Christina James

My real estate career began on the Gold Coast in my mid 20’s where I was fortunate enough to be working with some of the Gold Coasts most respected real estate companies such as the legendary Max Christmas and the entrepreneurial Douglas brother’s Gordon and Archie with the PRD Nationwide team. During my time with Max we were fortunate to be involved in some of the Gold Coasts highly prestigious sales of developments such as the Mike & Jenny Gore development Sanctuary Cove, which featured “Old Blue Eyes” Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston and Peter Allen as the headline names for the launch concert line up. We also attended the launch of launches at the Sovereign Islands with a Prince Charles where we all got to fly over the development in 15 seat Iroquois helicopters with the army at the controls, that certainly was an explosive experience. And I still have the original invitation! Over the years I have experienced the ever changing economic markets, riding the many ups and downs of the real estate with one of the most memorable highs being the heady days of my 4 years as an international sales agent for the Japanese company Daikyo Australia. The things I saw, the people I met the experiences I had still to this day are indelible. I started my real estate journey in a small office in Elkhorn Avenue as a receptionist then property manager and then worked my way around to Orchid Avenue as a sale person with a lady by the name of Mona Kennedy who became my mentor. After spending some time with Mona the ever colourful Max Christmas pulled up outside our office in his shiny red Rolls Royce and gestured at me to jump in and come for a ride. I obeyed the all mighty one and off we went with the wind in my hair. He told me it was about time I came to work for him in his large office just down the road now that I have learnt the business (he knew Mona would have trained me well) and as a good student I followed the master. My time with Max was a baptism of fire as I was in the bull pit with the best sales team on the Gold Coast and there was no-one there to hold my hand or wipe my tears so I had to think on my feet and learn very fast or be eaten alive. It was a great time with that company and to this day I still have so many great friendships from that office so I cannot thank Max enough for the time he gave me. Max Christmas was at the top of the real estate game and we were marketing the most prestigious developments and properties in town.  From Max I was off on another life changing adventure with the Japanese company Daikyo Australia. Boy oh boy these were heady days indeed. Our Japanese clients were the perfect clients as we just had to conduct drive-by’s of luxury homes in our stretch limousines and they would indicate which one they would like to purchase and it was more or less the same with highrise apartments.  After many years of selling prestigious homes and luxury highrise apartments I then moved to one of the major project marketing firms in Australia PRD Nationwide as a project manager. PRD were the kings of project marketing on the Gold Coast and had the pick of all the top developments on offer. My fastest sell out of a high rise project was 6 weeks and the second fastest was 12 weeks working 7 days a week with some heavy 12 – 15 hour days. PRD was a very well oiled machine that had a fantastic company culture and they rewarded their teams very well. After some time living overseas I am now back full time on the Gold Coast and happy to say I am working with the highly esteemed Willcox team in luxury residential sales.