Every Sunday Cate shares a recent adventure or interesting industry observation.

Two years ago this month, I collaborated with my (then 21 year old) stepson to help him onto the property ladder. He was still living at home with his Mum, work was an easy commute and he had no reason to consider buying his own home. Having grown up around property investment though, he knew… Read more »

It’s human nature to justify the way we want an outcome to roll out. When buyers prepare for their property search, many look at other past sales in the area in an effort to establish an appropriate ‘spend range’ or budget limit.    Most don’t look at the strong sales results though. And many look at the… Read more »

When it comes to property selection, it’s often the things we reject that help formulate a good investment decision.  Aside from being mindful of tenant appeal and owner-occupier appeal of a property, we must always be mindful of lender appeal. In this competitive environment, particularly now for First Home Buyers who find themselves competing hard against… Read more »

I am often asked the question in every pre-auction client meeting. Typically we meet for a cup of tea about an hour before the auction bell rings. The cafe is usually nearby (but not too close… fear of chatting about strategy within earshot of a competing buyer always spells caution for cafe selection). We order… Read more »

CMA’s (acronym for Comparative Market Analysis) are often downloaded and referred to as Buyers navigate their way through their due diligence in preparation for bidding on, or negotiating for a property.  Frustratingly though, they often steer buyers in the wrong direction when data in the report is insufficient or when the integrity of the data is… Read more »

Only four weeks ago the State Government Stamp Duty Concession changes applied for First Home Buyers in Victoria. Increasing the 50% concession to 100% for all purchases sub $600,000 and applying a concession on purchases up to $750,000 was bold and we predicted that sales results in this price bracket would be skewed. A month… Read more »

In this tough investor market, the term “valuation shortfall” is dreaded by all. It is a banking term which means that the bank valuation is less than the price paid for a property. This is a particularly rare occurrence for an auction property but nonetheless, it is something that every buyer should be mindful of… Read more »

Yesterday we bid on a rare property; a classic single-fronted Victorian cottage in Footscray on just over 300sqm of land with dual street frontage. Many such blocks have since been subdivided and it is no surprise to familiar locals that these streets boast a blend of period cottages and street-frontage townhouses.   When our investor clients selected… Read more »

Last Saturday a delighful new investor client followed her itinerary through her first weekend of inspections and later that afternoon we received her diligent feedback. One property was a strong ‘green light’ and clearly stood out from the rest. Situations like this can prove to be a real challenge. Quite often we’ll identify a winning property in the first… Read more »

Yesterday we had an auction bidding assignment in Armadale at a beautifully renovated, substantial family home in a pretty street near the train line. While we knew we’d have tough competition, gauging the interest and appraising the property was indeed a challenge.  This is because of the uniqueness of the house. This beautiful brick Federation… Read more »