Posts by Cate Bakos

As our treasured January hybrid-break comes to a close, this Sunday blog reflects on the most used, most valuable, and, (at times) the most overlooked formulae. Property investing is not always black and white, in fact it requires a blend of science and emotion, but when it comes to reliable formulas, here are my top…

A really delightful time exploring some of our gorgeous Victorian regions is how I best describe my summer holidays. It’s a work in progress, because I’m accompanied by my laptop and, well, real estate never really stops. I consider each stay a hybrid rest/field trip. We’ve enjoyed little stays in varied locations and each have…

There are plenty of reasons why aspiring property investors and home buyers don’t get their plans off the ground. From analysis paralysis to falling prey to negative bias, the list is long. But one of the most common reasons isn’t what people imagine it could be. Not being on the same page as your partner…

The Penny Challenge is an old quiz that highlights the power of compounding growth. What would you choose? A magic penny that doubles in value every day for a whole month, or a million dollars cash immediately? Studies found that most people who aren’t familiar with the quiz will choose the million dollars. With smartphones…

As the real estate year comes to a close, I circle in on the Victorian property market and ponder the highlights, lowlights, surprising trends and I ask myself what could be in store for our capital city and regional markets next year. Melbourne, along with Sydney and Canberra had a challenging year with protracted lockdowns,…

According to the media, yes…. but I think not. There is much more to measuring the peak of the market than auction clearance rates. We are experiencing a tiny window of eased buying conditions, and when we take a careful look at the data, the story becomes quite clear…. The planets have aligned perfectly this…

Back in 2011 I met a young prospective investor at a first home buyer event I participated in alongside a lovely industry buddy. Steve Cruz and I teamed up and ran a series of small seminars over a few weeknights for buyers who were keen to explore the idea of property investing or home-buying. The…

We’ve been writing weekly blogs for over a decade now and in this time, we’ve documented trends, various clients’ property adventures, our coal face insights and market updates. From the lows of the 2012 and 2019 market to the highs of our 2013-2017 run, the credit-squeezed pre-May 2019 period to the turbulence throughout COVID lockdowns……

This week’s blog is delivered following popular demand. Many consumers misunderstand the interest rate news right now, and there are two common elements that are getting confused; interest rate increases: currently only fixed rates, not variable rates increased buffer rates, as initiated recently by APRA Back to the first point…. So many people are feeling…