Open House: Meet the agents selling The Block 2018 apartments

Agencies with Block wins under their belt will go head-to-head with newbies at this year’s auction of the Gatwick apartments. Domain caught up with the listing agents just before potential buyers were due at the first official open-house inspections last week.

Girl-power: Hocking Stuart Albert Park

Hocking Stuart Albert Park  director and auctioneer David Wood helped Block favourites Josh and Elyse to victory last year and also acted for Steve and Chantelle, winners of the 2014 season. The only female agents in this year’s line-up, Emily Adams and Stephanie Evans will run the campaign for the Barossa Valley’s Kerrie and Spence. The pair have also been working closely with Wood and are determined to take home the win.

“I worked with David on the last couple of Block campaigns and when we met with Kerrie and Spence we decided it would be great if Emily and I ran their campaign. Because there aren’t many dominant female agents in the area, that provides a point of difference,” Evans said.

“I think men are realising they need to put more women into their agent teams because people are drawn to women and open up a bit more with female agents. And given women are the main decision-makers when buying and selling property it’s great for us to connect.”

Adams and Evans would love to see Hocking Stuart take out the top two positions come auction day.

“I think we have a really good chance,” says Evans. “The feedback we’re getting is that we’ve got two of the best apartments.”

Adams agrees. “We’ve got a consistent and trustworthy history with the show and we’re quite excited to be representing the women in our industry,” she said.

“I think Kerrie and Spence have a winning apartment, we just love it.”

Related: View the five Gatwick apartments for sale

• Kerrie and Spence: 1/34 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
• Hans and Courtney: 2/34 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
• Sara and Hayden: 3/34 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
• Norm and Jess: 4/34 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
• Bianca and Carla: 5/34 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda

The dream clients: Hocking Stuart St Kilda

This year Hocking Stuart St Kilda will also be managing one of the listings;  the first time in Block history that one real estate group has won the right to sell two seperate properties.

Sam Inan is stepping into the fray for Queenslanders Jess and Norm and will manage the sale of their penthouse.

“I’ve been working behind the scenes with Dave Wood, so being asked to run my own show was quite a privilege and certainly very welcome,” Inan told Domain.

“I’ve got a wonderful couple to work with,” he said of Norm and Jess. “Despite all the hard work and extra distractions of The Block, the enjoyment is there because we’ve got an amazing couple, they’re so genuine and so real, and they’re doing a marvellous job for inexperienced renovators.”

The underdogs: Wilson

In the first three days on The Block, Perth couple and rookie renovators Courtney and Hans were deserted by both their builder and their electrician, then the plasterer and tiler failed to turn up.

“They’ve been the underdogs the whole way,” says Wilson agent Jesse Raeburn, who secured Courtney and Hans’ listing by tuning in to the couple’s design intentions.

“I’m a keen renovator and Courtney said I was the first person to notice the details and what they’re trying to achieve with their apartment,” he said.

With only three years in real estate under his belt, Raeburn says he “quite likes being the underdog” and considers Wilson the underdog agency on the show.

“We’re a boutique agency, with only two offices. But we’re very well-recognised in our area and we’ve got a very strong local database.”

Graham Wilson, the agency’s director and co-agent on the listing, has been selling property in St Kilda for 40 years and knows the area back-to-front. He also secured one of the top-five apartment sales for the suburb last year, selling a Marine Parade property for $3.61 million.

The quietly confident: McGrath

Principal of McGrath St Kilda Michael Townsend has lived in St Kilda longer than he’s been in real estate and told Domain he was ready to tackle the circus that is The Block, listing the apartment for the show’s most controversial couple Sara and Hayden.

“Our office has been established for 10 years, but this was the first time we felt positioned to take on The Block,” he said. “We’re handling one of the most iconic buildings in St Kilda and if we didn’t feel we were the right people to get the most out of that property we wouldn’t take it on.”

Townsend says his agency had sold more property in the area over the past 12 months than any other agency, and were well-placed to show the best buyers through the door.

The seriously competitive: The Agency

Last year The Agency’s Peter Kakos partnered with Clint and Hannah, who drew last place in the auction order and came fifth on auction day. This year, Kakos and colleague Michael Paproth are aiming for top honours with netball guns Carla and Bianca and their penthouse.

“We had to buy into the girls’ vision, and we bought in very quickly and aligned ourselves with their passion for their product,” Paproth said. “It’s easy to see they are producing something very special.”

Paproth is thrilled to have a penthouse to offer clients, as his market focus at The Agency is Port Phillip prestige property.

“My focus is over $2 million and I’m able to give insights into what the prestige market demands. That’s why we chose to work with the girls,” he said. “We’re able to steer them in the right direction.”