HOW WE GOT HERE
Almost a decade ago, Anne-Maree was working in a large brand name real estate agency, styling up the homes that she was selling. The HR Manager said to Anne-Maree “you can’t be a stylist AND a real estate agent, you will need to make a choice, in order to continue in real estate. You should not be spending your time on the presentation of the property, the property will sell no matter what. You should be spending that time getting more listings for the agency”.
The following day, Anne-Maree resigned from that real estate agency, marched down to the Office Of Fair Trading and registered Cape Cod Residential (a name similar to her previous work as a homewares supplier and Stylist – Cape Cod Designs). Anne-Maree has never looked back. This was a pivotal moment in her real estate career … pioneering a unique and innovative new real estate model that favours the seller (and ultimately the seller’s sales outcome) … not just the real estate agency.
"You can either be a real estate agent or a stylist, you can’t be both"
- Large Brand Name HR Manager
Defying old-school thinking, Cape Cod Residential is proud to have moved away from out-dated and traditional real estate models.
Offering higher value, and a better sales process, simply out-performs on so many levels.
Like so many things in business, the decision to accumulate a dedicated, in-house property styling inventory and styling team (something no other real estate agency had previously actioned), was driven by early stage external challenges that have subsequently resulted in one of the best collections of designer furniture and accessories in Queensland.
Serendipitously, it was the behaviour many years ago of a less than charitable home stager, acting in concert with a large furniture hire firm, who consciously worked to restrict Anne-Maree’s ability to hire large furniture pieces.
Although challenging at the time, Anne-Maree used this opportunity to pivot, and subsequently build a substantial in-house property styling inventory … something no other real estate agency had previously done.
Never again would Anne-Maree be at the mercy of external furniture hire firms, where securing the right furniture and accessories at the right time will always be a challenge for home stagers without their own inventory.
Cape Cod Residential now has a styling inventory which is the envy of even dedicated home staging firms … more than $1,000,000 worth of high-calibre furniture, artwork and accessories for the exclusive use of Cape Cod Residential clients.
"Never again would Anne-Maree be at the mercy of external furniture hire firms"
- Cape Cod Residential
Cape Cod Residential has also challenged the real estate prospecting paradigm and triumphed at a level unequalled by their colleagues, who spend countless hours cold calling and mass-producing advertisements to a disengaged audience. Cape Cod Residential is now widely recognised as the leading presentation-centric real estate agency in Australia.
A significant portion of the firm’s success has been achieved through Anne-Maree’s expert use of online social media strategies over the past decade, in particular Instagram and Facebook.
"We’ve broken all of the out-dated prospecting and marketing rules"
- Cape Cod Residential
With over 30,000 highly engaged, predominantly Australian followers, across multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts, and a database of thousands of potential buyers across more than 60 suburbs, Cape Cod Residential is able to sustain its ability to expose and share its beautifully presented properties to the widest audience possible.
Cape Cod Residential is genuinely at the forefront of social media expertise and social media strategies, which is evident across Anne-Maree’s 3 core accounts: @capecodresidential; @capecodresidentialstyling; @thenexthousethatambuilt, where these followers are deeply connected to Anne-Maree’s authenticity, message and value proposition.
As a former Scientist and Dietitian, Anne-Maree has applied her analytical skills, as well as her artistic talent, to the task of crafting the most consistent residential real estate sales process.
If the sales statistics are anything to go by, the Cape Cod Residential sales process is arguably now the most reliable way to identify and secure above-market buyers in the shortest possible time.
Joined by her husband, Luke (also a former Scientist, and a domestic and international Financial Services Specialist), and a wonderful team of in-house and outsourced specialists, Cape Cod Residential is raising the bar on professional advice, high impact real estate value and real estate sales outcomes.
"Raising the bar on professional real estate advice and value"
- Cape Cod Residential
CAPE COD RESIDENTIAL Instagram Account
Back home from Hobart today and back to work tomorrow. So delighted that we finally managed to see some of Tassie, after intending to for 30 years!
My heart is totally captivated by beautiful, unspoilt Tasmania. The people are happy and friendly, the food is out of this world and the history is respected and preserved.
I gently documented our travels over at @therussellfamilytravels if you are interested in our best experiences. Tried not to take up all of the grid so it’s all stored in stories over there.
So very grateful that we could take a break between the 2025 and 2026 work years, in such a serene, expansive, original, wild, unspoilt, historical, unpopulated, refined, artistic, elegant, raw, rural, authentic, analogue, gastronomical, fresh, non-toxic, un-gentrified, quaint, happy, friendly, rugged, patriotic, and authentic location. What a glorious place.
Back into it! 👊
Last pack up for the year that was 2025! 🏋️
On the most humid day in the history of the world 🥵
Character building 👍
Oh, look! Lightning! Here comes a welcome storm 🙏 Onwards! 🏃♀️🏃🏻
#kristianrussellgymnast is back! 🎉
It’s been 6 years since he lost his left ACL at Nationals. And now without his right ACL (Japan ski injury) he’s doing it all with a big brace on his right leg. Maternal chest pain 😬 Can’t keep a good flipper down! 🤷♀️
#gymnasticsspam ❤️😎
The empty nesters out for a bushwalk.
Pushing the leg rehab to its limits 😎 👊
An Early Morning Christmas Message
As Christmas Day graces us with its warmth and light, I pause to extend my deepest gratitude to our clients for the trust you have placed in us this year. In the cut throat world of real estate, your confidence in us has been our greatest privilege, and it has inspired us to work with integrity, honesty, and unwavering commitment.
To those following me here, thank you for your continued support, encouragement, lovely little comments and messages. I so appreciate you xx
To those who find this season particularly challenging, I wish you a gentler, brighter moment of peace. May you feel the warmth of community, the comfort of cherished memories, and the quiet assurance that brighter days lie ahead 🙏
Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful Christmas, abundant blessings, and a new year filled with possibility, prosperity, and homecoming.
A-M xx
Beautiful 18 Esma Street, Rochedale South, is now under contract💥 Literally hundreds through the open homes, 12 offers and fierce competition. So happy for our sellers and our lovely buyers 🙏
After visiting my StepDad in hospital today, I embarked on the long solitary journey back home with ‘The High Kings’ blaring at full volume.
Whilst singing at the top of my lungs, my favourite Irish song, ‘Leaving Of Liverpool’ (the cherished duet Kristian I play together, him on guitar, me on violin) I received a phone-call from Kristian in Sydney (he’s living there now). “Hey Mum, whatcha doing?” “Singing Leaving of Liverpool in the car”. “Well”, he said, “I’m currently, at this very moment, playing it on the guitar”!!! Woah! Astounding!
I attribute our profound attunement to ‘microchimerism’. Have you heard of it? … fetal cells lingering in the mother’s body for decades, and maternal cells transferring to the child also staying put for years, fostering immune tolerance and tissue repair … and song telepathy (I made that last part up 😎).
I think it’s such a wonderful thing, that as a Mum you still have a part of your children with you always 🙏
I reckon it also explains my 3am awakenings, sensing my lads are driving. They invariably are, for some reason!
What a wondrous bond. I so love my boys ❤️
