salary plus commission, their national certificate and license in real estate plus full training, with all course expenses paid for; a substantial investment into personal profile marketing material and the support of the best in the business, topped off with attendance to the largest real estate conference in New Zealand in 2013 – all while they learn.  All this comes from within an industry that traditionally has never paid salaries.

The training completed with Harcourts’ Academy, has the largest in-house training facilities of any real estate company in the country, so candidates are in the best of hands and The New Zealand Real Estate Scholarship Programme is available within all areas of real estate covering residential, rural, commercial and industrial sales.
Available to anyone new to selling real estate i.e. has not been actively selling; The New Zealand Real Estate Scholarship Programme will have one intake this year and run for a period of twelve months. After the first twelve months, successful candidates have the opportunity to further advance their real estate career engaging in more advanced training.

There are over 25 scholarships on offer spanning the country from Greater Auckland to Queenstown and the campaign has now been launched on social media sites Facebook, Twitter, online via seek.co.nz, stuff.co.nz, various print and radio stations across the country.

You can apply for The New Zealand Real Estate Scholarship or to find out more information, at www.opennewdoors.co.nz or by free calling 0508 OPEN DOORS.

The majority of the 20 participants are from the Harcourts real estate group, including Cathy and John McLeod of Harcourts Inner East, the catalysts behind the extraordinary challenge.

By the end of the challenge, the trekkers hope to raise over $100,000 for BeyondBlue, Australia’s national depression initiative, through fundraising, sponsorships and donations via The Harcourts Foundation.

The group will depart from Brisbane on the 20^th of April, travelling to Port Moresby before embarking on the eight day Kokoda trek, and returning on the 29^th of April.

The participants from across Australia began training for the eight day trek in dense jungle in hot, humid conditions at altitudes as high as Mt Kosciuszko prior to Christmas.

Mike Green, Harcourts International Managing Director, is thrilled that the McLeod’s and their team are going to such lengths to support The Harcourts Foundation and BeyondBlue.

“Cathy, John and the team are going to extraordinary lengths to support The Harcourts Foundation and BeyondBlue, and I couldn’t be prouder. It’s such a mammoth effort, all in the name of charity and goodwill,” Mr Green said.

Established in August 2008, The Harcourts Foundation aims to provide financial support that helps, grows and enriches local communities, and has received well over $1.3 million in donations from Harcourts staff, offices and clients around Australia and New Zealand in its first three years of operation.

To date, all funds have been raised by dedicated Harcourts team members and clients in the form of fundraising events, auctions, workplace giving, individual donations or ‘off the top’ giving (a percentage calculated from each sales commission).

To support The Harcourts Foundation Kokoda Challenge, please visit: http://www.mycause.com.au/mycause/raise_money/event.php?id=730.

Rob McCormack, owner of several Harcourts real estate franchises in the city, is ready to build a new headquarters on the site of the “Grenadier Castle”, his five-storey flagship building demolished after the June earthquake.

But his longtime insurer, QBE, and Vero did not want to offer cover for the rebuild and Mr McCormack said the quote from Lloyds was many times the normal cost.

“Everyone is talking about a Christchurch rebuild. I was going to get [Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority head] Roger Sutton to meet me on the site and hammer in the first surveyor’s stake but here’s my dilemma, I don’t have insurance.”

“I’m the first with a building consent, with a pile consent and with a building contract for a multi-level building in the red zone [CBD cordon] all ready to go.”

“I have spent $678,000 to this point. The build is $6 to $7 million. I have money set aside for the rebuild … and I may have to pull the plug.”

A decision was likely next week.

Mr McCormack said it seemed like a flight from risk and he was worried about the consequences.

Though he could go with Lloyds, “that cost is huge” and he still needs to find an insurer for the completed building.

“I don’t want others to spend a lot of money on compliance to find they can’t do the job.”

Since the February earthquake Christchurch City Council has granted 85 building consents within the four avenues. It is not known how many have secured insurance.

Canterbury Master Builders Association president Richard Field said getting insurance for building in many parts of the city was a “huge problem”.

“We have got it with lots of clients. We have a building that we tendered for that is not going ahead because they can’t get insurance.”

Banks won’t lend without insurance and it was causing a drag on the recovery. “More than a year has gone by [since the September quake] and we are no further ahead,” Mr Field said. “There is no boom here yet.”

Builders were getting by on EQC work and readying temporary business premises but that was tapering off, he said and the message to be patient was wearing thin.

The good news was the EQC payments and the Government buyout of 7000 properties deemed uninhabitable, which had stimulated the property market. “That was a Godsend.”

