Just a few weeks into the 2019 series of The Block, The Agency’s very own Jesse Raeburn and his partner Mel are proving to be a formidable force, with the couple labelled a “triple threat” by the judges.
In last week’s episode, Jesse and Mel smashed the Domain real estate challenge by being the team who most accurately valued properties around Melbourne, meaning they had the first pick of real estate agents to represent them.
The pair didn’t hesitate to choose The Agency’s General Manager Victoria Peter Kakos together with selling agent Brendan Walker, who were also in high demand from WA competitors Elise and Matt.
Peter and Brendan will be guiding Jesse and Mel throughout their campaign to achieve the best possible result and help take out the top spot come auction day.
Not only was it a natural fit, with Jesse Raeburn a selling agent at The Agency, but it cements The Agency’s strong association with The Block, having been selected as agents on the show for the last three seasons and achieving impressive results.
Team Jesse and Mel are off to a cracking start, taking out the first win of the season for their guest bedroom, securing the biggest prize on The Block 2019, the Suncorp Safe with a handy $140,000 in prize money.
This year, the teams face the daunting challenge of overhauling the biggest spaces ever on The Block. The five teams will renovate the run-down Oslo Hotel in Melbourne's St Kilda; a decrepit property that has seen better days.
While there are always highs and lows on The Block journey, and no one can deny the scale of a project like this, Jesse and Mel are already delivering some amazing outcomes, with their passion and dedication clear from the get-go.
In the first week, each of the five couples was given a mammoth task of completing a double challenge, a guest bedroom and ensuite, in less than one week.
All three judges fell in love with Jesse and Mel’s heritage-meets-contemporary bedroom, awarding the couple a score of 25.5/30.
Jesse says the design of the guest bedroom gives audiences an insight into the couple’s vision for the rest of the home.
“We want the front of the home to keep period features and the rear to be more contemporary.
Every room was very well thought out before work even started.”
Jesse featured on the show last year as the auctioneer responsible for selling Hans and Courtney’s apartment, netting them a $410,000 profit. His real estate knowledge has helped create a strategy to be the winning house that makes the most profit on auction day.
Being a real estate agent at The Agency in Albert Park and a St Kilda local, Jesse is acutely in tune with the market and has his eye on the prize, designing and building the house to suit the market and gain the most money at auction.
“If you’re buying a terrace home, you obviously love heritage features. But to keep the design of the home modern, the key was to blend period features seamlessly with contemporary, high-end finishes and design and deliver a beautiful result.”
Peter Kakos agrees, saying Jesse and Mel’s design ethos is well aligned with the St Kilda market.
“The grandeur…that is what St Kilda is going to love. It’s about today’s living and today’s family and what they want,” Peter said.
The couple kicked off the show on a high with Judge Neal Whitaker said he had “never seen a room delivered to this level in week one of The Block.”
Neale was impressed with the colour palette that Jesse and Mel used to tie in the heritage details. Shaynna echoed this sentiment and praised the scale and colour in the room.
Jesse and Mel featured a full-length velvet feature wall and balanced it with light-coloured carpet.
"It's the perfect marriage between contemporary and heritage for me," said Neale.
"It feels like a really modern brand-new build with all the appropriate traditional heritage details," said Darren, adding "They have hit the nail right on the head."
“In Jesse we have a St Kilda resident, a real estate agent, with great taste — is that The Block’s first triple threat?” Neale asked.
Despite the ups and downs of delivering completed rooms week-on-week – and under the many challenges The Block presents – Jesse and Mel are sticking to their guns and have a game plan they believe will have the winning edge come auction day!