Ray White Upper North Shore & Northern Beaches has recruited James Leith and Tamara Lawless to lead a new team covering Frenchs Forest and Forestville, a patch the group says fills the gap between its Upper North Shore and Northern Beaches operations.
Associate Kane Edwards has also joined the business alongside James, moving across from another agency.
James arrived in Australia from Scotland 12 years ago as a personal trainer before moving into real estate in 2019, where he says he has been achieving 40 property sales a year.
“There are over 15,000 homes in this pocket, and our ambition is to build a high-energy super team dedicated exclusively to this community,” James said.
“We want local residents to know this is a completely fresh, modern team led by a new business, backed by the strength and reach of Australia’s largest real estate network.”
Tamara joins after three years selling real estate in the local area. Before that, she spent 15 years in sales enablement at a major online job board and led the sales operations team at a leading Australian property portal. A Forestville local currently renovating her own family home, she says she understands the market from the client’s side as well as the agent’s.
“Transitioning into sales was a natural progression after years of guiding sales teams and buying and selling my own properties,” she said.
“My focus is on providing an exceptional level of detail, transparency, and care. Trust is everything in this business, and I’m thrilled to bring the unmatched power of the Ray White group to my local community.”
Ray White Northern Beaches director David Walker said finding the right people for the Frenchs Forest and Forestville patch had taken months.
“We have spent months searching for the right individuals to establish our presence in Frenchs Forest and Forestville – visually, this has been the missing piece on our map connecting our Upper North Shore and Northern Beaches operations,” he said.
“In James and Tamara, we found the perfect combination of relentless energy, operational excellence, and genuine community focus to lead our 11th office.”
The expansion follows Domain enquiry data showing that 60 to 70 per cent of buyer enquiries in Frenchs Forest and Forestville come from outside the area, with nearly three-quarters of those originating from the Northern Beaches and North Shore.
Ray White Northern Beaches managing director Charles Caravousanos said the new team was positioned to capture that cross-regional buyer movement.
“The flow of buyers between the North Shore and the Beaches is one of the strongest demographic trends in Sydney real estate, and the Forest area sits right in the centre of that movement,” he said.
“Bringing these two incredibly talented and experienced individuals into the business marks the next chapter in our growth strategy as we actively recruit across our Manly, Mona Vale, Palm Beach, Elanora Heights, and now Forest teams.”