"This time is it," says Kerry Sutherland, as he's stepping down from his position at Property Brokers Dannevirke. Photo / Leanne Warr
"This time is it," says Kerry Sutherland, as he's stepping down from his position at Property Brokers Dannevirke. Photo / Leanne Warr
Kerry Sutherland once took a commission in the form of 30 pigs and a couple of tōtara logs in his 36-year career with Dannevirke Property Brokers.
It was early in his real estate career, at a time when rural communities were struggling, and there wasn’t enough money to pay hiscommission.
So, he made a deal which he probably hasn’t lived down ever since. Even the company owner was speechless when told what the agreement was, Sutherland said.
Sutherland moved to Dannevirke about 50 years ago with his wife Jill, who died last year.
He transferred from Whanganui, where he worked as a court registrar. He was also the returning officer for the electorate and the registrar for births, deaths and marriages.
When Sutherland began to feel pressured to move on to Wellington, he decided to try something new.
“It didn’t suit my family,” he said. “The job was changing. It wasn’t fulfilling. It was a great job at the time, but I’d had enough.”
After taking on some private work and a fixed-term contract with the then-county council, Sutherland joined the newly opened Dannevirke branch of Property Brokers.
In the last few years, the pressures on managers in real estate had become stronger in areas such as paperwork and compliance with regulations.
“There’s a huge emphasis placed on the knowledge and skill of the land agent,” Sutherland said, adding that real estate agents now had to become part lawyer, part building inspector or part consultant.
“You’ve got to have a mix of all those skills.”
Despite that, he said it’s a “fantastic business”.
“It’s so fulfilling because you’re dealing with people. If you’ve got great teams around you, it’s a great business environment.”
He said real estate agents interacted with a variety of folks, from businesspeople and farmers to tenants and landlords.
“If you like people and you like relationships, it can be a very fulfilling role.”
That was not to say that things didn’t go wrong.
“If you are accountable and open and fair, there’s nothing much you can’t fix easily,” he said, adding that it was wisdom he tried to pass on to the staff.
Sutherland said it had been a good journey and he’d made so many good friends and met so many great people.
He said some people had come in to see him recently as they needed to sell a relative’s property.
They remembered him due to him selling them a property 20 years ago.
“That was great.”
Sutherland had also seen the ups and downs of real estate, from the various recessions to the different ways of helping people buy their own homes.
He said back in the early ‘90s, the company sold a lot of properties through rent-to-buy arrangements for those who couldn’t get finances.
Property Brokers was involved in a deal which saw 26 properties in Hartgill Cres sold to an investor in Palmerston North, who upgraded the properties and on-sold them to the tenants in what became a philanthropic deal.
“That was amazing. That had never happened to Property Brokers.”
Sutherland felt it was a good time to bow out, especially with the added challenge of his role as a councillor for Tararua District Council.
“It’s time to look at things a little differently.”
There's a new captain at the helm. Property Brokers regional manager Paul Roache, with new manager Melanie Silver and former manager Kerry Sutherland.
