Our Story

The Raine & Horne brand has been closely tied to the growth and progress of the Australian real estate industry since 1883 when Tom Raine and Joseph Horne opened the doors of their iconic property firm for the first time at Wentworth Court, Elizabeth Street in Sydney. 

From the very start, they adhered to a set of business practices that have been maintained to this day – a commitment to personalised service of their clients’ property needs across sales, leasing, management and consulting.

Throughout the 1880s, the responsibilities of a land agent were all-encompassing and included residential sales, valuations consultancy and rent collection. This broad background provided the foundation for our outstanding reputation and allowed us to help hundreds of thousands of homebuyers buy into the ‘Great Australian Dream’.

Driven by the enthusiasm of property doyen Max Raine, the Raine & Horne network stretched across Sydney from the 1970s onwards. Not satisfied with the extent of the expansion, the Raine & Horne Board decided to become only the second property group to pursue a franchising business model. With its first franchised office opening in Liverpool NSW in 1976, the company has grown exponentially to incorporate offices in the Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, as well as numerous offices globally.

Now a multi-national organisation and one of the world’s most substantial real estate networks, we have been recognised as an Australian super brand. Our Australian and international offices provide clients with an invaluable source of the property market and demographic information, as well as a platform to market property internationally directly and with local understanding.

Surviving two world wars, booms, busts, pandemics, depressions and recessions, we continue to deliver consistent performance and reputation in the marketplace, connecting with communities around the world.

Now into our fourth generation of family ownership under our current Executive Chairman Angus Raine, our successful growth is reflected through national sales figures that are amongst the highest in Australia.

“Although we are proud of our long history, we are a forward-thinking, dynamic & diverse business” – Angus Raine

What We Do  

We provide a comprehensive and integrated range of property services and consists of four distinct property service brands: Residential, Commercial, Rural and Our Broker financial services. 

Along with the expansion of our residential office network, which continues to be a key element in the company’s sustainability, we also launched Raine & Horne Commercial in 1984 which is concentrated on the commercial, industrial, retail and specialist property markets. Today, Raine & Horne Commercial offers Australia-wide coverage through a network of over 30 offices.

Concurrently, our trained and experienced team of Raine & Horne Rural agents service the property needs of the farming, cropping, grazing and livestock sectors. Indeed, through its existence, our Raine & Horne brand has grown and developed alongside the great Australian rural way of life, which gives its agents a unique understanding of the specific needs of rural property clients.

In addition, Our Broker offers accredited mortgage broking services and provide a range of financial services. The Our Broker business continues to grow and is now one of the best full brokerage opportunities in Australia.

With the strength of these great brands, we have proudly developed into an industry-leading, full-service real estate network with an enviable reputation for expertise and an unwavering commitment to excellence and exceeding customer expectations.

“We’re a multi-branded organisation that’s always adapting to the continuing sophistication of the global real estate market”

Things You Didn't Know About Raine & Horne 

Raine & Horne got its start looking after Vaucluse House and the expansive Wentworth Estate on behalf of the famous 19th Century politician, human rights activist and publisher William Charles Wentworth

Raine & Horne secured another early break in 1883 when it sold the Cooper Estate on behalf of emancipist Daniel Cooper.

Raine & Horne didn’t have a phone line it its earliest years but are listed in the 1891 telephone directory with the phone number ‘1088’

Raine & Horne is still 100% Australian family-owned and in the hands of its fourth generation.

Max Raine started in 1950 and retired in 2011

The first suburban office was opened in 1968 in the Roma Arcade in Double Bay, Sydney.

The first franchise office was at Liverpool, Sydney in 1976.

In 1982, the 100th office was opened in Armidale, NSW.

The company’s longest-serving employee was Mr Harold Horsley, who chalked up more than 60 years.

It took Max Raine over 30 years to purchase all the shares in R&H from family and employees which he completed in 1998

Current Executive Chairman Angus Raine joined the firm in 1998 after 15 years working for various rival firms.

Raine & Horne Firsts

1968 - The first suburban office opened in Double Bay, Sydney

1976 - First franchise office opened in Liverpool, NSW

1975 - The first company to open a dedicated Home Unit division

1982 - The 100^th office opened in Armidale, NSW

2006 - The first to send text messages to consumer mobiles with property details

2007 - Mobile-specific webpages were introduced and the ability to send property details to mobiles via signboards

2007 - OFI check-in’s where consumers received emails with property details & buyer/tenant matches via the companies Contact Management System

2008 - Supported the ban on plastic by introducing re-usable shopping bags.

2008 - The first the launch an e-mag, called Flashmag

2008 - First to use Facebook in Australia to market properties

2010 - Introduction of exclusive virtual tour cameras

2011 - Pioneered the use of QR codes across the network

2017 - Introduced multi-million-dollar digital appraisal platform –DigiKit. A completely paperless platform to help improve the networks carbon footprint

2017 - First Australian company to use CCT a cutting-edge AI Digital & Social media platform; Amplify

2019 - Introduced brand new CRM –VaultRE to entire network. First real estate group to use the innovative platform

2021 - Adopted Single Sign On - One login for access to our suite of products

2021 - First franchised company to launch a sales process, incorporating best practice, multiple systems, and compliance

2022 - Raine & Horne Corporate won the 2022 REB Training & Education Program of the Year Award

2023 - AI integration with Vault CRM powering generative property descriptions

2024 - Raine & Horne celebrates 141 years of operations

2024 - Launched our dedicated business analytics tool Office BI

2024 - Released ‘Contact Summary Cards’ summarising agent notes using AI