…Coburg – Our Quest for a Family Home

Two special past clients asked me to contact their friends late last year to help them with their quest to find their family home. This lovely young family had sold their current home on a particularly long settlement but they were concerned that with the demands of work and children, finding their dream home could be tough. And while they had a long gap between sale and settlement, they were acutely aware that their imminent settlement date had to merge with that of their current home’s settlement date.

Situations like this are no small challenge. Timing is one thing, but not giving the game away to the agent is another thing.

Just as a buyer can spot a chink in the armour of a vendor when they know about a specific settlement date, an agent can also spot the same chink when a buyer has a specific need. This situation was delicate and needed to be handled with precision.

Back in December, our family fell in love with a fabulous townhouse in Thornbury. It was big, it was in a great street, and it felt right. The only issue we had was that other families felt the same. The property prompted pre-auction offers and eventually the fight for the prize came down to us and one other buyer; but sadly, our long settlement date stole any advantage we had and the owners decided upon the other shorter settlement offer. While it was disappointing, it just wasn’t meant to be.

A thorough revision of our strategy and a suggestion to cast the net wider was met with approval and we happily included Coburg and Preston to the list and recommenced our search.

Early into the new year, an agent we’d been in contact with let us know about a forthcoming new listing in one of Coburg’s best streets; Clarendon Street. This beautiful Californian Bungalow was set on 400sqm of land and had a right of way at the rear, supplementing our clients’ wish list with a decent yard for their young children to play in, and the option to bring their two cars off street.

Their inspection was met with approval and following the excited ‘Cate, it’s a green light’ email, we quickly assessed the comparable sales in the market and braced ourselves for a challenge. The vendors hadn’t bought and were open to a longer settlement. Likewise, they were prepared to consider any worthwhile prior offers. We knew that the availability of family homes in the area were limited and we also knew that with the recent rate cuts, family-home purchasers were often taking agents by surprise at auction with their willingness to pay a strong premium. We didn’t want to face a competitive situation like that, and nor did we want our clients to experience heart-ache a second time.

Our offer was swift and decisive. It was fair, it was fast and our building inspection was booked promptly the day before and conducted that morning. Our clients could speak directly with the builder and make a snap decision. The agent gave other interested buyers a tight window of opportunity and by 4pm, we received that happy phone call.

Our buyers are over the moon and we are thrilled to have helped them secure their dream home. Moreso, we’re thrilled knowing that their asset is an A-grade property which should not only give them years of happiness, but years of outperformance capital growth.

We might help home-finders, but we always apply investment principles to our searches.

This property acquisition is a great example of that perfect blend.