A Ray White agent who was involved in a life-threatening car accident last year has made a robust comeback to real estate.
Rachel Lawrie joined Ray White SA Metro last October after making full recovery from an accident in May and since then, she’s not only just reestablished herself as an agent, she’s now a fully accredited auctioneer and is on track to become an elite performer next year.
“I’m selling at least four properties a month, and that should lift to eight in the next six weeks. I’m now the auctioneer for all my listings. The first auction I called was in the community I had worked in before my accident – 150 people came to watch,” Lawrie said.
Lawrie joined the real estate industry three years ago and quickly rose through the ranks as one of the most promising new agents in Adelaide and named the runner-up for best new international talent from the Real Estate Institute of South Australia after just five months in the industry.
Over the next two years, she continued to excel until last year when she blacked out due to a medical condition while she was driving.
“After I crashed my car, I was in ICU and ACU. I had a team of neurosurgeons and cardiac surgeons working to identify what had happened. They couldn’t pinpoint it, and I was told my driver’s licence would be revoked indefinitely,” Lawrie said.
The accident not only left Lawrie without a licence, but it also put her career in jeopardy, and as a single mother of two.
“The reason I had to move real estate agencies is that it was too far for me to travel without a car – I was starting from scratch.”
Not one to back down to a challenge, Lawrie started looking for solutions and that is when she discovered Ray White South Australia’s business model that enables franchise start-ups to access desks and full office facilities for a fraction of the cost of setting up a new office.
A transitional offering, this new model gives Lawrie a gateway as she prepares to establish her office.
“It was the opportunity for me to continue my career. Now, with the help of Ray White, I can begin my own business – I work out of the corporate office in the City while I establish my office in northern Adelaide. Ray White also hired an assistant who could drive me to and from work and appointments,” she explained.
Now on track to have her office established next financial year, Lawrie is going from strength to strength.
“I’ve just been given my drivers licence back which has made me and my PA far more productive as a team. I’m making 230 calls a week, having 30 face-to-face meetings, appraising between 20 and 40 properties and listing a minimum of 10 each month,” she said.
Lawrie is currently going through property management training with Ray White and will be introducing a rent roll into her business this year which she plans to kickstart in July.
