Network & Industry

EIn This Edition…

🚀 From Google to GPT: The new SEO playbook every agent needs in 2025

🇻🇳 Convention 2026 package details released

🪄 First National rebrand underway

🧨 Could Google search be facing its KODAK moment?

🛡️ Workplace Health & Safety modules rollout – protecting you and your people

📈 Seller leads jump 135%

⭐ First National stars shine in REB’s 2025 Top 50 Women in Real Estate

🌟 Whippet wins First National Real Estate creative account

🪤 The Capital Gains Tax trap homeowners expose themselves to

🤖 How AI became a terrible business owner in experiment that got ‘weird’

CEO Update

🎥 8 minute view

David Edwards’ most recent membership update mentions some valuable items of news that all members and staff should be across:

Convention 2026 – Da Nang, Vietnam
Regrowing our network
Rebrand journey kicks off
Workplace Health & Safety module launch

Protecting you, your people and your business

👓 1 minute read

First National is now truly a learning organisation. Your network has launched its People First at First National Workplace Health & Safety (WH&S) series of bite-sized learning modules.

With WH&S laws already mandated nationally. Every real estate agency needs to catch up.

So, between now and Christmas, your agency will receive an important module every two weeks, giving your staff the opportunity to operate with quick, consistent, easy to understand policies – each one takes about 10 mins to complete.

Ten minutes could save you tens of thousands

Fines for an untrained workforce after Workplace Health & Safety incidents easily dwarf the time invested by your staff. An unprepared workforce is a costly risk. Penalties following Workplace Health and Safety incidents often dwarf the time and effort that could have prevented them.

What you need to do:

Appoint a Learning Influencer in your office to organise individual logins for FN Central
Review, discuss, sign and complete modules
File on your Learning Influencer’s computer (When you have a policy, it must be immediately accessible to all leaders in the business. That makes it valid)

The Learning Influencer plays an important role in that they:

Establish access to the training modules for everyone in your business
Ensure everybody has their own email address in FN Central
Ensure everybody accesses the step guides
Ensure everybody completes and signs each policy
Discuss the Coaches Guide with the principal and take action

Stop, delegate, win.

Nominate a ‘Learning Influencer’ in your office and track completions – empower them and reap the benefits.

It’s more than ‘training’; it’s care made visible. Bite-sized, mobile-friendly modules that protect staff, your customers and your business.

If you missed our first module last week, visit the Learning & Development chapter of this edition of Our Fabric.

Vale Garth Llewellyn

👓 30 second read

It is with deep regret that First National received news of Garth Llewellyn’s passing on 26 June, aged 93.

Garth joined First National Real Estate in September 1983, making him one of our network’s pioneers. Throughout more than four decades of service at First National Action Realty Ipswich he inspired countless agents with his tireless work ethic, remaining active in the Ipswich office well into his mid-eighties.

Garth’s guidance, humour and commitment to professional standards left a lasting impression on Queensland's membership, but in particular current day principal Glenn Ball and his entire team.

As a mark of respect, Garth was awarded the network's highest honour, the Kaye Heath Memorial Award, in 2013.

FN Candappa expands into Warragul

👓 30 second read

Continuing their trajectory of growth, Suzi and Shane Candappa are about to open a second office in Warragul, following the departure of respected members Stuart Brock and Carmen Christie. Please join us in congratulating Suzi, Shane and the entire FN Candappa team on their exciting growth. We wish you the best of luck and look forward to supporting your continued success.

Seller leads jump 135%

👓 30 second read

Great news from REA confirms First National’s REA PRO users saw 135% more seller leads this May than last May.

With approximately 30% of these leads known to come to market within just months, many offices could see as much as a 10% uplift in their average monthly listings.

Have you actioned every lead in your database?

A further 1,887 sellers in all buyer enquiries were also identified. Did every one of these buyers receive communication offering an appraisal from your office?

Keep an eye out for REA’s August, September, October and November webinars – so you can get the best out of your REA PRO subscription.

First National stars shine in REB’s 2025 Top 50 Women in Real Estate

👓 1 minute read

First National Real Estate is celebrating two of its finest after Su Reynolds (First National Byron Bay) and Rebecca Dean (First National Port Stephens) secured coveted places in Real Estate Business’s 2025 Top 50 Women ranking. Su was listed at No. 40, while Rebecca achieved No. 31.

The annual list measures transaction numbers, total sales value, days on market and average sale price to identify Australia’s highest-performing female agents. Both agents posted outstanding figures in a year marked by tight stock levels and heightened buyer scrutiny.

Why does this matter for the wider network? Industry visibility draws talent, reassures vendors and underlines our cooperative’s strength in regional as well as metropolitan markets. Prospective sellers weighing up representation see independent evidence of First National’s depth.

Could your office be on next year’s list? The data suggest consistent follow-up; clear vendor education and rapid contract execution remain the drivers of elite performance. Those fundamentals sit within every principal’s control.

First National congratulates Su and Rebecca for raising the bar once more – and proving that informed, customer-centred practice continues to win in any market.