Another new face is walking the floors at The Rubinstein Group, with Eastern Suburbs specialist Mark Lowe named as director of the group’s Woollahra office.
TRG Founder Gavin Rubinstein announced the appointment today, as part of the group’s expansion, which will include the opening of a new Rose Bay headquarters in November.
It also comes less than a week after TRG revealed Jake Fahd had joined the team as director of the group’s new commercial division.
Mr Lowe has already started in his new role and said it was an exciting time for him personally and for TRG as a whole.
“I could see what Gavin and Jarryd had planned with expanding the brand, and I knew a couple of people at TRG that I’d worked with previously, so it felt like a really good fit,” he said.
“It’s an exciting opportunity to be part of a group, a brand, that’s headed in a really positive and innovative direction.”
Mr Lowe comes to TRG with more than 20 years’ experience in real estate, most recently as an associate director of the Double Bay-based Ballard Property Group.
For more than 13 years he has specialised in selling in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, where he has set numerous suburb records and last year achieved the highest priced house sale of $23 million for 27 Nelson St, Woollahra.
Mr Lowe has also looked after many notable vendors over the years, including selling the Darling Point apartment of former CBA Chief Executive Officer Ralph Norris, setting a record for price per square metre in the process.
“I get my vendors the very best outcome,” he said.
“My team and I are extremely thorough, especially when it comes to the vetting process of buyers.
“We ensure we are dealing with the best buyers on every property.”
Mr Lowe brought his team with him when he joined TRG, including operations manager Amanda Cook and sales executive Joshua Golfis.
“We’ve built a solid engine, but there’s always more cylinders to tap into,” he said.
Mr Lowe said while he would continue listing and selling, a core part of his role would be to rebuild and grow the Woollahra office when the bulk of the TRG team moved to the Rose Bay headquarters.
“Gavin and I have set an 18 to 24-month plan for recruitment and I’m sure there will be organic growth as well,” he said.
To agents wondering if they might fit what the group is looking for in a recruit, Mr Lowe said core attributes included a strong work ethic, a positive, can-do attitude and “excellent energy”.
“Strong ethics is another big thing,” he said.
“We want good, honest people that are committed to doing their best. Having credibility is key in the market and you want buyers and sellers to be able to trust what you’re saying and doing throughout a sale process.
“We want people that are going to represent the brand in the way we do and with the commitment we do.
“Limited spaces will be available and we’ve already been heavily approached by agents along with some big industry names.”
Mr Rubinstein said he had been liaising with Mr Lowe about joining the team for a while and he stood out when he showed him a property during his personal house hunt.
“I was looking for a house and he set up a private inspection and how he approached that – from initial inquiry to inspection, how he presented himself, how he conducted the inspection, his response time and his general manner – I could see he was someone I wanted to work closely with,” Mr Rubinstein said.
“I have a radar for good people and they are becoming more and more rare, so they do stand out.”
Mr Rubinstein said Mr Lowe was an excellent, experienced practitioner with a strong presence and solid sales activity in the Woollahra and Paddington market, which was critical given the office’s Queen St location.
He said the new Rose Bay office would focus on the harbourside market, while the Woollahra office would look after it’s namesake as well as the inner city and Paddington areas.
“He also has a leadership skill set, which is critical because we’ve got ambitions to build the Woollahra office back up again,” Mr Rubinstein said.
“It holds about 25 people comfortably and it’s going to be a lot quieter when 90 per cent of us move to Rose Bay.
“So recruitment, attraction, leadership and leading from the front are all part of a process Mark and I are looking forward to getting stuck into together.”
