After a career in teaching, Julie Hanna fell in love with real estate the moment she completed her very first sale in Raglan 22 years ago.
The house in Whale Bay, by today’s standards, would be a bargain but it was a top sale back then, delivering the vendor $395,000.
“The first weekend I was on I sold the house in Whale Bay. At that stage, it was the highest sale in Raglan,” she laughs.
From that moment forward Julie’s trajectory in real estate has gone from strength to strength and she has been in the top 20 percent of Ray White performers for several years.
When she started helping out her real estate husband Dave parttime, Julie quickly realised it’s the sort of job you need to commit to fully.
“You can’t do real estate parttime. It’s either one thing or the other. So, I handed in my notice.”
Not that she didn’t enjoy teaching, she spent a lot of her career teaching at Huntly Primary and College and also travelled around the Waikato as a special education advisor.
“I loved my 26 years teaching but I certainly love real estate more than I loved teaching.”
What brings Julie her biggest joy is matching people with houses, and making sure they are really happy afterwards.
She often works with people over a number of years, as they move from house to house, until she finally finds the perfect place for them.
“For me, it’s not so much about a quick sale. It’s about matching the right property for the right person. Some people can look for years and it’s not the right one, and then all of a sudden, I know I’ve got the one for them.”
Community is important to Julie; she’s the local Justice of the Peace and she supports a good many fund raisers.
As Raglan’s only female real estate auctioneer, she has had a lot of fun over the years doing charity auctions; from breast cancer to Ronald McDonald House to the local schools and arts centre auction, Julie loves to use her skills to raise money for a good cause.
“I love auctioneering, even as a little kid I loved the call of the auctioneer. A charity auction is less formal so I always have a lot of fun at a charity auction. I’ll always say yes to a charity auction no matter what.”
Always one to do her bit for the community, Julie and husband Dave have recently joined the Raglan Community Patrol. A countrywide initiative in partnership with the police, community patrol’s goal is to reduce crime and harm through the active presence of trained patrollers.
“We think the patrol is a great way of giving back to the community. Once we’ve completed our training, we will be rostered on to go out in the patrol car and patrol the streets for three hours”
Like many businesses during the Covid lockdowns, a real estate agents’ ability to fully do their job was limited.
Although Julie was busy finalising deals she had started prior to the lockdown, without open homes to attend she used the free time to deliver groceries to vulnerable people in the community.
“I was doing that sometimes six hours a day. I really enjoyed it, especially getting out to our seniors who were pretty frightened in that first lockdown.”
During this time, she also gained her credentials to run Zoom auctions.
“I went in screaming and not wanting to do it but I was encouraged to by head office and I ended up really enjoying the Zoom auctions. They went really well and they all sold under the hammer.”
Julie says Covid hasn’t dampened the appetite for real estate in Raglan with lots of people realising they can find the work/life balance without having to live in a big city.
“Like me, people and businesses have realised that work can be done at home. I was doing Zoom auctions with a nice jacket and my trackies on,” she laughs.
“People are just loving the lifestyle at the beach and Raglan does offer all of that, and it’s not too far to travel to Hamilton and Auckland if need be.”
Ray White Raglan
Julie Hanna
Licensee Agent and Auctioneer
0274 418 964 | julie.hanna@raywhite.com
Facebook: @RayWhiteRaglanRealEstate