Leederville-based real estate agency has made several changes to its leadership structure as it marks 35 years in business.
John Percudani recalls a time when Microsoft was largely unheard of in the Australian real estate industry.
The Realmark managing director went into business with his wife, Anita, in 1989, having spent his early career as a town planner.
“I’d [also] been in the commercial field for some time prior to that in other agencies,” Mr Percudani told Business News.
“When we started the business, we took on a program called Microsoft and couldn’t find anybody even who knew how to use [it].”
Mr Percudani was remarking on the major shifts that have occurred in the real estate industry during his tenure at Realmark.
“Technology has evolved ... over that period, but I think the whole nature of the agency business has changed quite dramatically,” he said.
“There was a dominance of core brands at one stage, [then] there was an explosion of boutique agencies.
“I think, increasingly, because of the challenging nature of the business model, impact of technology, challenges around recruiting aligned and committed talent, that you really have to have a much more robust business aggregated across broader aspects of the marketplace.”
Realmark, which entered the industry as a boutique agency, now describes itself as mid-tier.
The company operates across residential and commercial markets, but recent changes to its commercial arm have put that part of the business in the spotlight.
Realmark Commercial, which has a team of 10 staff plus administration workers, has recently promoted Wayne Chorley to the newly created role of executive director.
Mr Chorley joined the business in 2020 and led Realmark Commercial’s industrial team.
Rob Dawson, a director of sales and leasing at Realmark, has replaced Mr Chorley as the head of Realmark Commercial’s industrial team and has been promoted to director.
Mr Chorley said his competitive nature drew him to real estate.
“I guess I’m just a very competitive person and want to beat the opposition,” he said.
“I often say you don’t have to be terribly smart to be real estate agent, you’ve just got to be smarter than the other agents. That’s what keeps me going.”
Mr Percudani said Mr Chorley thrived on building up those around him.
“If I was to observe Wayne, I think he loves building people,” he said.
“He loves taking talent and building talent; that’s where he gets his satisfaction.”
Mr Chorley, who has close to three decades’ experience in industrial real estate, agrees.
“I get more joy out of seeing them do a good deal than myself doing a deal,” Mr Chorley told Business News.
Mr Dawson, in particular, has been a beneficiary of Mr Chorley’s modus operandi.
Mr Dawson started at Realmark in 2021 as a sales and leasing associate, before he moved into an associate director role in 2024 and more recently a director.
Prior to Realmark, he worked across industries including retail and real estate.
Deals
Realmark Commercial has sold and settled $70 million of properites across 56 transactions in 2023-24.
In this period, the company successfully negotiated 102 leasing deals.
According to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, Realmark transacted on $20.75 million of properties in 2022-23 and $27.41 million the previous financial year.
While it wouldn’t provide the actual figures, Realmark says the numbers are likely higher than those from REIWA.
A standout transaction for Realmark’s commercial team in 2023-24 included the $4.73 million sale of 15 Casella Place in Kewdale to fund manager Realside Ovest in September 2023.
Realmark also negotiated a seven-year lease for 15 Casella Place to MineARC Systems, at $675,000 per annum.
The mining services provider is part-way through building a 4,500 square metre warehouse on the site.
Realmark also sold two properties in Stanhope Gardens, Midvale, for a combined $6.6 million last year.
MineARC Systems is building an industrial facility in Kewdale. Image: Realmark Commercial
Realmark Commercial has also absorbed a number of smaller agencies into its practice in recent years, with acquisitions in Malaga, Midland and Wangara.
In his new role, Mr Chorley said he wanted to build the entire commercial team in the same way he built the industrial team.
“I’m here to build a team, not to build a reputation,” he said.
“We’ve had a tremendous run, the past four years.
“In that four-year period, we have increased our headcount in commercial agency by fifty per cent, but more importantly, we’ve been able to increase our revenue by, on average, fifty per cent year.”
The agency would not divulge its revenue figures for commercial reasons.
Horizon
Mr Percudani said Realmark Commercial had set itself a five-year plan but achieved that goal before time.
“Realmark commercial has probably found itself in a relatively comfortable position, and it found its place in the marketplace,” he said.
“However, we decided to disrupt our own business.
“Five years ago, we set out on a plan to reposition ourselves in the marketplace.
“Part of that was to attract a different level of competency into the organisation, in terms of people, technology, and also to position ourselves in a different level in the marketplace.
“Those goals were achieved within a four-year period, and now we need to disrupt ourselves yet again to continue that evolution.”
Mr Percudani added that the company planned to recruit more staff in the near future.
