Where do the northern beaches’ best real estate agents sit on the top earners’ list

Who are the northern beaches’ real estate titans? Thirteen of them have made the list of Australia’s top 100 performers and between them they’ve sold more than $1 billion of local property.

They’ve sold more than $1 billion worth of local property between them.

Thirteen real estate agents on the northern beaches are on the latest annual list of the top 100 premier property performers in the country.

But our top local agents say they don’t rely on the old-style images of fast cars, designer clothes or use highly-curated photo shoots and videos on social media — like agents in some other parts of the city — to sell themselves to potential clients.

They say they rely on staying grounded, communicating with buyers and sellers and telling it like it is.

Michael Clarke, of Clarke & Humel, is the top performing real estate agent on the northern beaches. Picture: Supplied

So how did 13 agents from the northern beaches make it on to Real Estate Business Top 100 Australian Agents list.

And who are they?

Michael Clarke, from Clarke & Humel at Manly, came in number two in the top 100 Australia wide.

According to the rankings, Mr Clarke sold more than $469 million of properties in the last financial year — at an average sale price per property of close to $3.3 million.

This is the sixth year in a row that Mr Clarke, who moved to the beaches from Orange 15 years ago, has been named number 2 on the list

The next best on the northern beaches was Andrew Lutze, of Cunninghams with a national ranking of 13, who made 122 sales worth a total of $187.6 million.

Andrew Lutze, a partner at Cunninghams, said there us a more laid-back attitude among agents these days that has aided their success. Picture: Supplied

Mr Lutze was named Australasian Agent of the Year at the Real Estate Results Annual Awards (ARERA) three years running form 2017 and has been inducted into the ARERA Hall of Fame.

Number three, form the northern beaches, with a national ranking of 19, was James Baker from McGrath Real Estate Agents.

There were two female agents from the northern beaches in the top 100 rankings.

Georgi Bates, of Cunninghams, came in at number 37 in Australia, and sixth on the northern beaches.

She was joined by Maria Cassarino, of Stone Real Estate at Seaforth, listed at 74 on the national rankings and 10th locally.

Georgi Bates, a partner at Cunninghams, was the highest ranked female agent on the northern beaches. Picture; Supplied

The other eight agents from the northern beaches who made the Top 100 were:

– Nick Duchatel (22): Belle Property

– Peter Robinson (33): LJ Hooker, Palm Beach

– Ben Spackman (51) Raine and Horne, Mona Vale

– Matt Morley (58) Doyle Spillane, Collaroy Plateau

– David Edwards (61) LJ Hooker Palm Beach

– James Haywood (75) Cunninghams, Balgowlah

– Tim Cullen, (85) McGrath Real Estate, Manly

– Mike Dunn (93) Clarke & Humel, Freshwater

Mr Clarke, who left the world of advertising 16-years-ago to get into real estate, told the Manly Daily that the northern beaches was more community-orientated than other parts of Sydney.

“Because it is like a small country town, with a beach, it is less brash and it is more grounded,” he said.

“For us, the focus is on building up relationships within the community with people you are going to see just about every other day when you’re out and about.

James Baker, a real estate agent with McGrath Avalon, came in number three on the northern beaches. Picture: Supplied

On the one hand the northern beaches is quite down to earth, but on the other hand there are lot of people who are self-made and highly aspirational.

“People over here value the service that they’re given and the outcome a lot more than just the flashiness that can resonate in other areas.”

Mr Clarke believes the success of local agents can be put down to the fact that the rest of Sydney has “only just recently woken up to how wonderful the lower northern beaches are”

“In the last five years we’ve never had more people deciding to chose the lower northern beaches to other parts of Sydney.

“That’s one of the major reasons for the growth we are getting.”

Maria Cassarino, of Stone Real Estate at Seaforth, was the only other woman in the 13 local agents who made the top 100 list. Picture; Supplied

Mr Clarke also put the success of local agents down to good old competition.

“The beautiful thing about the northern beaches real estate landscape is that, almost without exception, they are a really hard working bunch of people and success drives each of us.

“Good competition breeds good performance.”

Mr Lutze put his success, and the success of the other agents, to being good listeners.

“A lot of our market doesn’t respond the same way as the eastern suburbs or north shore would.

“We’re very much a lifestyle driven market. Over the past decade almost half of our market is people moving into the area, for outer areas, for that lifestyle reason.

“We’re laid-back, there’s no pretentiousness and people are very authentic and down to earth on the northern beaches.”

Mr Lutze said there was a “changing of the guard” from the old days of agents wearing a three-piece suit and turning up in a flashy car, although there were he some exceptions at the higher end of the market.

A Mercedes Benz used in a promotional video by Manor Real Estate in Sydney’s north west. Picture: Instagram

“I’ll think you’ll find that across all price points now, given out lifestyle market, the suit and tie has its professional elements, but you can still be professional and have a bit of a laid-back atmosphere.

“That’s why you’ll find about 80pc of agents won’t wear a tie anymore and will be wearing smart casual.”

“Those days of the intimidating image of a flash suit, a shiny car and slicked back hair are typically behind us on the northern beaches,” Mr Lutze said.

Georgi Bates, the highest ranked female agent in the northern beaches, agreed that local agents were more down to earth and more embedded in the community than in some other areas.

The northern beaches’ lifestyle attracts buyers. The view from a property on Bower St, Manly, recently sold by Clarke & Humel. Picture: Clarke & Humel

And she said that being a woman helped her connect better with female clients, who were often the decision makers in a household when it came to property.

“At the end of the day it’s happy wife, happy life and the women are quite often the ones we are connecting with.

“There is a natural trust and when you’ve got a good reputation, it helps with negotiating.

“It becomes more than just selling a product, we become their Adviser.”