Bathurst Real Estate becomes McGrath Bathurst as Whittakers take a step back

Michael and Stacey Whittaker, who have owned and operated Bathurst Real Estate for nearly two decades, have made a big career move, selling their business to Josh Fitzgerald from McGrath Orange.

It means the end of the Bathurst Real Estate name in the city, however, the same team will carry on under the McGrath banner with Mr Fitzgerald at the helm as director.

Mr Whittaker will step down principal, moving into the sales team as an agent, while his wife transitions out of the business to find her next adventure.

The switch to McGrath has been in the works for some time, with Mr and Mrs Whittaker saying that, for once, they were both on the same page about their future and the future of their business.

"We were actually approached by McGrath to become their franchise in Bathurst," Mr Whittaker said.

"We had an online meeting with them during the course of last year and we loved everything that we saw. We actually both made the decision that night to make the change, so we were going to manoeuvre away from being an independent.

"We felt it was a good time for the business, but also for us personally.

"I don't know what happened, but I woke up the next morning and I said to Stace, 'I don't know if I have it in me to not only retrain me, but for us both to then retain 16 or 17 other people', so we rang McGrath head office and said, 'We love it, we think Bathurst needs it, it will go great, but we're just not the people, so if you want to buy it go right ahead'."

Mrs Whittaker added, "It was probably the first time ever we were both on the same page about exiting the business as owners of it."

Mr Whittaker loves listing and selling houses. Being able to immerse himself in that, without the pressure of running a business at the same time, will be one of the biggest benefits of the sale.

"Owning the business was great. It's been absolutely fantastic for Stace and I," he said.

"It's provided us with the ability to do things that we could never have dreamed of doing, but you're always in the limelight when you own a prominent real estate agency. That's just how it is.

"I think now is just the right time for us to make that change, and change is good."

They are particularly happy as well that the staff from Bathurst Real Estate will be retained by McGrath, and it was good for the new owners to start another business with a full team already in place.

"The best thing we did was retain all the staff, because the staff here are super lovely, enthusiastic, and they've been really supportive of the rollover," Mr Fitzgerald said.

He is pleased to be expanding McGrath into Bathurst and looks forward to building on the foundations left behind by Bathurst Real Estate.

"Our main goal is offering first class marketing, first class service, which is what McGrath brand brings to every town they're in, and just keeping our clients happy," he said.

McGrath Bathurst will specialise in property management, residential sales, commercial property and rural real estate.

The agency will also continue the community partnerships and sponsorships the Whittakers developed over their time in business.

"We will continue to support the local community and sporting organisations, and we will be looking at other opportunities in that area as well," Mr Fitzgerald said.

The McGrath Bathurst office is located in William Street, at the same site that Bathurst Real Estate occupied.

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