I grew up with Christie Leet. Although I am a couple of years older than Christie, we are both sons of Proserpine sugar cane farmers and we attended the same schools in Proserpine. We have shared career paths that have run in a parallel, complimentary fashion for many decades. Christie’s career has progressed significantly over the years. It is interesting to stop and reflect on his origins. Christie’s first job was as an Articled Law Clerk in Townsville. He purchased Reg Gillen’s real estate business with his father Dooley Leet in 1987. Christie then acquired an interest in PRD Whitsunday in 1997 and still owns the agency but primarily it is passive investment which is actively managed by Annette Neil as it’s CEO.
Christie has always been astute in how he has approached his own personal development and has shown great self-discipline to develop his public speaking skills and his long-distance swimming which culminated in an attempt to swim the English Channel. In the early stages of his real estate career Christie worked at the Metropole Bottle Shop in Proserpine where he was able to make many contacts for the benefit of his real estate business. One of the keys to Christie’s success has been his ability to remain grounded and relate to people from all walks of life.
Christie was involved in a number of developments in the Whitsunday region and one of the first was under the tutelage of well-known Mackay businessman, David Denny. Christie was a sponge for information and knowledge about real estate and developing. One of his long-term mentors is Gordon Douglas, one of the founding partners of PRD. Given the limitations of developing in a regional area which is constrained by a lack of population, Christie moved to the Gold Coast in 2018. Gordon was instrumental in persuading Christie to make this move. Another catalyst for this move was the success of Christie’s management of the development at Funnel Bay near the Whitsunday Airport. This was a very successful development and provided a great return to the investors which included a core group of clients and supporters who had been involved with Christie on a long-term basis. Another influence was a trip that Christie made in 2018 to the Mount Everest Base Camp. It was this experience of dealing with sherpas and seeing their humility and understated but undeniable ability to help and assist others in their journey up the highest mountain in the world is what motivated Christie to make the move to the Gold Coast and take his business to the next level. Christie decided to name his development arm “Sherpa Property Group” with the intention of it being the custodian of his own and his investors “property journey”. His team of experienced professionals can progress a development from site acquisition, coordinating and managing consultants, buildings, obtaining of approvals and design funding to an end product that is unique and is one which others as individuals wouldn’t have been able to conceptualise let alone make a reality.
Christie’s approach to life and business has been heavily influenced by the tragedy of the death of his ex-wife Noelien in 2019. Noelien’s passing left four children without a mother and a huge hole in the life of the entire Leet family. This tragedy has only reinforced Christie’s view that the most important aspect of one’s life is your family. He has looked to become more involved in the lives of his children and the everyday decisions that he makes is influenced by his desire to provide for his children in the best way possible so that they can grow and develop and take their own paths in life.
Christie has taken active steps to create a more balanced lifestyle. This has led to the recent acquisition of a coastal cruising boat which he is now teaching himself how to use. The idea is to make the time to use the boat not only for the benefit of himself but his family and friends.
Since moving to the Gold Coast and whilst at the same time maintaining his interest in the Whitsunday region, Christie has completed or is currently progressing eleven projects with a total worth of $300 million which are all underpinned by his four core values which are:-
- Less is more – he under develops sites to maximise buyer’s experience not the returns to Sherpa. For example, he might build ten units on a site approved for thirty units;
- Buyer customization – he builds units and customises them for individual owners and therefore avoids the “sausage factory” process that is the formula for so many unit developments on the Gold Coast;
- Innovation and thinking differently – Christie has accumulated a team of talented and artistic professionals who have all been involved in producing an end product that is unique and will stand the test of time;
- The end result when combining the previous three values is that investors have a property that is worth significantly more at settlement than what is paid for the property.
I personally am happy for and proud of Christie’s success. He has come a long way from his early beginnings in Proserpine. But he remains the same person and that is at the core of his personal success and that of the Sherpa Property Group. We have included a link in this article for anyone who might be interested in learning more about Christie’s company the “Sherpa Property Group” and also, any opportunities that might be available to become actively involved in his current and upcoming projects https://www.sherpapropertygroup.com.au/investing-with-sherpa.
