Posts by Cate Bakos

It’s an important question, and one that no bidder really wants to test. Occasionally, we witness this, but rarely has it happened when I’ve held the final bid. Yesterday, however was an interesting day for the attendees at the auction of this property in Geelong West. Standing in the crowd were our clients, three other…

Amidst doom and gloom media stories, speculation about interest rate increases weakening our market, and a general feeling of malaise for about the outlook for our local property market, the market continues to challenge such claims. Even on a public holiday long weekend, (which has followed a previous school holiday long weekend) our auction clearance…

We’re all hearing news of interest rate rises… and speculation about capital growth contraction. But we do have to wade through headlines and negative news stories in order to see what is really happening. COVID challenged every forecast and every lending economist’s predictions, and our selection criteria for property altered somewhat also. Some of these…

On Wednesday night, I experienced one of the quirkiest auction experiences ever. I secured a property for two very dear clients, and with a mere one dollar bid. That certainly wasn’t my initial strategy, but like all auctions, we have to take stock of the situation, try to understand our opponent’s approach, and think quickly…

We’ve been working in the Ballarat market consistently now for over a decade. Our reasons for selecting Ballarat were always that of balanced growth and yield…. not extreme capital growth. I’ve maintained consistent advisory position when it comes to Ballarat; “it has offered fantastic growth of late, but long term, it isn’t meant to out-perform…

An interesting observation to share relates to the increased rate of auction properties passing in. We have come out of a very heated period of growth and currently, Melbourne’s capital growth rate is quite static. This is unsurprising, given the global unrest, looming federal election and interest rate rise speculation. Each, in their own right…

There is plenty of talk about imminent interest rate rises, heightened petrol prices, inflation, Federal government budget decisions and the impact on the property market, but if we have learnt anything about forecasts and predictions over the last three years, we’ve seen that the banks and many economists’ forecasts haven’t really got it right. Negative…

I am often asked for my thoughts on properties that people are contemplating. Whether it be a BBQ talk, a call from a friend or an enquiry via my email from a prospective client, it happens quite a bit. No property is perfect, but sometimes the imperfections are glaringly obvious at the first click, and…

As Bernard Salt coined in a fantastic lecture a couple of years ago, the HOBO, (home office/broadcasting outlet) emerged rapidly as part of our changing needs once working from home was thrust upon us. Our property searches have changed markedly since COVID struck, but in fact, our search criteria was experiencing significant change for the…