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Joining forces:

Bringing Māori manaakitanga to real estate

Mother-daughter duo Rawinia Matthews and Te Rere Cleveland ensure the Māori values of manaakitanga, aroha and mana are consistently at the core of their real estate business.

Dubbed #nativeagents, the wāhine joined forces 10 years ago, selling homes all over Auckland. “Te Rere learned real estate by osmosis,” says Rawinia, who took her children with her to work as a young Māori mother. Her eldest daughter then followed her footsteps into the industry.  

“We are a great team and have always had a great relationship. Te Rere introduced some new processes and since we started working together, things got even better, and we’ve sold a lot more property.” 

Rawinia has been in the industry for 36 years, after working all over the world as a nurse. She was living in Nigeria with her husband and two children when she decided a career change was needed. “It’s so challenging working when you have kids…it doesn’t matter where you live in the world.” 

The family returned to New Zealand and when Te Rere was five, Rawinia started working in real estate after helping a friend in their new business. “I pretty much just kept working from that day. It’s an easier job to slot around family. And when the money is good, it’s fantastic. Also, we love travel and you can’t really take time off from other jobs like you can with real estate.” 

Rawinia grew up in Hawkes Bay with 12 siblings. She faced racial discrimination when she started in real estate in the 1980s, including doors slammed in her face. Today, she lives in Epsom and has developed a solid reputation over the years for her exceptional hard work, industry knowledge and outstanding results. 

She would like to see more Māori representation in the industry. “I would love to be able to support more people like me to do so. It can be a tough industry to get into. It’s currently still quite pale, stale and male, but the difference now is we are fighting for it more and have support all around us.” 

“I would love to be able to support more people like me to do so. It can be a tough industry to get into.

It’s currently still quite pale, stale and male, but the difference now is we are fighting for it more and have support all around us.”

Rawinia’s parents, grandparents, wider whānau and community were her inspiration growing up. “My parents were great role models as they had 13 kids, so it was tough, but we had a great life. My motivation has always been family.”  

Te Rere now has three children of her own and Rawinia is hands-on with her mokopuna. “If you want your kids and their kids to have a good life, it’s about having enough time and energy and money for them. My husband is in construction and we both enjoy still working – I couldn’t have continued nursing at my age, whereas I can stay here for another 10 years and work as much or as little as I like.” 

Along with completing the initial real estate exam and REINZ qualification, Rawinia upskills every year. “I have kept up to date with everything, it’s essential in this industry. There is also a Māori real estate paper, which I think is really important for everyone in the industry to complete.” 

Rawinia and Te Rere received many referrals after joining forces and creating Native Agents. “We would like to see more Māori purchasing property and to feel comfortable using real estate services – so we hope they come to see us.”