Christine Shaw: real estate with real heart
Posted on
Christine Shaw has combined her two great loves to create a new “Social Impact Model of Real Estate”—a first for Canberra.
Those who know Christine Shaw well, know she has devoted many years of her career to overseas humanitarian aid and refugee policy through positions in the DFAT portfolio and Immigration.
Those who know her more recently know she has a passion for real estate and a track record selling over $300 million in property.
Those who hear about Christine Shaw now and into the future will learn she has combined her two great loves to create a new “Social Impact Model of Real Estate” which is a first for Canberra.
Speaking from her elegantly appointed and heritage-listed home in Manuka’s Furneaux Street where she has also set up her office, Christine officially opened her doors to Christine Shaw Properties just over a week ago. But with four listings already on the books, she is already well past the nerves of wondering whether people would follow her, after more than a decade at a traditional real estate agency, to something completely different.
“It certainly is a good feeling to be out there already and working very hard. I have wanted to do this for a long time and it is nerve-racking taking the jump and go out on your own, but I also believe so much in this sort of social impact model and I hope others may look and follow.”
A social impact real estate agency is one which defies conventional stereotypes about flashy estate agents driving extravagant cars, and is established to give back to a social cause. “I don’t subscribe to the greed is good mantra and I never have.”
Instead, you will see Christine declare her full audited profit each year and then carve off 10 per cent of it in order to fund homelessness initiatives across the city by partnering with Hands Across Canberra.
She has a track record in getting people top prices for the sale of their homes and has been a Top Ten agent for 7 of the last 10 years. While the thrill of a marketing campaign, open house, and successful auction still gets Christine out of bed each morning and ready to work 18-hour days, she wants to do the job in a way that has flow-on benefits for less fortunate members of the community and allows her to make a difference.
Hand-picked to stand on the Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry’s Consultative Group of Affordable Housing and Homelessness in 2017, Christine understands that while many people dream of purchasing the perfect home and she plays a huge role in making those dreams a reality – others face insurmountable barriers to ever experiencing that joy and security.
“Since I started in real estate, I have wanted to bring a more ethical dimension to it. I want to help address some of the roadblocks which make home ownership, or even renting a home so difficult.”
“Having a roof over your head is a basic human right and yet so many people struggle to achieve this.”
In 2010, Christine founded a new housing initiative “Investors Can Help” with the Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services, which helped match altruistic investors with newly settled refugee families in need of rental properties.
The program has helped place 50 people each year in homes when, as new migrants, the odds of securing a private tenancy are fairly difficult given they often lack savings, security, and references.
“It’s been wonderful to see many investors actually want to help out new families – taking the position that these families are not a risk to their investment income, but actually an investment in the community.”
Meanwhile, Christine is also extending her ethical reach in other ways. Her agency’s preferred suppliers and traders will all have a declared cause they support, as will all of her employees. Gifts to clients will be sourced locally from indigenous businesses and social enterprises. Christine has an Acknowledgement of Country on her website and an environmental policy not only for her own office but for any clients who want to minimise their impact on the environment while selling their home.
“These issues matter to me and I think they matter to a lot of Canberrans. While we still operate as a full service real estate agency who will achieve top dollar for your home, we do it in a manner that helps others and is kinder for the community and the environment. I think most people respond to people taking concrete steps to try and do the right thing. This is what I am really passionate about.”
Oh, and the flashy real estate agent’s car? It’s a red Mazda CX3.
The company might only be in its infancy, but Christine Shaw Properties already has a three-year and a 10-year plan.
“I hope that in three years’ time, I can prove that this model of business is successful and that I may have other agents want to join me. In ten years’ time, I’m hoping there will be more social impact models in other industries.”
“I have started an Instagram hashtag ‘#give10percent’ which refers to giving 10 per cent of profits each year to a cause. I would love to see other big money industries take on this ethos, not just real estate. None of us wants to pay triple in taxes, so government funds are finite. Business can contribute in a meaningful way and can afford to make a contribution from their profits to others who could really, really benefit.
Ethical investments weren’t a focus two decades ago; social enterprise models weren’t as obvious a decade ago; and now social impact models are beginning. In 10 years’ time, I would love a lot more businesses to be hashtagging ‘only10percent’ and making a difference. Then I will feel that I have done something worthwhile.”
For more details on Christine Shaw Properties and her company ethos, head to christineshawproperties.com.au.
This is a sponsored post although the views are the author’s own. For more on our sponsored post policy, you can read here.
Leave a Reply