Making great choices - Whakatāne and Ōhope's Aaron Standen

When you live and work in "the lifestyle capital of the world", it only makes sense you're not the type to let the grass grow over your feet.

After the incredible success of the wider Arizto Bay of Plenty team in 2024 – having secured the second-most sales per region for the brand – the acquisition of talent for this unique part of the country continues to impress following the recent arrival of Aaron Standen for the Whakatāne and Ōhope areas.

It's only right if you're going to be successful in real estate that your personal outlook reflects your community – all the better to sell moving to the region to out-of-town buyers – and after eight years in the profession, Standen could make anyone want to jump on a plane and come to have a look.

"Where I'm sitting right now, looking at the Pacific Ocean, and Moutohora Island – there's every chance I'll go fishing this afternoon," said the 49-year-old father of four on his cellphone.

"I caught the first marlin for the season a couple of weeks ago on the 11th of December, and likewise, it's only a half hour drive and I can be walking in Te Urewera bush, and hunting.

"Whakatane is blessed with high quality, high paying blue collar jobs and also, in my opinion, it's the lifestyle capital of the world if you're an outdoorsman.

"If you think of the mills, we're rich in resources here – we've got the pulp mills and saw mills, we've got the Kiangaroa forest, we've got dairying and Fonterra, we've got rich geothermal reserves, we've got hydroelectric, geothermal and now solar power generation, we've got the mussel farms, and there's a lot of Kiwifruit in the area.

"It's rich in resources, and rightfully named the Bay of Plenty."

Standen arrived in his current stomping grounds back in 2010, having been offered an industrial-type job nearby, with his previous trade and profession being in engineering.

"Quite by chance, being the only property that was available by rent, I ended up renting on Ohope Beach at West End, and immediately fell in love," he said.

"I'd never stood on Ohope beach before, but I was surprised at how much was on offer and how awesome the area was.

"My soul was filled from the first moment I set foot in the town. I'd found home.

"The reason I'm in real estate is because in my previous role as a mechanical engineer, and then sales engineer in the company I was working for, the role became less reliable given some economic conditions for the company.

"I had options to go elsewhere and do other things, but I was looking for options where I could stay in this community.

"Although I wasn't born in Whakatane, I feel like its where I truly have got my roots in good soil.

"That's why I got into real estate - it's ‘what else can I apply my skills to where I can make a living, develop a career and a profession, yet just stay in this community that I love'?"

Another important point with Standen, and very likely why company founder Pernell Callaghan and CEO Daniel Budd had an extended meeting in Auckland earlier in 2024, is that he is walking proof that Arizto's new approach to real estate in New Zealand is the best, because it attracts the best.

A number of agent profiles in this news section have told tales of good salespeople having been frustrated that despite their best efforts, they could not move their personal businesses ahead with their former ‘traditional' agencies, hence the switch to "The Green".

However, working for one of the biggest national companies, Standen was in a strong position – the top salesperson in his office and inside the Top 15 for the Waikato-Bay of Plenty region.

"I never left because I was upset, I never left because of any offence or issues and I wouldn't have left to do the same somewhere else," he explains.

"I left because when I did my due diligence, there was a better option available in the market place for myself and my vendors, and I've always said I'd do the right thing by a vendor.

"I'll never get a vendor to spend a dollar where there isn't a return on their investment or isn't the best value option available to them.

"On that basis, it became an integrity decision, that when I completed my due diligence, I was left with an option to say, ‘am I still going to be able to say I do the right thing by a vendor at all times, or am I going to stick with the status quo and in the background know they could get a better deal elsewhere'?"

And a loyal client base he has served for nearly a decade have certainly appreciated Standen's new Arizto offering in terms of a fairer commission rate and streamlined services.

Already with two sales and seven quality listings on offer as of late December, he is preparing to grow considerably within his community in 2025.

"Most of my business is repeat and referral.

"[Switching] hasn't been a problem whatsoever, people have been more than willing to engage and have a chat.

"Everyone has said, ‘I'm listing with you because it's you'.

"That was a concern of mine - I thought that people might not list with me because it's me and the [different] brand, but ultimately people list with people they know, they like and they trust.

"What is neat, I do like the docu-sign element, I do like the fact a vendor has their own dashboard, I do like the fact that a listing authority can be sent and signed.

"Everything to do with compliance is wrapped up in whenever we send a document – whether it be a listing authority or a sale and purchase agreement.

"The compliance elements are well taken care of because it is facilitated through a centralised system that ensures that compliance boxes have been ticked."

Standen has certainly test-driven Arizto's system to its fullest, given one of his first two sales was a successful auction in early December for a three bedroom Whakatane character home – auctions still being a little unique for most under the brand's digital system.

"I love auctions, always been a fan of auctions.

"It's your best opportunity for a premium price on an unconditional basis.

"You get to present a property to the market and people get to view the property and judge it based on its merits before they judge the property based on its price.

"It's a lot of feedback for the vendor, and some of the most important feedback is going to be price feedback.

"Now that's harder to get if you're using a price or you're using a guidance like ‘interests over' or ‘enquires over'.

"It's more neutral and we do tend to find that the feedback concentrates – almost like a standard deviation curve.

"You do get the outliers – high and low – but mostly there's a concentration and that allows the vendor to be fully informed so that they can make a great decision on auction day whether it's accepting the highest bid or offer or pricing the property if passed in at auction.

"They're still in control, but it is my favourite way to sell property.

"It's twice as much work, but being vendor focused means I'm not afraid of hard work and you get a great result for any vendor that engages."

It sounds like Arizto has made a great hire for an already great team.

"I came away [from that Auckland meeting] invigorated and refreshed, believing that this was a company with fantastic leadership and had people at the helm that were ambitious to grow something that was genuinely disruptive, with a focus on ensuring that agents win through helping them help their vendors win.

"What is in front of us is greater than what is behind us."