New belle of the property ball...Better Homes and Gardens brand comes to real estate in Australia

The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand is set to enter the Australian real estate market after a master franchise agreement was completed between the Realogy Holdings Corporation and CT Investment Holdings Pty Ltd.

CT Investment Holdings chairman and owner is Charles Tarbey, who is also the chairman and owner of Century 21 Australasia.

It operates in around 40 states across the USA.

It is not the first time the publishing/real estate linkage has been tried in Australia as Belle magazine teamed up with a the Clarence to launch the Belle property group, which has had erratic progress following its 2000 launch headed by former politician John Hewson, estate agent Chris Meehan and Peter Hocking.

Supported by Better Homes and Gardens magazine, the company will provide lifestyle, styling, renovating and gardening content, as well as traditional real estate sales and leasing services.

The Better Homes and Gardens magazine’s multi-media lifestyle brand print edition is read by nearly 40 million people per month in the US and Australia.

In Australia, Better Homes and Gardens magazine boasts a cross-platform reach of more than 3.5 million people across print, digital and social, with Better Homes and Gardens being the most read magazine in Australia.  

Sherry Chris, the global President and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, said the announcement marks a "momentous point in Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate’s strategic growth story."

“Better Homes and Gardens’ lifestyle magazine brand has an unparalleled scope and reputation in Australia, as it does in the United States.  These benefits pave a path of competitive advantage for the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand as it launches in Australia and New Zealand, and there is no better person to oversee the brand’s strategic growth and development than Charles, a seasoned and respected leader in the real estate market.”

There has been strong interest in the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate opportunity in Australia and New Zealand.

Tarbey said that the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand will have a very different offering than other real estate brands throughout Australia and New Zealand and likely appeal to a very unique demographic.

“The franchisees affiliated with the new business will not only offer traditional real estate services but also what I would describe as a ‘complete lifestyle experience’, that leverages lifestyle content that complements and relates to Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

“Whether it is helping people prepare a home for sale or assisting them in their search for a new home, the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand will enter Australia and New Zealand markets with an exclusive offering.

"This offering, combined with the power of the media brand and the experienced real estate practitioners we expect to attract, gives us a high degree of confidence that the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand will succeed in real estate like it has in so many other domains,” said Charles Tarbey.

The Editor in Chief of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Australia, Julia Zaetta, welcomed the news.

“We are very excited to have the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand in Australia. Better Homes and Gardens’ magazine media brand is a large, much loved and highly trusted multi-platform offering and it is great news that the real estate brand is expanding.

“We are thrilled our wide audience will now be able to enjoy real estate services as they undertake some of the most important activities of their lives: buying, selling and renting their home.” 

Julia Zaetta paid $1.45 million for her Neutral Bay unit in 2016.

The growing Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate network includes more than 11,500 affiliated sales associates and hundreds of offices serving home buyers and sellers across the United States and Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

It is expected that the first Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate offices will open their doors in Australia towards the end of 2018 and in New Zealand in 2020.