SUNDAY BLOG

The lovely Sharyn joined us six months ago today. We love her calming influence, her cheery optimism and her fabulous fritatta dishes she brings in. Unprompted, Sharyn sent us this blog… and we think it says it all. We share an office space of 25sqm and we love it. We overtalk each other when the…

A new client approached us a week ago about assisting with the negotiating and auction bidding for a house she’d identified herself. The street was one I was very familiar with; Adelaide Street Albion. She had chosen well. Close to station, surrounded by plenty of period houses and near parkland. I told her she’d selected…

Securing a period single-fronted Victorian cottage in a great suburb is a challenge at any time of the year. But in February, when pent-up demand is still strong, buyer numbers still surpass house numbers, and bidders seem to be stretching to levels which surprise everyone, tackling a purchase like this one is a really challenging feat. This time…

Our office had it’s old hum back last week. The auction files sat proudly on our desk and the phones were buzzing with deposit cheque clarification and contract legal review feedback. We’d started to really miss our auction bidding and it had been exactly seven weeks since our last public auction. This break is what shapes…

Back in late 2015 Amy and I met a fantastic investor client who’s apportioned savings, borrowing capacity and cashflow position placed her in an exciting and unique investing position. She desired reasonably healthy out-of-pocket cashflow (not exceeding $650pm before tax benefit) and had targeted a spend of around $500,000. Our client valued the idea of…

I met with a delightful couple some weeks ago. Their brief was simple – but it wouldn’t be easy. They had a goal to find a three bedroom home in Newport or Altona North but they were capped at $600,000. Like every other first home buyer who is keen to take advantage of the stamp…

With only two more weekends left for the year until Melbourne’s auctions take a break for nine weeks, there is a feel of motivation (and in some cases, desperation) in the air. Some buyers have been searching for weeks, some for months, and we recently met someone who had been searching for a year. Buyers want…

A lovely client of ours enlisted our support to help her find her future home while she juggled the difficulty of balancing ever-changing night shifts at a busy south-eastern hospital. Her brief was simple; she hoped to find a well-lit, secure modern townhouse in a quiet street. Often we assist overseas or interstate buyers who…

We identified a little block of villa units in Ascot Vale earlier this year in our quest for an investment property for a young couple. In a boutique block of four, the unit we had found for past clients was at the rear of the block and had a bonus addition of a huge courtyard on title…

Back in March this year we proudly bid at auction for this skillion roof, daggy two bedroom house in Swan Street Footscray. Our buyers were excited, but not for quite the same reasons. He had seen through it, understood our intrigue and agreed with me that his dreams of renovation could be easily achieved in…

It’s not an unusual occurrence for us to buy for a trusting investor who makes a purchase decision without sighting the property themselves. In fact, that is our job – to guide investors through the steps, mitigate as much risk as possible, share our media clips and pictures of the property we’ve set our sights on…

I had all of the great ingredients for a really fun client brief. $500K-ish budget, capital growth focus, up-and-coming-suburbs, and best of all, a lovely client who was engaged in the whole process and had fabulous questions along the way. We decided to target two main catchments; Sunshine & surrounds and Reservoir/Fawkner. Our aim was to…