It would be no exaggeration to say that Bayleys agent David Rainbow invented the luxury real estate market in New Zealand.
The agent, who switched from finance to a career in real estate in 1984, said he quickly realised that nobody else back then was focusing on the premium end of the market.
His client list is a rollcall of the who’s who of New Zealand – and international – rich listers and celebrities. He is still inking multi-million-dollar deals. Last month, with colleague Harry Cheng, he made an $8.66 million sale for a mansion on Lucerne Road, one of three deals the pair had done on the street that added up to a whopping $35m.
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After all this time, the agent has no plans to power down.
“At the young age of – what am I? Closer to 100 than 50, I just enjoy doing it,” Rainbow told OneRoof.
“I’ve had 42 years in real estate; I love it intensely, and I’m still very passionate about it.”
He remembers his first $1m sales – big money in 1987 – but selling his first $5m property was what brought Rainbow the headlines. The waterfront mansion in Herne Bay was bought Kiwi car dealer Sir Colin Giltrap in 1988, just before the impact of the 1987 crash was felt on the property market.
Rainbow has worked with Sir Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter among others. Photo / Getty Images
He also tried to find a house for Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. Photo / Getty Images
Seven years later, he sold Waimanu, the Hawaiian-style estate around the corner on Argyle Street, to Glasgow Rangers FC owner David Murray. Murray often rented the place to his friend, rock star Sir Rod Stewart, and Sir Rod's then-wife, Kiwi model Rachel Hunter, when they visited New Zealand.
“I actually met with Rod and Rachel. Rod was a pure gentleman and said, ‘You know you are dealing with Rachel. This has nothing to do with me," Rainbow laughed.
Rainbow also helicoptered Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, in town for a concert, to the Bay of Islands to look at a beach property. It was all top secret, but Walsh’s offer was not accepted and, sadly, the place sold the following year in a mortgagee sale.
Years later, Rainbow caught up with Walsh when he was in Melbourne.
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“Joe said it was one of the highlights of his life doing what we did. He absolutely loved it, but he has not bought in New Zealand.”
Behind the scenes, the agent worked with prominent New Zealand families to put together their city estates, helping rich listers such as Graham Hart, Craig Heatley and the Huljich family accumulate neighbouring properties. One of those, in St Heliers, is now on the market, looking for over $20m.
Rainbow laughs about one of his less successful attempts at prospecting, when he pitched Wellington-based property developer Sir Bob Jones for Auckland property.
“He kindly wrote me a letter which said I would no longer come to Auckland than cut off my feet and barbecue them.
Rainbow also tried to get Sir Bob Jones to move to Auckland. He got a very curt reply from the late businessman. Photo / New Zealand Herald
“A few years later he moved to Auckland. So, I wrote: ‘You are in Auckland, I’d love to come to the barbecue.’ That went down well - it is all good fun.”
He was the first New Zealand agent to sell $1 billion of real estate.
To start, Rainbow’s prestige patch covered Auckland from Herne Bay to the eastern bays, as well as the Bay of Islands and the new posh beach town of Pauanui: wherever rich people wanted to buy.
Changing with the market is important to Rainbow. When he started, he drove around the streets of Auckland with a Dictaphone making notes on the best houses on the street to create a database, a first for the industry. Digging into property records was an in-person task at Auckland Council’s offices, and mobile phones were giant bricks powered by a suitcase-sized battery kept in the boot of the car.
Rainbow and his offsider Harry Cheng recently sold this property on Lucerne Road, in Remuera, for over $8m. Photo / Supplied
One of the brochures Rainbow prepared in the 90s for a Herne Bay estate. Photo / Supplied
Rainbow created glossy brochures for his biggest property, which he has carefully archived. OneRoof got to rummage through the box files to share some of his greatest hits. Deals were done on a handshake; the paperwork often being signed on the boot of his car, in person.
In the last decade, he has enjoyed partnering with the “young and enthusiastic” Cheng, who speaks Mandarin and brings negotiating skills with Chinese buyers.
Rainbow is sanguine about this year’s tough market; a perspective built over 40 years.
“When I started in 1987 it was the share market crash. It was real, real bad. Then we had the GFC. So, I have ridden the highs and the lows," he said.
“We have to remain positive the whole way though; some transactions work; some don’t.
“But the facts are the facts; the market is the market."
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