Harmonious blend meets the market

AFTER 17 years in the real estate game, most of it selling and leasing homes to overseas business executives and retired couples, a Perth businesswoman is taking a novel approach to business integration.

City to Southshore Properties principal Mandy Fraser has decided to combine an immigration service with her current real estate agency.

Ms Fraser specialises in short-term and long-term corporate placement, providing high-quality and high-security properties to overseas clients, ranging from resource company executives to government officials and international consuls. 

She also deals with (mainly retired) European couples who want to secure a retirement property in Perth in order to escape the Northern Hemisphere winter.

Ms Fraser said that, during her business dealings in this market, she became aware of a growing group of clients inquiring about immigration to Australia for business or retirement reasons. 

Among this group were highly paid overseas business people who had been working in Perth for short periods and wanted to return for good, many so as to take advantage of education opportunities for family members, she said.

Seeing an opportunity, Ms Fraser began immigration law studies last year and is now preparing to incorporate an immigration service into her real estate business.

“We have got the client base now to market it better and to make it commercially viable,” said Ms Fraser, who believes the placement of overseas executives in premium properties is an expanding market in Perth.

The resurgence in the resources sector has increased the number of overseas engineers and other resource company employees working in Perth on short-term and long-term contracts.

Ms Fraser said most of the demand was coming from the mining, oil and gas, and iron ore companies.

She said there was peak demand for properties near the city, which was driven by the desire of the foreign executives to be able to walk to work rather than waste time in traffic.

“So many international people are coming in and they have big-city mentalities,” Ms Fraser said.

The agency is currently trying to double its property management base and is focusing more on properties located close to the QV1 and Woodside buildings to meet demand.

Ms Fraser said corporate placement clients were service driven. Accordingly, City to Southshore Properties also offered an ironing, cleaning and shopping service to all its time-poor executives.

She said many of the overseas executives working in Perth were hired on a contractual basis and worked longer than the average eight-hour day.

As a result, any time saving services were well received, Ms Fraser said.

“We have got the client base now to market it better and to make it commercially viable.”

-         Mandy Fraser