Waikato Business News December 2017/January 2018

28 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS December 2017/January 2018
BUSINESS SUCCESS 2017
Helping people a key to Cathy’s success
Cathy O’Shea has had huge success
in her 15 year career as a real estate
agent.
The experienced
Lodge agent works
across a wide range
of areas in the industry
from residential housing
to lifestyle properties to
large scale housing development.
Some years ago she set
a record for the biggest ever
single transaction involving
zoned residential land in
Hamilton with a $17.5 million
deal. Cathy currently
has contracts on more than
50,000 square metres of residential
development land and
38 residential listings.
But it is some of the
smaller deals that are just
as memorable to her – if not
even more so.
“The deal I’m most proud
of and I always think of it at
this time of the year was in
Frankton for a man recently
widowed who wanted to
move to a unit in Matamata
to be nearer to his daughter.
“I pushed extremely hard
to get the price the man needed.
I remember telling him
when we’d got it and he burst
into tears. He said now he
could buy himself a new bed
and a small TV. I cried as
well and at Christmas every
year I think of him.”
“My career in real estate is
not just about the big deals. I
work as hard for a small deal
in a poor area as I do for a
big deal. That is who I am
and I’m proud of that. I like
helping people. That is part
of my Christian ethics and
my responsibility as a real
estate agent. I take that very
seriously.”
Cathy’s desire to help and
encourage people extends
to advocating for women,
young and old, to have
confidence in themselves.
Cathy who herself has six
daughters, currently mentors
women, many of whom have
been out of the workforce
having children and have lost
confidence.
“Just because you have
children doesn’t mean you
can’t still engage in a busy
career. I’ve got nine children,
I’m living proof of that.
My advice to women
is to back yourself and
not to be intimidated
by predominantly male
environments such as
property development.
“My advice to women is
to back yourself and not to be
intimidated by predominantly
male environments such as
property development.”
Cathy has a strong feeling
for the Waikato community
and supports a range of
charities including Womens’
Refuge Waikato, Habitat for
Humanity, Dress for Success,
24-7 YouthWork, CAP NZ,
the Blind Foundation, True
Colours and The Waterboy.
The former historian
and university lecturer gets
most of her real estate work
through referrals. Cathy’s
years in the industry have
provided her with an incredibly
valuable resource: a
database of more than 4000
people whom she has built
relationships with. Included
in this mix are a wide array of
industry-related people such
as bank managers, lawyers,
builders, mortgage brokers
and accountants – relationships
that are often the difference
between a frustrating
delay and a quick answer;
between failure and success.
This wide network of business
contacts, her experience
and an effervescent personality
lit up by her melodious
Dublin accent are attributes
that make Cathy so good at
her job.
Cathy particularly enjoys
working with a team at Lodge
which includes Cecily Cahill
and Cathy’s husband Chas
Farrant in the residential market,
Maureen Crowe marketing
lifestyle properties and
Basil Lennan, with whom
Cathy works attracting big
developers to the Waikato and
New Zealand.
Another aspect of Cathy’s
role is her exclusive work
marketing properties for three
Hamilton developers; Leon
Da-Silva, Darren Leith and
Tristan Jones. Currently available
are townhouses or apartments
in Leon’s developments
in Old Farm Rd, Springside
Court and Killarney Rd and
townhouses in a development
of Darren’s in Carrington Ave.
Cathy says developers are
going “flat tack” in Hamilton
currently, on the back of New
Zealand’s “rock star” economy;
the country is still seen
as a stable place for overseas
investors to put their money.
Hamilton’s residential market
continues to stay strong,
offering an annual capital
gain of between five and 12
percent.
Central to Cathy’s continued
success in real estate
is her enjoyment of helping
people. She loves the fact that
selling real estate is an education
in the “school of life”.
The small deals continue to
give her every bit as much
joy as the larger sales.
“I love dealing with older
people because that’s kind of
like a trust thing. I love to
see older people find a great
place to live and I treat them
like my own grandparent.
Meanwhile at the other end
of the scale I really enjoy the
first home buyers too. I treat
them like my kids.”
“I love the fact that in this
job, in any one day you’ll
meet all kinds of people. You
come across people in all
walks of life. I love my job.”
RESIDENTIAL | LIFESTYLE | SUBDIVISION | INVESTMENT
Let’s have a chat, call me today 0800 CathyKnows (228 495)