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said an insurance bottleneck was an issue but was “progressively sorting itself out”.

Insurers were coming back into the city’s rural fringe and large building companies had bulk insurance and were offering house, land and insurance deals at reasonable prices.

His office had put in “a huge amount of effort” to ensure the industry understood the new higher building code in place and had the latest seismic information which indicated earthquake risk was lessening in line with expectations.

Mary Comerio, a professor at the University of California in Berkley who studies post-disaster recovery, told the Herald Christchurch may be experiencing something of an insurance-backlash because of the many uncertainties associated with the rebuilding effort.

NZ Herald, 17 December 2011. Journalist: Phil Taylor

At the annual Harcourts Conference, it was announced that the company’s charitable arm, The Harcourts Foundation has achieved a massive $1 million in donations since its launch in August 2008.

Harcourts International Managing Director, Mike Green is incredibly proud that The Harcourts Foundation has reached such an important milestone.

“I’m so proud of the way the Harcourts team has embraced and supported The Harcourts Foundation over the years and achieving this significant milestone is a testament to their generosity and goodwill,” Mr Green said.

“Raising $1 million for charity is an amazing achievement and it’s all down to the support The Harcourts Foundation has received from our team and clients. We hope to keep adding to this total over the coming months and years.

“Being able to support our local communities is incredibly important to Harcourts as those communities have supported us so strongly over the years,” Mr Green said.

Also celebrated at the Harcourts Conference were the achievements of 14 extraordinary people who cycled over 1,700kms from Melbourne to the Gold Coast as part of The Harcourts Foundation Charity Challenge to raise awareness and much needed funds for Cystic Fibrosis Australia and the Queensland Premiers Flood Appeal.

The 14 riders arrived at the Harcourts Conference on Monday, having completed their epic journey and raising over $60,000 for these worthy causes. The team were welcomed by their families, friends and colleagues who all celebrated their outstanding achievement.

“The Charity Challenge team went to such extraordinary efforts to raise money for two important causes, and I am truly inspired by their level of generosity, determination and passion,” Mr Green said.

The Harcourts Foundation was established with the aim of providing financial support that helps, grows and enriches local communities and has provided funding grants for 192 charities across Australia and New Zealand since its establishment two and a half years ago.

To date, all funds have been raised by dedicated Harcourts team members and clients in the form of fundraising events, auctions, workplace giving, individual donations or ‘off the top’ giving (a percentage calculated from each sales commission).

Over the years, the number of offices actively supporting The Harcourts Foundation has steading increased with more than 142 Harcourts offices now signed up to the off the top giving scheme.

Landmark and Harcourts have announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the establishment of a joint venture business for the marketing of rural and regional real estate in Australia.

Subject to completion of establishment agreements, the joint venture is due to commence operations on the 1^st of April 2011. The joint venture will bring together two businesses, each having well in excess of 100 years of experience in the real estate sector, who combined represent over $20 billion in property turnover annually and operate from over 380 locations around Australia.

In announcing this agreement, Harcourts International Managing Director, Mike Green said the combination of the two entities would bring great benefit to both clients and staff, including improved scope to grow the business.

“Partnering with Landmark brings a depth of experience in rural markets, along with immediate brand recognition in regional Australia, which would have taken us at Harcourts decades to develop – it creates a real estate platform like no other,” Mr Green said.

Landmark Managing Director, Richard Norton said achieving sustainable success in specialist business lines such as real estate presented challenges for a broad rural services business, which the joint venture would resolve.

“Real estate is a specialist business that requires specialist focus to progress to the next level and Harcourts will bring that to the existing Landmark business. It will allow us, in combination, to become the pre-eminent real estate group in rural and regional Australia,” Mr Norton said.

“Landmark’s strength revolves around our staff and their relationships with our customers. This joint venture provides our staff with a market-leading suite of products and services that will enhance the service they can provide to their customers. It’s a win-win situation,” continued Mr Norton.

In addition to announcing the joint venture, Mr Green also said the partners would begin the process of recruiting a Chief Executive Officer to lead both the integration of the businesses and to drive an aggressive growth strategy over the short to medium term.

“We see this role as being one that will be attractive for a senior real estate or agribusiness specialist who is looking to be part of an exciting new enterprise and has the drive to mould the business into an industry leader.

“The joint venture will also be looking to expand operations through the recruitment of new franchisees in selected locations across Australia and we will be actively targeting growth in specific regional markets over the next twelve months,” said Mr Green.

The joint venture, to be known as Landmark Harcourts, will operate as a standalone business and will not involve the Harcourts metropolitan or commercial businesses, nor will it involve any other aspects of Landmark’s rural services business.

