TWELVE years after starting up her own independent real estate agency in Ohope, Liz Williams is ready to hand it on to a new owner.
She has sold Ohope Beach Realty to Ray Johnson, who moved to Ohope a year ago. “I’ve had a few offers for it over the years,” Liz says. “But it never seemed the right fit.”
She says that, having built the business up from scratch it was important to her that the right person took it over.
“I knew Ray from years ago when I had the Harveys franchise in Whakatane. He also owned Harveys franchises in Waikato at the time, and I know I am leaving the business in safe hands.”
That was 17 years ago, before Liz sold up and moved to Auckland for a few years. After returning to the Eastern Bay she continued to sell a bit from home.
“But you’re either in business or you’re not,” she says, and with no real estate agencies with offices based in Ohope, she decided to open Ohope Beach Realty.
“Having the storefront here makes all the difference,” Liz says. “This really is the best location. We get a lot of ice cream lickers looking in the window. I’ve had people saying to me ‘Oh, I’m not really looking for a property, I’m just waiting for someone,’ and they’ve ended up seeing their dream home and buying it.”
She and husband Robin are planning to spend more time travelling.
Their next trip is planned to take in Amsterdam, Croatia and Ireland, as well as cruising on the Mediterranean and enjoying more free time with family.
With his early career working for stock and station agency Wright Stephenson – which, after several mergers, became a core part of today’s PGG Wrightson – Ray’s roots are firmly planted in the rural sector, having worked in Gisborne, Wairarapa and Taranaki as well as Waikato. He has also managed offices of Wrightson’s Finance and Rabobank.
“I was involved with refinancing and restructuring with farmers in the aftermath of Cyclone Bola,” Ray says. He says it was a time of crisis for a lot of farmers.
Ray has held his real estate certificate since his Wrightson days. In 2001 he made the shift to Harveys Real Estate and won the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand award of excellence for most promising new salesperson the following year. Shortly afterwards he purchased his first franchise in Waikato.
At one stage he owned four offices in Waikato.
He says Ohope Beach Realty will continue acting as agents for all aspects of real estate. It also has a property management division with a very good property portfolio.
Ray says the agency will continued to provide sponsorship to the Ohope bowling and golf clubs as it has in the past. Being a keen golfer himself, he has also become a member of Ohope Golf Club.
Ray’s interests outside real estate are breeding thoroughbred racehorses, golf and bike tours with his partner and friends.