Discussing the Finer Details With Rhys Gebethner

Written by Acme Mag

The last few years, changes to the real estate landscape has given rise to a whole sleuth of small independent agencies nationwide. While they tackle all kinds of different markets and areas, Adelaide was missing a luxury agency to tackle high-end properties. Enter Fine Luxury Property. A new agency, helmed by Rhys Gebethner, Fine is here to challenge what real estate marketing can be. We recently spoke to Rhys about his journey, starting Fine, and their marketing ethos. 

Acme: Tell us about your journey from starting in the industry to branching out and form your own business?

Rhys: I spent 10 years working at both larger and smaller agencies across South Australia. The move to representing high-end property was always inevitable. It’s something I am passionate about but also plays to my natural skillset, as well as being a perfectionist. I’ve somehow gained a reputation for being the guy in the three-piece suit, ‘I feel it’s important to look and feel your best but it’s also something I have consciously done from the day I started in the industry. So really I’ve been true to the brand.

Acme: So you’ve been in property for ten years, you started your company and you’ve got someone else in the company with you now?

Rhys: Four now! We just had a fourth person start with us. I first started with an associate, he was pretty much with me from day one. Then we hired an asset manager to handle the rental side of things. Now we’ve just bought in another person who used to do a lot of off the plan sales. She handles a lot of the projects so that we can bring a bit more niche skill and complexity to our scope of work.

Acme: Tell us a bit about the ethos and philosophy behind Fine? From what we can tell at its core it’s about just selling nice homes to good people – as well as focusing on employment. 

Rhys: That’s definitely the general gist. But the ethos really stems from the definition of the name. FINE was about quality, detail and even a description of the homes we represent. But this also was cause for the design and purpose for every element we’ve created in the brand, it is all of those things together that truly separate us from the rest.

Acme: A key driving force behind Fine seems to be creating memorable marketing. Tell us a bit about the importance and implementation of it.

Rhys: Our whole strategy around marketing is very detailed and our focus is set around getting as many eyes to property, not about us as agents. At the moment, the industry is built around an agent first approach, but we really want it to be about the properties we represent and for our brand to help carry that. With video becoming one of highest grossing mediums businesses are using in 2023, it was a no brainer to build a business around digital platforms.

And so we’re not expecting each one video to change everyone’s life. It’s going to be this constant progression. But put that quality up.

Acme: It’s early days still, but what do you think are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt already?

Rhys: I think it’s a constant learning experience. Being in the industry for 10 years, there was a lot that I already anticipated. Our biggest learning curve has been accepting a new business needs to win people over. We think “okay, well, we’ve got ten years experience and people might know who we are” but in reality it will take time for us to build that brand equity, and become a household name synonymous with luxury. But it’s an exciting challenge and our unique approach is what’s going to get us there.

Acme: I also imagine the type of property you’re going for is quite niche too.

Rhys: We really shoe-boxed ourselves in over the name Fine [laughs]… And then we doubled down and put luxury property in the name as well – We are not focused on a particular area. We’re really just trying to niche ourselves in the luxury space. And everyone has different interpretations of what that might be.

Acme: How has the launch of your brand gone so far?

Rhys: It’s been good. It’s been very good. And it’s been interesting to hear feedback back from consumers, buyers, vendors, and just already their perception of what we’ve put out so far, even from other top performing real estate agents around the country. And it’s been refreshing. We often get comments of them saying, “It’s actually nice to see someone doing not just one element different or just putting a different brand with different colours out there”. We purposely kept the brand black and white. We wanted it to be composed of a multitude of elements that made us different. But the business is more than just the brand it’s the people, the language, the results, the constant commitment to deliver and creative direction that makes the brand so strong because nobody else is truly doing that.