Wolveridge shares secret to her success

REAL ESTATE



Port Douglas and Raine & Horne real estate identity Barbara Wolveridge has literally had the world at her feet in a career encompassing travelling the globe promoting charitable causes, organising golf tours and her enormous success in the property industry.

And although she has achieved significant milestones, her accomplishments in the Port Douglas property market have caught the attention of many because of her personable and professional approach.

This is also the demeanour you are introduced to when you seek to find out more about someone who has sold million-dollar properties. Her most recent success was the sale of the magnificent waterfront residence on seven Wharf Street, which went for $6.8 million.

“I would like to be seen as a straight shooter. What you see is what you get. In selling property, it’s important to come across sincere and genuinely involved and committed to the interests of the vendor.

“The way I operate and the philosophy I follow is ‘the vendor is king’. I strive to get the price that people want and I do not subscribe to overpricing. This is not something I will do,” she told Newsport.

Exciting and challenging as it is selling high-end trophy properties, or mid-range-priced houses, Wolveridge has also had the opportunity to capitalise on her passion for golf when she joined World Golf Tours.

“This was an exciting time of my life when I took people around the world to experience and play some of the great golf courses.

“We visited South Africa – also visiting the game reserve – parts of Europe, the Augusta National which hosts the Masters and the British Open.

“For the trip to the Open, which was in 2000, I hired the QE2 as our accommodation and we then travelled to St Andrews. The tournament was won by Tiger Woods. A feature of that trip was being able to play the course on the Monday with the same set-up as the final round of the Open.

“It was also quite amusing in that there were still many people around and they followed us. This left many memorable moments,” she said.

Barbara and husband Michael, a one-time golf course designer for Christopher Skase, moved permanently to Port Douglas (from Melbourne) almost three years ago, although they have had property here for the past 25 years.

“And when Michael decided he wanted to retire, and I still wanted to work, I approached David Cotton at Raine & Horne and he said to me, ‘there’s your desk and you can start as soon as you want’,” she said.

Michael, of course is well known for designing more than 200 golf courses around the world including Sea Temple Golf and Country Club, now known as Palmer Sea Reef. The former president of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects spent four years developing the course before it opened in 2000.

 

At the time, he said the 89-bunker course was some of his greatest work. “Like many things in life, it's as good as the piece of land or site that you have got,” he said.


Please comment below.


* Readers are encouraged to use their full details below to ensure comment legitimacy. Comments are the opinions of readers and do not represent the views of Newsport or its staff. Comments containing unlawful, obscene, defamatory or abusive material will not be published.