Key Points

• Landmark and Harcourts establish a Memorandum of Understanding to combine real estate operations in rural and regional Australia under a joint venture arrangement
• Establishes an exciting new proposition for rural, lifestyle and residential real estate marketing across regional Australia
• Combines the key strengths of Landmark (position and market share in rural) and Harcourts (position, expertise and market share in Australian residential marketplace)
• The business will be recruiting a Chief Executive Officer, amongst other roles, prior to the planned joint venture commencement date of 1 April 2011
• The business will be looking at growing strongly in the short to medium term and provides an attractive proposition for real estate specialists within regional Australia
• Joint venture does not involve the Harcourts metropolitan or commercial businesses, nor does it involve any other aspects of Landmark’s rural services business  

International real estate group, Harcourts have added to their already impressive technology suite with the launch of their latest innovation, the eCampaign application for the iPad.

The application, which was officially launched earlier this week, is designed to be used by Harcourts Sales Consultants and their clients to review current and recently sold comparable properties, design in-depth personalised marketing campaigns, and view a selection of videos.

eCampaign can present and save multiple personalised property presentations while automatically synchronising photos, property details and maps from the company’s internal technology suite, Harcourts One.

The application includes an interactive calendar which allows agents to create and manage their marketing schedules, as well as the ability to view all surrounding comparable property listings on the market using Google Maps.

eCampaign also allows the Sales Consultant and their client to view, select and design tailored marketing plans from a selection of brochures, signboards, print and online products.

Ease of use and convenience was the most important factor when developing eCampaign which prompted the inclusion of several stand-out features including the use of Google Maps, links to Harcourts’ YouTube channel and videos, and an inbuilt commission calculator.

Harcourts International’s Head of E-Business, Gregg Toyama is excited about the applications official launch and its potential to assist Harcourts clients in the decision making process.

“Mobile technologies are revolutionising the way our Sales Consultants do business and allows them to engage with their clients in a more interactive and personal manner. Tools like the iPad makes the potential of applications like eCampaign limitless – who knows where it will evolve from here,” said Mr Toyama.

Further demonstrating their commitment as a market leader in terms of real estate technology, earlier this year Harcourts also launched the Mobile Agent application for the iPhone and iPad. The launch of Mobile Agent in May 2010 allowed Harcourts clients to view the company’s latest property listings on the run.

The USA team with Harcourts International Managing Director, Mike Green (far right)

Last week, international real estate group, Harcourts has celebrated their official launch in the USA through their joint venture with California group, Altera Real Estate.

First announced in June 2010, Harcourts’ entry into the US market will represent the company’s biggest ever undertaking, with the joint venture including 26 offices and 750 salespeople in total, with 25 offices based in the state of California, and one in Hawaii.

Last week’s official launch was held over two days and focused on introducing the Harcourts Group to the Altera joint venture partners and their staff. Day one was held in San Jose, California on Tuesday and attracted a crowd of over 180 people, and day two was held in Orange County on Thursday which drew a crowd of nearly 300.

The focus of the launch events was on ‘The Harcourts Way’ of conducting real estate business, the company’s purpose and values, and its culture and business model.

The groups were addressed by key members of the Harcourts team including Managing Director, Mike Green, Harcourts USA CEO, Aaron Hodson, and International Operations Manager, Tina Sander. Gary Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Altera, also addressed the groups.

Two exceptional keynote speakers also delivered keynote presentations to the teams including Bob Wolff, one of the leading real estate agents in America, and Rick De Luca, one of America’s leading real estate trainers. Also announced was Rick De Luca’s role as a partner and shareholder in the new venture.

Harcourts International Managing Director, Mike Green is thrilled with reception the company has received in America thus far.

“The launch events have been fantastic and Harcourts has been met with such a great response from our American partners. Many have commented that Harcourts is a breath of fresh air in the uncertain US market,” said Mr Green.

“We’ve also had a great response to the Harcourts systems, particularly our business planning and accountability process. Our reception here has been simply outstanding!” Mr Green continued.

“People are so excited about the brand and its launch; it really is great to witness”.

With sights firmly set on the future, the Harcourts Group together with their joint venture partners have set some key objectives, starting with establishing a strong foundation in the California market before expanding their operations into the rest of the US.

Harcourts has recently launched the latest innovation in real estate technology – the Harcourts Mobile Agent application for iPhones and iPads.

The new free application represents a major technological breakthrough in the real estate industry, providing a specially tailored solution for anyone with an iPhone or iPad to view Harcourts’ property listings in Australia and New Zealand or to search for a member of the Harcourts Australasian team.

