The women of Great Ocean Road Real Estate

The 10 women employed by Great Ocean Road Real Estate in their four offices at Anglesea, Aireys Inlet, Lorne and Apollo Bay, all give daily, silent, thanks for the place they live and the lifestyle it allows them to enjoy. They constantly shake their heads at their own good fortune.

If you’re a jeweller you’re lucky if you’re dealing in the most beautiful jewels. And if you’re in real estate you’re lucky to be operating on the Surf Coast. It’s universally accepted that if you love what you’re selling, you’re going to do a good job of selling it. And the women of Great Ocean Road Real Estate love where they live. None of them take for granted the splendid stretch of coast that is their workplace and home.

They’re all locals, some as local as fourth generation, and with that comes an intimate knowledge of the local market’s history, its fluctuations, moods and stimuli. And while no one can know the future, knowing the past will surely make you wiser about what’s to come than not knowing it. That’s just one edge the women of Great Ocean Road Real Estate bring to the industry.

They’re as local as it gets. They know the stories attached to every property along the Surf Coast and are on a first name basis with every ghost in every house.

And the pride they have in their community and the pleasure they take from living there is easily evident to their clients. Which is a great strength. Because no amount of salesmanship or marketing is as powerful as having a real love for the product you’re selling.

The women all agree the primary benefit of living and working on the Surf Coast is that the closeness to homes and schools allows them to establish an easy work/life balance – no long commutes, no traffic jams, no need for after school care… these are neighborhoods, not suburbs. Take a moment to pick up the kids and drop them at netball, then back to an Open For Inspection. Life’s various elements just integrate more easily in a town than a city. It’s no wonder they’re all long-term employees.

A few of their older male colleagues can remember a time before women entered the industry. Since women arrived the workplace has become a more reasonable and balanced environment, able to consider and include the many aspects of a full life. The men have benefited as well – they’re now able to acknowledge the importance of lifestyle flexibility. They now see that dropping in to school to watch Emma star in the year-six Taylor Swift concert is a legitimate and important part of your day. A few might even have become Swifties themselves.

Asked what the most rewarding aspect of their job is, the women agree it’s always good to sell a property well – to maximise profit for a client. Additionally though, they get real joy out of introducing new buyers, and hence new families, to their own beautiful part of the world.