When Julie Humphries requested an appraisal on her Helensburgh home from PRD Nationwide’s enigmatic Doug Svensen, she could never have imagined she would be working as an agent in his office just six months later.
Twenty years on, the now Julie York is celebrating two decades of selling real estate in her adopted hometown, 14 years as Principal of her own agency.
Julie was born and raised in the Shire but her parents, Bill and Iris Davis, had lived in Helensburgh and many of her cousins still live here as well as her brother, Robbie.
As a newly single mum, Julie decided to take Doug’s offer as it meant she could work locally and be around for her two young daughters, Alana, then 5, and Laura, 14. Alana is now 25 and works with Julie while completing her Masters of Public Health at Western Sydney University.
“I was the Director of Human Resources at Traveland for 20 years, which employed 5000 staff worldwide,” Julie says.
“I’d commute up to three hours a day to and from the city, as well as flying interstate and overseas on a regular basis, so it was a really attractive proposition. And my job had given me the skills to read people, negotiate and know when to stand firm – all great attributes for a real estate agent.”
Julie has negotiated dozens of multi-million dollar sales and achieved many record prices, but it’s her relationship with clients who usually become friends that gives her the most satisfaction.
“I really get a kick out of helping people,” Julie says.
“It’s thrilling when I call the buyer to say ‘Congratulations!’ The most exciting moment is when the buyers roll the Sold sticker over the sales sign and I take a picture of them. I feel so happy for both the seller and buyer – I’m just jumping out of my skin!”
An active community member (Julie was involved in nippers, soccer and football through her girls), she has a soft spot for the elderly.
“It’s quite a privilege to be invited into someone’s home (for a market appraisal) but it makes you realise that a lot of people are on their own and doing without.”
Julie has been known to do client’s shopping, make them dinners and lunches and remembers one particular man, Alan, who could only eat frozen jelly ice blocks which Alana made and Julie happily delivered to the hospital.
She also sweeps away leaves before inspections. “Selling someone’s most important financial asset should be as stress-free as possible, so I do all I can to make that happen,” she says. “My goal is to make the sellers ecstatic, not only with service but the price achieved.”
Julie bought Coastline Real Estate from John and Robyn Venn in 2006, just after they took on the
L J Hooker franchise. Julie quickly became one of the top 5% of agents in the national franchise. In 2015, she changed to Raine & Horne, which she believed was a better fit.
She is now one of the agency’s leading agents in NSW and consistently achieves higher prices.
“When people appoint me, they get me from start to finish, from the styling suggestions to attendance at Open Homes; from negotiating price to finalising paperwork at settlement.
“What you see is what you get.”