The On-the-Go Agent: How Damian Raxach built a fully mobile real estate business

• Key figure: Damian Raxach, Property Partner at The Agency – Fraser Coast, with a perfect 5.0 rating (22 reviews)
• Challenge: Balancing 30 years of traditional real estate experience with the need for digital transformation in a competitive regional market
• Solution: Implemented Realtair’s end-to-end platform, particularly automated Market Updates and the “Make an Offer” button
• Key achievement: Successfully operates a paperless business, managing everything from prospecting to settlement without the traditional office equipment

In an industry often divided between traditional relationship-building and digital innovation, one Fraser Coast agent has found remarkable success by rejecting the false choice entirely. With nothing but an iPad and the right digital tools, he’s proving that regional real estate success doesn’t require choosing between personal service and technological efficiency.

“I don’t have a desktop computer. I don’t have a printer. I’m completely iPad,” explains Damian Raxach, Property Partner at The Agency’s Fraser Coast office. After 30 years in real estate spanning London, Brisbane, and now Hervey Bay, Raxach has embraced a radical approach to property technology that’s transformed his business.

His journey illustrates that real estate agents at any career stage can embrace new technology with success, particularly those questioning whether digital tools can work in regional markets. The answer, according to Raxach, is an emphatic yes — with the right platform and mindset.

The evolving coastal market

Damian’s property journey unfolds against the backdrop of Hervey Bay’s remarkable transformation. This regional Queensland market has experienced significant demographic shifts, driven by lifestyle choices and economic factors.

“We’re still seeing mass migration from interstate and intrastate,” Raxach explains. “We’re seeing a lot of buyers coming from the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. I think we are what they were 20, 30, 40, maybe 50 years ago.”

The region’s evolution has been accelerated by substantial infrastructure investment. “Our medical facilities have improved beyond recognition,” notes Raxach. “I remember when I moved here 17 years ago, I was selling houses for people who wanted to get out and get closer to decent medical. Now it’s the opposite. They’re coming here because they can have the lifestyle and the medical.”

This changing demographic has brought younger families and remote workers seeking affordability without sacrificing lifestyle. “We’re seeing people moving out of capital cities, larger areas, more metro areas and coming here because they get the lifestyle, the affordability. And they can still work,” Raxach observes, highlighting how the region’s connectivity through direct flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane supports this trend.

From resistance to revelation

Despite his extensive experience across different markets, Raxach initially showed little interest in adopting new technology. When he joined The Agency, he encountered Realtair’s platform but admits, “Being completely frank, I had no real intention of using it because it wasn’t necessarily relevant to what I was doing at that time.”

This hesitation is common among experienced agents who have established successful processes over decades. However, as Raxach’s role evolved, so did his perspective on digital tools.

“Since I’ve changed to The Agency, my business has changed a little bit. I’ve been given it as a tool to use. And now that I’ve got it, I’m embracing it and going, ‘Wow! Why didn’t I pick that up a year or two or three or four ago?'” he reflects.

The turning point came when Raxach discovered how Realtair could enhance rather than replace his existing approach to client relationships. “Our business is so relationship-based. It’s not funny,” he emphasises. “They want to know that you care about them. They can trust you.”

Building a single point of truth

For Raxach, one of Realtair’s most valuable aspects is how it consolidates his workflow. “I’ve always been a great believer in trying to have one single point of truth within my systems,” he explains. “The more sources you’ve got, the more chance for human error. So I try and keep it all together.”

This integration has been transformative, particularly how Realtair works with his existing systems. “Realtair does integrate with Agentbox so well. And it’s just really helping me solidify that single point of truth,” he shares.

Raxach has embraced automated Market Updates as a key feature for nurturing past clients. His approach was systematic: “I went into every appraisal I’ve done in the last 12-18 months. Give them a call. Tell them that I now have this automated system and flick them out a Market Update for their suburb, and tell them that they were now gonna get one every 6 months.”

Best of all, he has a front-row seat to the engagement analytics. “I’m definitely seeing people picking them up and reading them. The tools in the back end are great, because you can see what pages they’re looking at, how long they’re looking at them for… then I can initiate the conversation around those points, and they don’t know that I know.”

The 40% advantage

Perhaps most transformative has been Realtair’s “Make an Offer” button, which aligns perfectly with how modern buyers actually behave. “I love that buyers don’t need to contact me anymore at odd hours. They can make offers at their convenience,” Raxach notes.

The statistics validate this approach. “40% of offers are made out of hours… that makes sense,” Raxach agrees. “The days of ‘We clock in at 9. We finish at 5’ couldn’t tell you how many years ago or decades ago that finished.”

This feature addresses a fundamental truth about consumer preferences that Raxach acknowledges with refreshing candour: “Ultimately, they don’t like real estate agents. They don’t want to speak to real estate agents. If there’s any part of the process that can be automated to negate the need to talk to an agent, they’ll use it.”

Rather than seeing this as a threat, Raxach views it as an opportunity to enhance his service. “I don’t particularly want a buyer calling me at 11 o’clock at night to say they want to make an offer, but I’ll happily look at it at 11 o’clock at night, or see it at 7 o’clock the next morning… which normally in the olden days would have been 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock the next morning.”

Looking forward

As Raxach continues to expand his use of the Realtair platform, he anticipates discovering even more efficiency gains. He’s particularly keen to fully implement the “Make an Offer” functionality from start to finish. “I’ll let Natalie know as soon as I get the first one directly through, because I think it’s a great story… what I’d love to do is try and follow that through the whole process, through [Realtair] Sign and everything.”

His perspective on technology’s role in real estate reflects a balanced approach that values both innovation and the irreplaceable human element. “Yes, it will impact our business. If you’re not using it, you will be left behind, but it will never replace us because our business is so relationship-based.”

For other agents hesitant about adopting new technology, Raxach’s advice is characteristically direct: “Keep learning, stay ahead of the curve, and use tools that make your job quicker and easier.”