Posts by Cate Bakos

In the state of Victoria, auction rules apply to all publicly listed auctions. From auctioneer discretion to no late bids, the list is lengthy. But there is still a lot of confusion out there when it comes to defining an auction, versus a simulated auction, such as a ‘boardroom auction’. Buyers are often taken by…

Risk and reward generally go hand in hand, particularly when it comes to investing. Interestingly, gambling demonstrates risk and reward superbly. Consider roulette; betting on either black or red gives the gambler a much greater chance of winning. The gambler’s chances would be 1.111111 to 1. However if the gambler chose just one number on…

The Bear and Bull market phrase has been so universally used over the past two years, and like no other time in our residential property market, we have had rapidly alternating bull and bear commentators forecasting the Australian property outlook. A Bear Market refers to a declining market. A Bull Market refers to an increasing…

We are all familiar with the concept of an auction reserve price. It’s the price at which a vendor (owner) is prepared to sell their product. Online e-commerce sites such as ebay have managed to bring this concept to most Australian households and familiarity isn’t just limited to adults. Children are growing up with an…

It felt like a switch had been flicked yesterday when I was out in the trenches. Managing private sale negotiations and two auctions, this week felt different. Competition felt stronger, buyer willingness to stretch harder seemed obvious and the change in sentiment since our COVID numbers have reduced feels palpable. Could it be the media’s…

We negotiate about how the negotiation will go. Often. This blog was prompted by a conversation I had with a prospect yesterday. He, (like many do) asked me about my negotiation ability. I decided it would be a good illustration if I could share my past three negotiations which span the last five days. For…

So many people think about investing long before they invest. For some, the doing part can be precluded by an enormous emotional or mental barrier. Mindset is a term often used by property advisory professionals when it comes to helping people take action, and this is for good reason. Mindset can make or break a…

Just this month, the Commissioner for Residential Tenancies in Victoria released our first report, titled Renting in Victoria: Snapshot 2020. The report is not only a great snapshot of current rental statistics, it’s a valuable clue to some serious issues and a wonderful resource for landlords and agents to be better in this space. The…

Earlier this week we shared some easement-related due diligence on social media after we rejected a property on the basis of this issue. Most buyers broadly understand the concept of an easement, but for those who either disregard this concept or neglect to understand any easements affecting the property they are considering purchasing, the upset…