Weston Creek powerhouse Jane Macken named the best residential real estate agent in Australia

A standard day for Jane Macken begins with a 7am phone call and ends around 11.30pm with text messaging final thoughts for the day to her colleagues, Emma Robertson and Joel Gould.

It’s easy to do those kinds of hours when you’re doing what you love.

And it makes sense that that amount of energy and passion stands out to those choosing the best residential salesperson in Australia.

On Thursday night, Jane took out Residential Salesperson of the Year at the Real Estate Institute of Australia’s 2024 National Awards for Excellence. Jane has lived in Garran for 36 years and sells across both the ACT and NSW, specialising in Woden, Weston Creek and the Molonglo Valley. She’s principal of LJ Hooker Woden/Weston.

And now, she can describe herself as the best residential real estate agent in the country.

“Yes, I can confirm the champagne was flowing on Thursday night,” Jane laughs.

Jane was judged against hundreds of other sales agents in the areas of leadership, sales activity, professional development, overcoming business challenges and service to clients. She sold 68 properties during the submission period, including the famous Earth House near Tumut, NSW.

But it was the growth rate of her sales in a declining market, conversion rate of appraisals to listings, and her ability to sell homes others simply couldn’t that stood out to the judges.

“I successfully sold nine properties – all of which were previously on the market with another agent – within a 12-month period,” Jane wrote in her award submission.

“We didn’t measure the success of these sales exclusively from the transaction itself, but from the gratitude of the sellers. These sales and their situations were all different, though the outcome was the same.

“They were overjoyed to be supported, confident in my ability, and were able to put their trust in me after their previous experiences with other agents. This achievement highlights my commitment to exceptional customer service and ability to deliver results where other agencies fell short.”

Jane lists fellow LJ Hooker principals Andrew Ligdopoulos and Matthew Herbert at the top of the list of people who inspire her. But it’s her husband David Macken who deserves “a tonne of credit” Jane says.

“He is my rock. He is the most incredible person I know in this world,” Jane says.

“If I'm having a bad day, he looks me in the eye and says, you can do this. You're amazing. You're number one. You can do this.”

And how does Jane plan to celebrate her big win?

“I’m going to [national real estate conference] AREC,” she laughs.

“I know it could be considered ‘work’ but I love what I do. I never wake up and feel like, oh Lord, I've got to go to work. The best thing in my life was starting my own business. “

The ACT punched above its weight and took out nearly a third of the awards on offer at the National Awards for Excellence on Thursday night. It won seven out of 25 awards, the highest number for any state or territory.

Colliers Canberra topped the trophy haul, bringing home three awards – Commercial Agency of the Year, Debbie Daly was named Commercial Property Manager of the Year, and Sarah Smyth took home the Achievement Award.

The Commercial Salesperson of the Year award went to Michael Ceacis from Canberra Commercial.