Commitment to excellence – the Hemingway’s are Arizto's top team

The day that Wayne and Veena Hemingway moved to Rotorua, they knew they had found the perfect place to do what they are most interested in – bringing people and property together.

Beloved for its geothermal attractions and outdoor nature pursuits, from its hot pools to bathe and its nature parks to walk or bike, many like the Hemingway's would come to the Bay of Plenty for a visit and soon find themselves staying.

The convenience of travelling in all directions to an Auckland, Taupo, or Tauranga means one can relocate to a more affordable area while staying in touch with family and friends.

"We're a holiday destination, well located in a fairly central place," says Wayne Hemingway.

"We have all the infrastructure of a large city.

"When we got here, we came to the realisation how much Rotorua had to offer."

The couple also realised how much they themselves could offer Rotorua, as after a decade in town, raising two children, Wayne entered the real estate industry at the invitation of LJ Hooker's principal Malcolm Forsyth.

Proving a very adept salesperson, wife Veena joined him a couple of years later to form what at the time was still a rare concept – a fully licensed team, rather than an agent and an assistant.

And the results speak for themselves - $120 million worth of sales across 323 successful transactions, a phenomenal average of 25 sales per year regardless of agency and market conditions.

Having joined Arizto in August 2021, the couple are unquestionably the top performing team under the growing brand – recognised as third overall for sales in the company at the 2023 Christmas Awards.

Blessed to be so like-minded not only in their personal life but as a business team, they organically grew the ‘Power of 2' concept to attract homeowners to whom they could deliver a higher level of service from appraisal to settlement.

"We've been working together almost my entire career in real estate," says Wayne Hemingway.

"I guess the bottom line was we were consistent top achievers.

"The concept has been kind of cloned, and the team has become more in-vogue.

However, their key point of difference remains, as they are both fully licensed salespeople, and both work as a team for each client and each property from first appraisal through to successful sale.

"We have become a highly successful sales team with a wealth of local experience."

That experience included Wayne receiving the prestigious LJ Hooker ‘Captain's Club' award in 2017, which recognises elite performers, and which Veena followed by winning in 2019.

In four straight years, a Hemingway was the No.1 LJ Hooker salesperson in Rotorua – Wayne reaching the milestone solo in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and then jointly with Veena over the next two years.

"It's a dedication to excellence and a dedication to integrity," says Wayne.

"It takes two, to achieve the result.

"There's no real secret to good business, although we specialise in getting it absolutely right."

The couple then moved to another local-based agency for a short time, before Arizto came calling, with Wayne saying they were interested in the digital approach that allowed for "real time real estate".

Meeting with Arizto's chief executive and founder Pernell Callaghan in Auckland, and undertaking their own research, the Hemingway's found they liked the modernised approach, fairer commission fees, complimentary marketing and "time friendly" structure for the agents.

"Basically, it freed us up to do what we do best, rather than caught up in administrative.

"The culture of the company is to provide a modern digital real estate platform and to provide us as salespeople the support, resources and the tools to achieve superb results for our clients.

"We saw that our clients were basically paying a lot of money to get their property sold, including the costs of any marketing upgrades.

"Having made the change, we'd never go back."

Moving forward with Arizto, they remain on the cutting edge of technology – their Powerof2 website features all their testimonials and monthly blogs with the latest REINZ statistics for sales and trends in both the local and national markets.

On the independent Rate My Agent website, the couple's testimonials have them in the Top 100 Agents nationally – with 108 five-star reviews.

"Our greatest accolade as real estate salespeople is the 5-star rating and the appreciation our clients express" state Wayne and Veena together.

"We value our client's appreciation far beyond any industry award we have ever won."

It all comes back to the couple's approach to their clients, always advising them on the best pathway for them and not just a pathway that leads to an agent's profit.

"A result doesn't necessarily mean just a sale price, but the overall outcome that the client wants to achieve," says Wayne.

"Every seller has got their own preferences.

"We come to understand their needs, come to understand their goals."

The determination to get that right fits in nicely with their business ethics.

"We always place our clients interests above our own and act with complete honesty and integrity at all times.

"Their career in real estate is an extension of their passion for people and property."