A real estate agent who has sold 12 houses on two adjacent Remuera streets started by door-knocking his way around and now knows most of the residents by name as well as their kids and pets.
When there’s been a parking dispute or issues with noisy tenants in the past, Ray White Remuera salesperson Ben Ryken, who is known as the unofficial mayor of Wimbledon Way, has been called to help.
Ryken got his first-ever listing in December 2015 on Wimbledon Way by door-knocking in the area and sold the house for $868,000, just $1000 shy of its asking price.
That led to his second listing and then his third sale on that street or the neighbouring Maungarei Road which were part of the Dempsey Morton development in the 1980s.
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Just over seven years on, Ryken has just listed 12 Wimbledon Way which will be his 13th listing on one of those two streets and he has his 14th listing coming on the market, also in the entry-level Remuera address, within the next two weeks.
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He estimates to have sold about 70% of the houses that have been listed on those streets since starting his real estate career, including the original show home on Wimbledon Way twice, with the second sale in July last year for $1.31 million breaking the record for the highest sale price in the street.
“I remember when the first one sold for over $1m, it was like ‘oh my gosh these have cracked a million now’ and now you couldn’t get them for under $1m.”
The last one he sold there was in November when a house on Maungarei Road fetched $1.020m after being owned by the same couple who bought it off-the-plans in 1984.
The renovated Wimbledon Way home was the highest sale in the street when it sold last July for $1.31m. Photo / Supplied
Ryken thinks he keeps getting the listings due to his local knowledge and because he can genuinely tell people what the neighbours are like. “I know about 80% of the neighbours’ names off by heart and what they do, their kids’ names and pets’ names.”
On the odd occasion, he still goes door-knocking to say hello and invite neighbours to the open home.
“What we find is the neighbours will know someone who wants to buy as well so it’s not just trying to boost my own brand it’s also trying to find a buyer for the house that I’m selling.”
So, if Ryken is the mayor of Wimbledon Way, then Bayleys Canterbury salesperson Suzy McPherson is the queen of her favourite street, Spring Place in Leeston, Selwyn, due to selling five houses on the small cul-de-sac in six years.
On top of that, she’s sold one of the houses twice and is currently marketing a unit at 2/14 Spring Place for a second time which has an asking price of $420,000.
Bayleys Canterbury agent Suzy McPherson is selling this property at 2/14 Spring Place for a second time. Photo / Supplied
McPherson said residents seem to have the perception that she’s always got a sign up in the street and while she can’t pinpoint exactly how she’s managed to get such a foothold in it, she does admit to knowing most of the residents there.
“Somebody said to me the other day, ‘oh you are the Queen of Spring Place’.”
She does a flyer drop in the small town, but most of her appraisals come to her while she’s shopping at the supermarket.
Living on certain streets is what has helped Lodge Real Estate agent Mike Thomas clock up a lot of sales on them because people start to think of him as the area expert.
“I think when you are selling and meeting people at open homes and you say, ‘hey I live here’, they get to know it and think of you as the local agent as well.”
In his 32-year real estate career he’s sold 31 houses in Harrowfield, Hamilton, and about 18 on Harrowfield Drive itself.
More recently he’s been flicking off properties on the exclusive Awatere Ave and has sold 12 homes there including six since moving there four years ago. He’s currently selling a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 16 Awatere Ave with a set reserve of $1.25m that is being auctioned next week.
“It’s probably profile in the area and I would say once you start working in an area it snowballs.”
There are several streets including The Drive, Manukau Road, St Andrews Road and Selwyn Road in Epsom that Barfoot & Thompson agent George Fong can also stake his claim on. During his 28-year real estate career, he’s sold almost a dozen properties on each.
In the last few years, he's sold a handful of properties on Empire Road including a five-bedroom, three-bathroom home in the double grammar school zone location just last week and he got the listing after selling the property across the road. In October last year, his name was also linked to a modern five-bedroom, three-bathroom home on the same street for $2.56m. Fong has also been involved in the sale of a 1920s bungalow on Rangiatea Road in Epsom three times.
The majority of his listings come from referrals, but neighbours will often meet him at the open homes and once they see the sold sign call him to find out the price and sometimes ask for an appraisal.
The owners are usually moving out of the double grammar school zone, he said, because their children have left the nest and they realise they can substantially lower their mortgage by moving one suburb over.
“I like to sell the same area because you know the neighbourhood, you know the people, you know what you are selling, and you know the price.”
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