Clean Sweep For Harcourts Auctioneers

Clean Sweep For Harcourts Auctioneers In NZ Champs

8 July 2010: It was a clean sweep for Harcourts in this week’s 2010 REINZ National Real Estate Auctioneers Championships, with auctioneers from within the group being named winner and runner-up in both the senior and novice competitions.

Dunedin-based Harcourts Business Owner and Auctioneer Chris Kennedy won the senior competition ahead of North Shore-based Harcourts Branch Manager and Auctioneer Robert Tulp and 26 other competitors, while Christchurch-based Harcourts Sales Consultant and Auctioneer Daniel Coulson took out the novice competition ahead of North Shore-based Harcourts Sales Consultant and Auctioneer Richard Kerr and 12 other competitors.

The annual competitions were held in Auckland this week, with both Mr Kennedy and Mr Tulp earning the honour of going on to represent New Zealand in the Australasian Auctioneering Championships which are being held in Auckland on 14 - 15 September.

Mr Kennedy, who operates Harcourts offices in both Dunedin and Balclutha, says winning the competition is the highlight of his 18-year career in real estate to date.

“It’s been something I’ve been working towards for a number of years and something I feel incredibly proud to have achieved, especially given the size of the Dunedin market means I call considerably fewer auctions each year than many of the other competitors.”

Crediting hard work and the coaching of Harcourts’ Phil McGoldrick, the reigning Australasian champion, Mr Kennedy says during the competition he focused on being himself and getting the numbers right, without doing anything too flashy.

“The support I’ve received from within the Harcourts group in particular has been incredibly humbling and the impact it’s had on my profile and credibility as an auctioneer has been immediate,” he says. “I’m absolutely blown-away and really looking forward to representing Harcourts and New Zealand later this year in the Australasian championship.”

Meanwhile, Mr Coulson from Christchurch-based Harcourts franchise Grenadier Real Estate, says winning the national novice competition has strengthened his resolve to focus on auctioneering full-time.

“I’ve been interested in auctioneering for some time and having gained experience as a real estate sales consultant in a company with a strong auction focus I’ve had the advantage of alongside that being able to train as an auctioneer with some of the best in the country. "

“Winning this national industry competition, following my success in Harcourts’ novice auctioneers competition in May, is fantastic affirmation and I’ve definitely got my sights now firmly on pursuing this as a career.”

Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan says he is delighted Harcourts’ auctioneers have been judged to be the best of the best in New Zealand.

“This level of success in a national, industry-wide competition is a testament to the strong auction focus within Harcourts and the investment made in developing our auctioneers along with the hard work and talent of the highly-skilled Harcourts auctioneers involved.

“It certainly sends a strong message to the buying and selling public that if they want to achieve auction success Harcourts is the brand to deal with.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media