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RE/MAX GAUTENG CELEBRATES SUCCESSSpirits were high as RE/MAX of Southern Africa celebrated the past year's success of its Broker/Owners and Sales Associates based in Gauteng on 10 February at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre. The breakfast, hosted by internationally renowned speaker, Michael Jackson, who briefed guests on ‘The seven deadly business sins', was the second in the series of prestigious award breakfasts that will be held across the country over a period of two weeks. These events were supported by Betterbond and Standard Bank, who are long standing business partners of RE/MAX. "The property market has turned," said Adrian Goslett, CEO and Regional Director of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, in his opening address to RE/MAX Broker/Owners, Sales Associates and support staff. Goslett described 2010 as the year of opportunity, noting that RE/MAX agents' passion for what they do and willingness to succeed will position the group as a powerful force to be reckoned with in the year ahead. And a powerful force it is indeed as 111 new agents joined the brand in the last three months of 2009 while 55 new agents joined the RE/MAX group since the beginning of the year. "We furthermore welcomed 15 agents back to the brand," said Goslett. Franchise sales have also been exceptional, with a total of six franchises sold in the first five weeks of the year in the Gauteng, Western Cape and Mpumalanga regions. Commenting on the future of South African real estate, Rudi Botha, CEO of the PA Group said that a 50% increase in sales was seen in December 2009 alone. "This, together with the fact that the interest rate is at its lowest in 25 years, gives us a great reason to be positive." Riana Kruger, Head of External Channels at Standard Bank however expressed a word of caution, saying that although the market is picking up, estate agents should be careful not to create an unrealistic expectation among buyers as far as 100% loan-to-value's are concerned. "Affordability will remain an issue in the year ahead," she said. In Jackson's one-on-one with Peter Gilmour, Founder and Chairman of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, who has more than 20 years of experience with RE/MAX under the belt, the real estate company's strategic direction for 2010 became evident. Peter and Val Gilmour, original founders of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, re-acquired the southern Africa Franchise Operations under a new Master Franchise Agreement in November 2009 after Peter held the position of Senior Vice President of Franchise Sales at the Denver Headquarters of RE/MAX International for the past seven years. After overseeing the company grow by around 40 000 agents over the years, Peter and Val decided that it was time to return home, firstly because their family is here, and secondly because they believe they can contribute towards creating a positive impact on South Africa's real estate industry. Commenting on the impact of the recession on the property industry world-wide, Peter noted that compared to other countries, Australia and South Africa were the least affected. "The US property market was hit really hard while it went even worse in Ireland and Spain," he said. "I foresee that South Africa will move out of the recession faster than other countries, but only if the interest rate remains stable," said Peter. "I furthermore believe that it will take the US approximately five years to recover and Europe between three and five years." Since September last year, RE/MAX saw solid month-on-month sales growth with November 2009 being its best to date. "When comparing these figures to the monthly average of sales achieved during the boom period of 2007, I believe it is safe to say that South Africa has survived one of the most difficult times in real estate history." These figures could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of the RE/MAX Broker/Owners, their Sales Associates and agents. The Gauteng awards ceremony saw no less than 188 awards handed over to the regions top performers. The winning Sales Associates and Broker/Owners were ranked in various tiered categories, namely 100% Club, Executive Club, Platinum Club and Chairman's Club, all of which are based on sales concluded over a 12 month period . An astonishing 83 agents received the RE/MAX 100% Club award while 51 agents received Executive Club awards. Twenty nine agents were announced as Platinum winners while five agents were presented with Chairman's Club awards. Lance Heroldt and Glenn Joselowitz from RE/MAX Masters each walked away with a Diamond award. In the Career and Special Awards Categories, 14 agents were presented with Hall of Fame awards for exceptional sales performance over their career with RE/MAX. Lynne Grubb of RE/MAX One hundred and Vera Hall of RE/MAX Masters each rightfully received a RE/MAX Lifetime award. Douglas Ravenscroft of RE/MAX Platinum in Rustenburg was awarded the Broker/Owner of the year 2009 - Single Office award. His agency also received the Single Office - Highest Sales Volume by Registered Commission 2009 award. RE/MAX Master's Weltevreden Park's office performed extremely well. Tracey Snyman received the Sales Associate of the Year 2009 by Registered Commission award while Lance Heroldt accepted the Sales Team of the Year 2009 by Registered Commission award and Glenn Joselowitz received the Sales Team of the Year 2009 by number of transactions award. The Broker/Owner Individual of the Year 2009 by Registered Commission went to Roma Naude of RE/MAX Property Merchants in Mooikloof Pretoria. Nic van den Berg of RE/MAX Jowic, who was one of the company's pioneer Broker/Owners 15 years ago, was rightfully presented with The RE/MAX Passion Award 2009. The award was proudly presented to van den Berg for his passion, dedication, energy and enthusiasm along with his willingness to assist the region through offering expert advice. Van den Berg also serves on the RE/MAX National Council, makes the most of any branding opportunity in his area and has one of the most overall positive attitudes. Diane Stewien from RE/MAX 2000 was applauded as she received the Regional Office Administrator of the Year 2009 award for her excellent service, enthusiasm and dedication to the RE/MAX brand. One of the highlights of the event was when RE/MAX of Southern Africa proudly presented a cheque of R313 000 to the Reach for a Dream Foundation. The highest contribution to this worthy cause regionally came from RE/MAX Jowic and RE/MAX First. The highest average contribution per Sales Associate for the region came from RE/MAX One Hundred and RE/MAX Two Summers. "Recognition and reward for successes is important, even more so when such phenomenal results were achieved in a period of economic depression," said Goslett. He applauded RE/MAX Broker/Owners and Sales Associates for rising to the challenge. "We have the best agents in the industry. Agents that can change their business strategy to be more efficient and more effective because they belong to a system that allows them to be entrepreneurs. Agents that lead change in an industry as opposed to being influenced by it. Agents that know that client relationships are more important than sales and listings. I thank you for making RE/MAX a great place to work."
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