Perfectly poised
Oliver Road’s recent expansion into Hawke’s Bay brings their
specialist real estate services up to a whole new level.
Words Jo Ferris
Six years ago, Cam Winter believed there to be a gap in the Bay of Plenty market for an estate agency focused solely on representing unique, high-value homes. As Oliver Road approaches 150 sales totalling more than $340 million, it’s clear this gap did indeed exist.
Joined in 2019 by Jason and Abigail Eves, and Ben Hawan in 2022, the team’s success, in Cam’s words, can be attributed to “relentless, continuous improvement across everything we do, along with a clear focus on doing one thing well, along with an unwavering commitment to each and every client and the outcome of their sale.”
Throughout the recent market correction, Oliver Road invested heavily to ensure their luxury real estate marketing platform remained unrivalled in their industry – recently taking on a full-time digital and marketing manager. Mckenzie Comer is a seasoned digital and social media professional with an impressive track record that spans over six years. Throughout her dynamic career, she has made her mark leading digital strategies for various clients, including some of New Zealand’s most prominent corporate giants.
“In the ever-expanding digital landscape, strategic cross-channel paid marketing ensures that our real estate content doesn't just look good but reaches the right audience in the most effective manner,” says Mckenzie. Her comprehensive understanding of optimising campaigns to ensure maximum reach and engagement are already paying dividends for Oliver Road and their clients, with new buyer enquiry and offers being made on properties that can be directly attributed to her talented efforts behind the scenes.
Last year, Oliver Road also employed a talented photographer full-time, ensuring this important task could be approached with time and space, something Cam believes “can’t be said for real estate photographers with 30+ shoots to juggle every week.”
Photographer Jerusha Razey can’t get enough of this new pace and what it means for Oliver Road’s clients. “It’s so special being able to photograph a beautiful property across multiple days, combining sunrise, golden-hour, twilight and more without having to convince a client that the spend will be worth it. Or worse, having to call and postpone their booked time to catch up on a backlog of other shoots due to bad weather the week before!”
It’s clear how important Cam believes this to be, adding, “Photography is arguably the most fundamental element of any real estate campaign. To produce anything less than exceptional is not an option.”
Beyond Oliver Road’s foundational Bay of Plenty operation, late last year the agency opened in Hawke’s Bay, partnering with experienced local agents Nic Goodman and Fiona Harper. Some years ago, Nic and Fiona identified Oliver Road as a unique, luxury estate agency with exceptional marketing selling high-end homes in Bay of Plenty. They set their sights on bringing Oliver Road to Hawke’s Bay and are proud to have recently formed this exciting partnership. “Sellers of Hawke’s Bay’s most fabulous homes have waited long enough for a specialist agency, one that can deliver world-class marketing and superior results,” Nic says, adding, “we’re here to prove that the wait is over.” Beyond the two “Bays”, a third office servicing the Coatesville and wider Rodney area has just launched, and plans are underway further afield to bring Oliver Road’s specialist approach to both Queenstown and Christchurch.
Accolades including the recent “Best Independent Luxury Real Estate Agency in NZ” for the third year running (Luxury Lifestyle Awards), along with Jason’s position in the top one percent of salespeople nationwide (RateMyAgent), it could be fair to conclude that, as one recent client wrote in reviewing their experience, “These guys are without doubt the absolute best in the business.”