John McGrath, founder and CEO of McGrath Estate Agents, wants his agency to eventually control 20 percent of the Australian market. An ambitious goal for the real estate powerhouse's soon-to-be-listed agency business.
After an oversubscribed $65 million IPO last December 7, McGrath will list. McGrath has created a successful real estate operation in 27 years and now he is expecting the growth to accelerate, with more company offices, more franchises, more top-earning agents, more rentals, more mortgages and even more brands, a report from Financial Review disclosed.
McGrath currently has a 3-percent market share, with over 70 real estate offices, many of which are in his hometown, Sydney.
McGrath said the move was "probably the most important point in the history of the company," and added that this is now where the company's growth is "really going to start increasing.
He stressed that a publicly listed company is the best way to achieve goals in the real estate industry. For him, listing could be a capital to expand which will attract and hold top negotiators. Any real estate company can use scrip or cash to buy businesses.
This course of action has attracted investors. McGrath had shown them the graph on how the real estate business had grown regardless of the market, "convinced them to look past the peak of the Sydney boom," the report further stated.
McGrath, 52, believes that the only way to improve Australian real estate is to change or enhance some strategies in the operation.
McGrath also discussed about real estate sales, mortgage and sales training, and property management. He said that real estate companies can buy a complimentary franchise group and run a parallel brand like what Realogy did. They can also buy a very high quality company owned cluster that has four and fifteen offices with successful brands, well managed, and profitable.
McGrath stated the biggest challenge that real estate agents could be facing in the future and that is the breakthrough of digital technology which would allow sellers and buyers to deal directly online. Despite the dilemma, McGrath believe that real estate industry real estate industry still requires human input who will add a lot of value to the properties.