The top team in the Top of the South – Arizto in Nelson/Tasman

There aren't too many better places to be around the country than in Nelson and Tasman during January.

The restaurants and bars are open most evenings, the beaches are only 10-15 minutes drive for most, and the fruit orchards will be offering up some delicious harvests.

From Tahuna Beach near the city to the summer playground of Kaiteriteri on the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park, with a thriving arts & crafts scene and some of the mildest year-round temperatures with few extremes, it really is an attractive place to own a home of any category.

Which is why it needs a mobile and dynamic real estate team to deliver quality service to these vast areas – be it the city, Stoke, Richmond, Motueka, Upper Moutere and more.

To this end, the ‘original three' agents for Arizto's launch into the market four months ago hit the ground running and are doing a great job – with 25 listings currently available or under contract and approaching two dozen sales.

House owners, both those who worked with them previously and those who have met them for the first time, are absolutely loving the high level of service the trio can deliver to them using Arizto's innovative digital platforms.

They have already secured a 3.6 per cent share of the Nelson-Tasman market and Arizto's just warming up, soon to be joined by three more agents as New Zealand's fastest growing real estate company looks to expand its offerings to buyers and sellers at the ‘Top of the South'.

In mid-2023, Arizto business development manager Oliver Conway made contact with ten year industry veteran Taylor Mant, based with a Motueka company which also included Tiana Ferguson and Electra Trewavas.

After initial discussions, Mant brought Ferguson with her to meet Conway and expand on how they could not only do well as salespeople but change how real estate is delivered across the region, with Trewavas rapidly brought into the picture as well as the three of them agreed that if they were going to go – they were doing it together.

"Pretty quickly after that [meeting], we were like, ‘this is a no-brainer'," said Mant.

"It was fairer for us as agents, and fairer for our clients.

"It's been a huge change, but with the response in the region, it has been a great move."

Based in the Redwood Valley near the rapidly expanding township of Richmond, which has more room for subdivision opportunities than Nelson city, where she has listings along with Stoke, Atawhai and Motueka, Mant knew a being more mobile agent with more control in her hands was better than traditional real estate where local staff handle those aspects and clients pay for their salaries through commission.

"I was never in the office – I would go into a Monday morning meeting once a week."

Agreeing to work more collectively with Ferguson and Trewavas has also benefitted clients as the three have their own unique experiences they bring to the table – with Mant an expert with subdivisions, Trewavas having key understanding of specific residential and lifestyle sales, and Ferguson very community minded and well-regarded in the Motueka area.

"We feel like what we have to offer, our clients can trust in it.

"When you put all three of us together, we have each other's backs, it's amazing."

With over seven years in the industry, based in the lovely warm Motueka, Trewavas could also read the tea-leaves that this could be a big opportunity.

"We felt like we needed a change, but didn't know what we wanted that was better that what we've got.

"It was scary but exciting."

Supported by Conway, the team of three came on board with a strong marketing campaign, online and on radio, while making themselves known at key events such as the Nelson Home & Garden Show.

They worked with previous clients who trusted them to deliver under the new format of being a digital-based company, cutting out much of the old traditional paperwork, and it has worked wonders.

"It's definitely freed up so much more time with the App," Trewavas said.

"The feedback so far with the live login [24/7 online reporting of campaign], people just love the transparency.

"That's been a big factor – not having offices and not having overheads and being able to pass savings to our vendors.

"It does give us that leverage – we're offering if not the same, but better service."

For Conway, from that first conversation with Mant, it was clear from the questions he would get from her and Ferguson at the initial sit down that they would thrive under the Arizto banner.

"[Mant] clicked onto the idea straight away.

"I said, ‘it can be whatever you want it to be, we're just here to support you and the business is set up to take care of the agent'.

"Leave the no-dollar productive stuff to us. The business is set up to take care of the agent."

Nelson needs agents who can offer this service while understanding the unique markets that make up the main centre and the wider region – in December median prices centrally were $718,500, which is less than the height of the ‘Covid' market but still nearly twice what it was a decade ago.

Tasman has seen less of a year-on-year decrease in the same timeframe, now with a median of $840,000*.

And so Conway is looking for good agents – quality over quantity – those operating at a high performing level or those who have that ability but just need a brand with a different process to support them rather than restrict them.

"I always say, ‘we're everywhere at once, and we're nowhere at once'.

"We can equip them with everything they need to be put that [high performing] position, but then it's up to them."

In time, this will also involve bringing on board a Regional Support Manager, similar to the positions that have been successfully established in Auckland-Northland, Waikato, Taranaki, and Manawatu-Whanganui.

As this is published, the team is welcoming three new agents to the fold.

Lillie Broster-Turley and Rina Lindgreen join from the local scene, while Brunna Lee has experience with digital real estate from her time in Otago.

And there could be no better backdrop to start listing with the country's most innovative real estate group in one of the country's best regions.

"That's my quote – ‘why would you not want to live here'?" asks Trewavas.

Mant concurs.

"It's such a cool location.

"It's fantastic; it's such a nice vibe at this time of year."