Posts by Cate Bakos
We’re not feeling what the media are reporting
The title may sound surprising, but this isn’t the first time our coal face has felt quite different to what’s being reported. Sometimes data is lagged and the pace of change isn’t yet showing in the data, but this time is a little bit different. Our supply and demand ratio is lower than past months,…
Read MoreOur three quirkiest auctions
This fun retrospective recalls three of the quirkiest auctions I’ve experienced in my career in real estate
Read MoreHow much should you tell the agent?
There is a fine line between telling a selling agent too much information and providing enough information to optimise your property search success. So, how much is too much? And how do buyers often get it wrong?
Read MoreMelbourne city apartment outperformance
This week’s #catesunday blog explores the underlying and growing demand for a dwelling type that has historically underperformed.
Read MoreOur *unusual* year that was 2022
There is no doubt about it… .2022 has been one of the most unusual years we’ve experienced in a long time, and that’s saying something since the craziness of 2020 and 2021. However, five key things have enabled me to categorise 2022 as one of our most unusual. As we head into 2023, there is…
Read MoreEmotional vendors
Emotional vendors often discriminate. For the lucky winner who has the successful offer, they may or may not realise the weight of the favourable treatment, but for the one who missed out, the loss can feel particularly frustrating. Over two decades I’ve seen countless examples of this and I’ve aided buyers put their most favourable…
Read MoreThe last burst of 2022
This spring has officially been labelled as one of our most underwhelming spring markets in terms of available stock. The most surprising statistic I’ve seen makes a lot of sense when I correlate it to my coal face experience, but nevertheless, it’s still startling. It’s little wonder that July was the busiest month this year…
Read MoreThe voices in our head
Having worked in this industry with buyers since 2003, and having bought my first home back in the 1990’s, I’m familiar with the ways human psychology can rain on a property buyer’s parade. Psychological-induced worries can strike when we’re least expecting it, and it can cast a spell in all kinds of ways. These days,…
Read MoreWhich property segments are good buying?
The media would have us all believing that the entire property market is in dire straits right now, but the truth is the median price shift nationally has not been as significant as portrayed. As shown below in this CoreLogic chart, the annualised national change year on year is less than one percent. Granted, the…
Read MoreTwo smaller properties, or one larger one?
I get this question so often. An investor has, (let’s say) a $1,200,000 budget. They schedule an appointment to chat about their options and their strategy, and part the way through, the question pops up. Or, perhaps they as the question up front. Either way, it’s clear that they don’t yet have a strategy and…
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