Wendy Alexander, a top real estate executive in Auckland for many years, has joined Property Brokers as its Waikato regional manager.
Ms Alexander, who was Barfoot and Thompson’s CEO until she retired from the role in February this year, comes with 40 years’ experience in the industry and will manage a vital region for Property Brokers.
Property Brokers Chief Operating Officer Bill Highet said the move was fantastic news for the company. He said Ms Alexander had known Property Brokers founder and principal Tim Mordaunt and others in the company for many years and was “highly regarded”.
Ms Alexander said the integration into Property Brokers felt very comfortable.
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“It is a business model I admire and respect. I’ve known Tim since the day he opened the doors to the business. We have been buddies ever since and he has shown me huge personal kindness through times of difficulty.”
She said she regarded Mr Mordaunt as a mentor and was excited to be joining the company.
The role was not full-time, but she said she was “not very good at being part-time, so I will be putting a lot of effort into it”.
Ms Alexander said the Waikato and the regional way of life were very familiar to her. She was born in Wanganui and has a house in Taupo.
“I now split my time between my apartment in Auckland and my home in Taupo. I was the first New Zealand female to qualify as a stock and station agent, so I do get cows and sheep and paddocks and stuff.”
Wendy Alexander worked for Barfoot & Thompson for 21 years and was chief executive for about half that time.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the role and was really comfortable to step aside when I chose to retire from it. I was ready for a different life and wanted to spend more time in Taupo. I still have a huge love for the company and continue to support them. I continue to stay involved with the people and that will always be the case.”
She said the business models of Property Brokers and Barfoot & Thompson were similar and, as family-owned businesses, they cared for people.
Ms Alexander, who has two adult children and four grandchildren, said she had been impressed with the quality and calibre of the people working for Property Brokers.
“These are good people. I am keen to make a go of it. I wouldn’t have stayed in this industry for 40 years if it was not something I loved, and I have enormous respect for people who succeed.”
She said her focus in the new role would be the people.
“I passionately believe that if you get the activities right, the dollars take care of themselves. Give me a good person over a good system any day. I am also not distracted by technology, although it is a critical part of success these days. I just like the people. I want to work with people and I want to see them succeed. I want the company to be comfortable with what we are doing in the Waikato and I want be part of that.”
Connecting with Aucklanders wanting to move to the regions to escape the traffic and big city life was a potential growth point for Property Brokers in her region.
“I moved for lifestyle and family and a love of the centre of the North Island. I was 100 per cent over traffic and travel.“
Ms Alexander said the property market, especially in Auckland, made it tough for first-time buyers, while compliance issues meant the real estate industry had changed dramatically from ten to fifteen years ago.
However, she said that she had realised in her international travels that New Zealand real estate companies like Property Brokers and Barfoot & Thompson were good at what they did.
“It is a story that is transportable internationally. We are very good at what we do here, and I think we do it well and people like to hear about it,” Ms Alexander said.
