When Rosie Fraser started her Dundee estate agency she hoped to market five properties a month. Last month she listed 60 Tayside homes for sale.
She is astonished at how quickly she has captured significant market share in her home city.
In its six months of operation, Rosie Fraser Real Estate has achieved £40 million in sales.
The 28-year-old now has 12 people working for the business.
Reasons for success
Rosie previously worked for estate agents in Dundee and Glasgow and came to realise her standards of service were higher than normal.
“When I was completing jobs, clients would buy me gifts and leave amazing reviews,” she recalls.
“It wasn’t until I received the gratitude that I realised maybe I was doing things differently.
“I could see flaws within the set-up and I was limited in how I could communicate with clients and in the way we marketed properties.
“I wanted to be able to give my clients the next level of service. To be able to do that, I felt I had to have more control so I set up on my own.”
All of her company’s business has come through word of mouth. Rosie says her approach is geared towards “taking stress away” from sellers.
This includes daily updates in WhatsApp chats.
She also does property staging for the photographs as well as incorporating drone shots and video walk-throughs.
“Social media is huge in terms of marketing the properties,” she adds.
“Another element that leads to about a quarter of our sales is our database of buyers – we call it property match-making. It’s alerting buyers to homes they might be interested in.
“The team all takes an interest in their own clients. It’s personal and I think that’s why we are so successful. We all really care.”
Entrepreneurial roots and future plans
Rosie, who grew up in St Mary’s, says she’s always had an entrepreneurial mindset. As young as five-years-old she was decorating and selling handkerchiefs.
She first started in business aged 20 when she started a children’s clothes shop called Little Ones in Crichton Street.
A year later, she sold the shop as a going concern for £70,000, which she then invested in buy-to-let properties.
With rising borrowing costs and an uncertain economy, the property market in Tayside is starting to slow down.
However, Rosie sees this as a time of opportunity for her business.
She said: “People will always need to sell property because lifestyle things come up – divorces, jobs, more children…
“In a time the market is slower, people need a more proactive agent.
“Our ambition is to keep to keep our reputation for service.
“I also want to show my two daughters that it’s possible to be successful in business doing something you love.”
Rosie Fraser’s top tip
How do you grow a business quickly?
My piece of advice would be to create a support network of other successful business owners and those who are successful in the industry. This is invaluable for support and advice.
