Meet the Illawarra’s top female real estate agents
Meet the Illawarra women who are taking the real estate world by storm, and find out their top tips for buying and selling in the current property market.
Illawarra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Illawarra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Throughout the Covid lockdowns, demand for property across the Illawarra has exploded, with
Sydneysiders looking to take advantage of the work from home phenomenon and relocate to the coast.
That property boom has seen real estate agents across the region smash price and days on market records.
Meet the Illawarra women of the real estate world who’ve sold millions and millions of dollars worth of property over the past year.
From women who have been in the industry for less than a decade and others who have been part of it for almost three decades, they’re sharing their top tricks for buyers and sellers.
MONIQUE FIELD
AGENCY: Monique Field Property
PROPERTIES SOLD in 20/21: 60
MARKET: Southern Illawarra
Monique Field owns her own real estate agency after joining the profession six years ago.
In the last financial year she sold 60 homes, predominantly around the southern Illawarra and Kiama areas, and in 2019 won the Rate My Agent – Agent of the Year for the Kiama Downs area.
In 2018 she was also awarded the winner of the ‘Customer Focus Award – Illawarra Women in Business’, a testament to her hard work and dedication.
“I am very grateful to Marnie Beauchamp, the licensee of McGrath in Kiama, who offered me a position in a booming market which allowed me to learn about real estate, before starting my own business four years ago,” Ms Field said.
Ms Field says encouraging sellers and buyers to do their own leg work ahead of a sale is imperative to the success of her business.
“In this market, it is you, not the agent, who must do a bit of legwork to be able to close a deal,” she said.
“By the time the property is listed, agents probably have a few buyers on the hook and there’s a bidding war about to break out.
“You want to be ahead of all that, so, be confident, and if you like the home, make a serious offer straight away.”
TOP TIP: This is probably the biggest tip I can give you – be assertive. If you’re interested in a property, be prepared to sign a solid written offer right there on the spot. If the property is going to auction, ask if you can submit an offer before the auction.
AMANDA BONNICI
AGENCY: Ray White Shellharbour City
PROPERTIES SOLD in 20/21: 188
MARKET: Shellharbour and surrounding areas
Amanda Bonnici has been a force in the Illawarra real Estate Market for more than a decade, after starting her career back in 2006.
A 16-year Illawarra real estate veteran, she was included in Real Estate Business magazine’s Top 50 Women in Real Estate ranking for 2021.
This year, she was ranked at Number 24, after ranking at Number 43 on the previous list.
“When I started in 2006, I happened to fall into the industry as I went into see the owner of Ray White Warilla at the time who I knew,” she said.
“I asked for a part time job and somehow they talked me into going into sales.”
TOP TIP: Ms Bonnici’s advice to buyers is simple: don’t mess around.
“Just go for it as they are going so quickly due to the lack of properties on the market,” she said.
“I am finding all suburbs in the Shellharbour LGA are all selling extremely quick and the increase of Sydney buyers is incredible as they can now work from home.
“It allows them to live anywhere and they are coming to the south coast.”
SARAH WARD
AGENCY: Stone Real Estate
PROPERTIES SOLD in 20/21: 55
MARKET: Illawarra wide
Sarah Ward has been in the industry for 11 years and started in the role of administration before moving into sales in 2016.
Working her way from reception to sales agent ensures that Sarah’s knowledge covers all facets of real estate.
Ms Ward is a lifelong local, and actively involved in the community via local football clubs and dance schools.
Ms Ward has sold properties right across the Illawarra and in said that this year, her average days on market has fallen to just eight days.
“Most homes are selling very quickly and buyers must be prepared to act now,” she said.
TOP TIP: My best advice for buyers in today’s market is to be organised. Have your finance pre-approved, be clear on exactly what you’re looking for in a home otherwise you can waste hours and hours looking at homes that don’t suit, and lastly don’t be afraid to move quickly when you find the one.
TRACEY McDONALD
AGENCY: PRD Real Estate Dapto
PROPERTIES SOLD in 20/21: 43
MARKET: Dapto
Tracey McDonald has been in real estate since 1998, having worked for 23 years with the PRD Real Estate.
Eager to get into the industry, she sent letters to every reputable real estate office in Wollongong in 1997, looking for work experience while she was completing the HSC.
“I was offered work experience on Saturday mornings with this office and in 1998 was offered a full time job as a trainee Property Officer,” she said.
Over the past 23 years, she has experienced nearly every role possible in the industry, property manager to business development officer, sales co-ordinator, to general manager, director and sales manager.
Ms McDonald said in the Illawarra region, lifestyle properties and homes with big blocks of land were booming. While suburbs that have seen some massive increases in prices over the past 12 months have been Kanahooka, Koonawarra, Berkeley and Port Kembla.
“Those suburbs/homes that are near the water, cafes, bushland, these homes are very much in demand as people want to live within walking distance to things that makes them happy,” she said.
“In-ground pools are also very popular. Again, its about lifestyle and with so many blocks of land in new estates now too small to fit a pool in, when a block is big enough to have a pool, buyers are paying a premium to have it”
TOP TIP: If you really want a property, put your best offer forward and outbid the other buyers. Those cautious buyers who have now been looking for over 6 months for their home and didn’t want to pay an extra $10,000 to buy a home they wanted 6 months ago, they are now having to pay an additional $100,000 6 months later to buy the same property. Only those who are prepared to take a little risk and pay a little more for a home have been able to secure one.
VANESSA DENISON PENDER
AGENCY: McGrath Thirroul
PROPERTIES SOLD in 20/21: 43
MARKET: Austinmer, Bulli, Coledale, East Corrimal, Thirroul, Towradgi, Wombarra
Vaness Dension Pender is the principal at McGrath Thirroul, and has been in the profession for more than two decades.
After living in London for eight years with a background in marketing and communications, she thought real estate might be something she would be good at and be able to manage part time with two small children.
“Everyone told me I couldn’t do it because there was no such thing as working part time in real estate,” she said.
“So no one offered me a job until one day the new principal at a Thirroul real estate agency called me and said ‘I’ve met you before, I think you’ll be great and you can work whenever you like’.
“That’s when my career began,” she said.
Ms Denison Pender has achieved numerous record sales throughout her core area over the years and still remembers her first days in the industry.
“I started in real estate when my son was three years old as soon as he could go to preschool,” she said.
“He’s now 21 and just finished an economics degree at UNSW. Time goes fast when you’re having fun in real estate.”
TOP TIP: Keep in close contact with all the agents in the area you want to purchase, make sure you’re on their ‘hot buyer’ hit list and in their databases so you don’t miss anything. If you feel like you’re overpaying don’t worry about it, you’ll forget about it as soon as you’ve moved in and it becomes your new home.
If you’re bidding at auction, bid with confidence and bid in strong increments that show the other bidders that you’re serious about buying that particular property.
New names headline Brewer Shield Team of the Week
An immovable force remains at the top, but there’s a host of new names showing they have what it takes to challenge the best in the Brewer Shield. Round 5 Team of the Week.
‘Crucial exposure’: First look at young rugby players touted as future Wallabies
They have been rivals some days, teammates on others and now this close-knit group of young rugby players will share the honour of wearing an Australian uniform for the first time.