‘100 club’: The Central Coast real estate agents who have sold more than 100 properties in 12 months

Riding the crest of the real estate tsunami these agents have joined the exclusive club having sold more than 100 properties in the past 12 months. See who’s in and who’s knocking on the door.

With unprecedented demand in Central Coast property, low interest rates and a new-found flexibility around working from home as a result of a global pandemic, real estate has practically been selling itself.

The property boom has seen real estate agents across the region smash records, with four agents together selling half a billion dollars worth of real estate and more than 500 properties.

But vendors have a lot of choice when it comes to who they entrust to get them the best possible price. And until now there has been a limited housing stock to meet demand so it says a lot about an agent who can sell more than 100 properties in the course of a year.

According to the latest data from online review platform RateMyAgent here are the agents who have done just that in the past 12 months and who’s nipping at their heels.

Brian Whiteman sold the most properties on the Central Coast in the past 12 months. Picture: Mark Scott

1/. BRIAN WHITEMAN — THE AGENCY CENTRAL COAST

■ 165 properties sold

■ $1.34m average sale price

■ $221.27m total sales value

The Agency’s Brian Whiteman’s winning streak continues as the former motorcycle dealer remains king of the coast’s real estate agents.

Having run a motorcycle dealership for 12 years it came down to a choice between retiring or real estate when he started at McGrath in Long Jetty in 2014.

The following year he broke the Australian record by earning more than $1 million in commission income for a single listing agent in their first year of real estate and has not looked back since.

Brian Whiteman, The Agency.

He joined The Agency Central Coast a little over two years ago and earlier this year came in at number 44 on the Real Estate Business June 2021 ranking.

In the past 12 months he has sold a staggering 165 properties worth more than $220 million.

Mr Whiteman cites his motivation as simply “looking after our buyers and vendors”.

The father-of-three said he had built a reputation for doing business honestly and ethically.

Mr Whiteman said he his goal when he joined The Agency was becoming the number one agent on the coast and selling the most properties, which he has achieved in spades.

He was also ranked number one on the coast for recommendations on RateMyAgent and one of the top 100 agents in the country.

2/. ABDULLAH CHOUDHARI — STONE TUMBI UMBI

■ 133 properties sold

■ $912.33k average sale price

■ $144.04m total sales value

Coming in a not-too-distant second was rising real estate star Abdullah Choudhari.

Young, ambitious and enthusiastic — when Mr Choudhari joined Stone, an agency which was a relative newcomer to the Central Coast property market, he set himself a target of having five franchises.

The 30-year-old came across from Wiseberry and said he was attracted to Stone because of its fresh approach and willingness to reinvest into their business model under the motto “creating bigger businesses with better people”.

Mr Choudhari said most real estate principals simply offered their best performers more money rather than the opportunity to buy into their own business.

He credits his energy and unwavering pursuit of outstanding customer service, coupled with his understanding of transactions and his negotiating skills, which get deals for his clients like few others.

Central Coast properties have been in high demand in the past 12 months.

3/. RICHARD FAULKNER — GITTOES

■109 properties sold

■ $595.6k average sale price

■ $64.92m total sales value

Having been with Gittoes for the past 10 years and Raine & Horne for four years before then, Mr Faulkner said his dream was always to crack 100 sales in 12 months.

Having achieved that, the father-of-four said the next obvious target was “200”.

A former scuba diving instructor, Mr Faulkner got into real estate as a way of becoming a property developer but found he was “pretty good at it”.

“I don’t know why to be honest,” he said.

“I would say the thing that helps elevate me is having a really good team around me.”

Mr Faulkner said while there were a lot of agents to choose from, sellers were motivated by more than just fees.

“It’s not fees and charges, I think clients tend to gravitate towards an agent that they’re confident is going to get the best result,” he said.

Mr Faulkner said while there were a lot more houses being listed as the coast came out of lockdown and into the property market’s traditionally busiest time of the year, “there’s enough demand to soak up that stock”.

“Anything we’re listing, we’re still getting hundreds of interests,” he said.

Andre Kubecka, Brand Property Toukley. Picture: supplied

4/. ANDRE KUBECKA — BRAND PROPERTY

■108 properties sold

■ $800.66k average sale price

■ $86.47m total sales value

Starting off with a degree in computer science, before moving into IT and then corporate management, sounds like an unlikely start to a career in real estate.

However when Mr Kubecka achieved what he wanted in the corporate world he turned his attention to his lifelong passion of real estate in 2001.

He said while it was easy to sell property in the current climate there was a degree of “desperation” from some agents who were “dropping their pants” on fees and other services looking for a quick and easy sale.

Instead he said there was a real art to creating competition between buyers and extracting the best value for clients.

Recently he valued a Toukley property at about $900,000-$950,000 and after the first open house had five offers up to $1 million.

Relatively low stock and huge demand has seen property prices skyrocket on the coast in the past 12 months. Picture: supplied

Instead of taking the highest bid he went back to each buyer and sought their final and highest offer, finishing with a sale at $1.132 million.

Mr Kubecka said the market was in for some significant change in the next 12 months.

“The flood gates are looking like they’re opening,” he said of the number of properties being listed as the coast comes out of lockdown.

With increased housing stock, creeping interest rates and changing lending criteria from the banks, Mr Kubecka expects the coast’s skyrocketing prices will start to level off.

While Mr Kubecka has sold 108 properties in the past 12 months on the coast according to the RateMyAgent website, he has sold 120 all up with sales in the Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie not included in the localised ranking.

Mr Kubecka was also listed as the number one agent in Toukley and third on the coast for recommendations.

5/. RON COLEMAN - COLEMAN ESTATE AGENTS

■ 97 properties sold

■ $660.1k average sale price

■ $62.71m total sales value

Knocking at the door of the coast’s exclusive “100 club” is the founder of Coleman Estate Agents himself Ron Coleman.

Mr Coleman started off in real estate in 1997 and after more than a decade in the industry he started his business in his home study before opening a shop front on Main Rd, Noraville.

He didn’t set out to be a franchise business or “the biggest” but the most highly regarded agency on the coast, which appears to be paying dividends in terms of the number of properties sold in the past 12 months.

6/. DAMIAN MONTGOMERY — LJ HOOKER BUDGEWOI

■ 92 properties sold

■ $653.84k average sale price

■ $60.15m total sales value

Another agent tantalisingly close to joining real estate’s 100 club is former country boy Damian Montgomery, who has long been considered LJ Hooker royalty on the coast.

Mr Montgomery’s family moved to Gorokan in 1991 when he was aged 10 and he still lives in Gorokan with his wife and two children.

Staring his career in 2000, Mr Montgomery joined LJ Hooker in March 2004 to help open the Toukley office and quickly became one of the area’s top agents.

In 2007 he was awarded membership to the LJ Hooker Captains Club and in 2012 was inducted into the brand’s exclusive Multi-Million Dollar Chapter, which he went on to achieve nine years in a row.