Bermagui real estate agent Julie Rutherford has announced she is selling her business and retiring in October this year. Photo: Supplied.
Bermagui real estate agent Julie Rutherford has announced she is selling her real estate business and retiring in October.
Ms Rutherford has been the head honcho at Julie Rutherford Real Estate for just under 18 years and will be handing the reins over to her long-time colleague Mick Butterfield and his wife Kristy Butterfield.
Since 2004 Julie has built her business from a startup into one of the largest real estate agents in the Bermagui area, even servicing Cobargo, Quaama and Tilba.
Ms Rutherford said that she believed it was time to move on to a different life.
“The time was right, when you’re in a business it can be difficult to get out but I think everything just fell into place and it’s the right time to move on now,” she said.
“Real estate can be all-consuming, you’re on call pretty much 24/7 and I’ve got four daughters scattered around Australia and grandchildren so I just think it’s time now to live a different life.”
Ms Rutherford said that opening her own agency was something she had always wanted to do.
“I had been working in real estate for a while and had thought about opening my own agency, so I took a bit of a break to figure out what I wanted to do and after some encouragement decided to give it a crack,” she said.
“It has its moments like every job does but for the most part I’ve loved it.”
Under her leadership, Julie Rutherford Real Estate has been wildly successful in Bermagui and has even won Real Estate Agent of the Year titles the past five years running.
Julie Rutherford Real Estate has become one of the best known and most well regarded real estate agents in the area since its creation in 2004. The team includes Julie Rutherford, Paige Dunn, Mick Butterfield, Kylie McGill, Maureen Croft and Melisa Ashton. Photo: Supplied.
She said that she had greatly enjoyed her time owning and running her own business.
“Being able to work a bit flexibly as my own boss has been great and real estate is an interesting place, you could write a book about all the different and interesting things that happen in real estate,” Ms Rutherford said.
“I’ve been in a beautiful part of the world, surrounded by a great community, and it’s been great to be able to employ people from the community.”
During the pandemonium that was the 2020 bushfires, Julie and her team were quick to offer assistance to anyone who had been displaced, offering open homes for both long and short-term accommodation.
“It was great to be able to help people during the bushfires; one of the first things people need is a roof over their head. Because we have access to people that own properties we’re able to offer support,” she said.
“People want somewhere that they can call theirs, even if they’re renting it. There’s nothing like having a place to call yours.”
As for what’s next, Ms Rutherford said that aside from taking care of grandkids she wouldn’t be making plans any time soon and would be enjoying her newfound free time.
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