Professionals Armidale in New South Wales expands with merger

Two of Armidale’s most prominent agencies have merged to create a new force in real estate for the New England region.

Ben Saxby, of Professionals Armidale, has teamed up with Stephen Ramage, of Ray White Armidale, in a move that further bolsters the expanding Professionals network by bringing together two dynamic teams under a single high-profile banner.

Mr Saxby and Mr Ramage are Co-Principals of the expanded Professionals Armidale office.

The move comes at a time of sustained demand for rental properties that has seen Armidale’s residential vacancy rate fall below 2 per cent.

The merged agency has a combined staff of 20, operating from Professionals Armidale’s existing offices at 117 Beardy Street in the East End Mall.

It also cements the Professionals team as the region’s leading real estate agency, accounting for an estimated 30 per cent local market share.

“We are looking to grow that to 50 per cent over the next six months,” said Mr Saxby.

“The merger has created a more rounded agency with capacity to do everything from storage sheds, commercial, strata, holiday letting, property management and sales,” he said.

“We are geared up for growth with enough Property Managers to add another couple of hundred properties to our rent roll. We also have the largest sales team in town which will help us build momentum.”

Mr Ramage has 30 years’ experience in the real estate industry, with key strengths in property management. Mr Saxby’s expertise over a decade is in building successful sales teams and service delivery.

“Sales and rentals are both doing very well in the current market, so this is the perfect time for us to bring our teams together,” said Mr Ramage.

“Under the Professionals brand, we have enormous capacity to grow the business and we are already well on the way to achieving our internal goals.”

The Armidale property market is supported by the strength of the education sector, as well as the relocation of the federal government’s APVMA to the city with 150 permanent staff.

“There is a great deal of economic activity supporting the property market in Armidale at the moment,” said Mr Saxby.

“We may not have experienced the capital growth of big-city markets but that makes us a very stable and affordable market. A low vacancy rate, below 2 per cent, also appeals to investors who have keen eye for cash flow.”