As Harcourts International’s Chief Information Officer Jason Wills explains, for a number of years Harcourts has had unique Mobile Agent technology for its sales consultants to use on their PDAs, but until now nothing had been created specifically for iPhones or the new iPads and designed for clients to use too.

He says convenience for both clients and sales consultants was the most important factor when developing the Harcourts Mobile Agent application for iPhones and iPads.

“This prompted the inclusion of several stand-out features such as the use of Google Maps to find a property’s location, quick lists for upcoming auctions and open homes, and the ability to add Harcourts’ representatives contact details straight to the iPhone’s address book.

“The new application, which can be downloaded for free from the Apple applications store, also has added functionality for our sales consultants to allow them to access their contacts, daily tasks and recent property sales while out in the field with their iPhone or iPad.”

Mr Wills says he is excited by the future potential of the new application, which follows the development earlier this year of a Harcourts news application for iPhones.

“I believe the new Harcourts Mobile Agent tool is a leader in its field and given the increasing popularity of the iPhone and iPad I think it will be a great success with those interested in the Australian and New Zealand property markets and with our own team too.

“In the first three weeks alone and with minimal promotion of the tool we’ve already had more than 1,500 downloads and we’re confident that this figure will continue to grow.”

Entry into the US market is Harcourts’ biggest ever undertaking, with joint venture partner Altera  having 23 offices and 700 salespeople in total – 21 offices in California, one in Oregon and one in Hawaii.

From left, Harcourts International Chairman Paul Wright with Dennis Badagliacco and Gary Thomas from Altera Real Estate and Harcourts International Managing Director Mike Green.

Starting out in New Zealand in 1888, Harcourts is a long-standing brand that has gone from strength-to-strength in the industry, entering its first foreign market in 1997 (Australia) with eight additional countries, including the USA, since then.

Mr Green said in just over a decade Harcourts has established itself as one of the top three real estate groups in Australia and expanded into South Africa, China, Indonesia, Zambia, Botswana and Hong Kong in the last two years alone.

“As a 50% shareholder in the US joint venture Harcourts will have a heavy focus on the American market throughout 2010, as long-term plans are put in place for further expansion in the country,” Mr Green said.

“The United States’ property market is just beginning to show signs of improvement and we believe the timing for this step is perfect. The market opportunity is huge, with a population of nearly 310 million,” he said.

“By entering into the US market Harcourts is placed firmly on the world stage, and we hope to further our business activities over the next few years throughout America.”

Altera Real Estate, which was founded by American real estate industry veterans Gary Thomas, Dennis and Colleen Badagliacco in 2008, is looking forward to the growth opportunities off the back of this partnership.

Harcourts International Managing Director, Mike Green (centre) signs the agreement with US partner, Altera

Mr Thomas, Chairman of the new joint venture company, said he has known the principals of Harcourts for more than 15 years and been intrigued with the group’s culture and systems.

“I felt it was a perfect fit for Altera to enter into this joint venture with Harcourts in order to bring a refreshing culture and platform to our network and the ability for rapid growth,” he said.

“Our initial focus will be on the integration of the Harcourts systems and culture across all the existing Altera offices. Once we have achieved this, we will then look at expanding to other states.

“With the training and technology platform Harcourts has to offer, along with our values-based, performance-driven culture, we believe there is huge opportunity for this new Harcourts joint venture company to grow rapidly as the general economic situation in the US improves.”

Harcourts Serpong Raya rebranded office in Indonesia

Head of International, Aaron Hodson said Harcourts has been making waves across the globe, with two countries involved in major rebranding activities and currently in discussions with another potential partner.

“Harcourts has just finished rebranding a staggering 120 offices across South Africa, which has taken us just over 12 months to do.

“Harcourts’ South African head office in conjunction with our department is continuing to work on growth within the country, with plans to achieve another 15 offices in the country by the end of 2010,” Mr Hodson said.

“In addition, Harcourts has been focusing heavily this year on rebranding existing offices and further growth in Indonesia.”`

“We have rebranded 13 Roy Weston offices in the last year with the final office rebranded just last week by Harcourts Indonesia”, he said.

“Our focus over the next three to six months will be to work with each country’s corporate office to grow and develop these existing businesses.

“It’s exciting to see the speed with which Harcourts is expanding across the globe. I believe this can be attributed to Harcourts’ franchise business model.”

“Our master franchise model is a full service operation that provides ongoing support to all offices around the world.”

Throughout the coming months International Operations Manager, Tina Sander will conduct periodic visits to each country to ensure all offices are fully inducted to the Harcourts family, and are up to date with the latest systems.