Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat buyers advocate reviews and client testimonials

We've worked with Cate and her team to purchase three properties over the years, and each one required a different strategy. Every experience has been outstanding. Cate and her team genuinely make you feel like you're their only client. Their communication is exceptional, and their thoughtful, data-driven approach gave us confidence at every step of the process. We can't recommend Cate and her team more highly to anyone looking to buy a property.

Cate is the best and what a fantastic team ! They went above and beyond to assist me with buying my property and I honestly could not be happier. I highly recommend the Service thank you

Cate and her team were a godsend in helping us purchase an investment property. Their area knowledge and lengths they went to to gather information and fast turn arounds were amazing . As 2 people who are terrible at admin my husband and I literally couldn’t have purchased without them!!! Thankyou team

I can't recommend Cate & team highly enough. From our very first conversation, she was approachable, knowledgeable and genuinely invested in helping us make the right decision rather than simply buying a property. Within just a week, Cate helped us secure an investment property that perfectly matched our goals. Her guidance throughout the process was outstanding, making what could have been a stressful experience feel smooth and well managed. What impressed me even more was that her support didn't end once the purchase was complete. She introduced us to an excellent property manager who had our property advertised and leased within a day. Having a trusted network of professionals made a huge difference. If you're looking for someone who is experienced, honest, responsive and truly cares about achieving the best outcome for her clients, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Cate and her team. Thank you, Cate, for making this such a positive experience. Best AK

Cate, Jade, Ren and the whole team are complete professionals. We were first time buyers and living in London. Cate and the team looked after every element, kept us updated and educated throughout the process and were so lovely to deal with. Purchasing a property from so far away is daunting, but from our first call with Cate we knew we’d be ok. Can’t recommend the team highly enough. Their expertise will set you up for success.

Cate and the entire team were amazing throughout our home search, taking the stress of searching, doing due diligence and negotiating off our plate. We had a few close calls that weren't meant to be, but in the end we got a wonderful house for us to call home and felt confident about the process and ultimately the price we paid as well. It's honestly such a help to have someone that knows the market, the agents and the process in your corner for the journey. We have bought and sold previously on our own and found both to be an absolute nightmare, but this time round it was organised, data driven and so much less stressful. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Cate spoke at an event for my company and, honestly, she is the GOAT. So knowledgeable, forthcoming with that knowledge and clear in her delivery. Sometimes, especially with those in the property industry, it can feel like you're just having a script read to you or deliberately being confused. Not with Cate! honestly amazing and will be working with her myself.

Cate was amazing and very trusted advisor in helping us buy our property in south east Melbourne. She was instrumental in us securing the property prior to auction.

Thank you very much to Cate, Jade, Renee and the team at Cate Bakos Property for their help in our property purchase. Cate really is an expert in property, from property finding to due diligence to negotiation and buying, she made the whole process very smooth. We are thrilled with the property she purchased for us. They are a team who truly care and we cannot recommend her enough.

After a difficult experience buying my first property on my own that hit me hard financially, I decided I wanted more guidance and reassurance before transitioning to a more secure property. Reaching out to Cate and her team was one of the best decisions I made. From the very beginning, the process felt professional, structured and genuinely supportive. We started with an introductory meeting, followed by a comprehensive guidebook that clearly explained every stage of the buying journey. As someone who values understanding the detail behind major decisions, I found this incredibly reassuring and it gave me confidence that I was in capable hands. The strategy meeting that followed helped refine my goals and create a clear pathway towards transitioning into a more secure property over time. Throughout the search process, Cate and her team - Renee, Jade and Lynne, were efficient, responsive and proactive. I am happy with how smooth everything went, and we managed to secure a fantastic property just after the second week of inspections. Cate handled negotiations with a high level of professionalism and expertise, and her recommended conveyancer was excellent at identifying important matters within the contract and ensuring the agreement was balanced and fair for both purchaser and vendor. It was clear there was strong attention to detail throughout. What stood out most was that the support didn’t stop once the offer was accepted. Cate and her team remained available throughout settlement and even afterwards, which made the entire experience feel far less stressful and much more manageable. Overall, the process was extremely smooth, efficient and well organised from start to finish. Cate and her team are absolute professionals, but also genuinely lovely people to deal with. I would highly recommend their services to anyone looking for experienced, trustworthy and supportive guidance when purchasing property.

Cate and her team were absolutely brilliant from start to finish. For a first home buyer they were incredible at breaking the steps down and untangling all the pieces, helping to juggle every step around full time work. Cannot recommend their work highly enough. Punctual, polite, and transparent, they were such an asset to work with

Working with Cate and her team was a great experience! Communication was clear and concise and they took the time to understand what we were looking for. We are now in our new PPOR and couldn't be happier.

We engaged Cate to help us find a new property. Cate brought in-depth knowledge of properties and the real estate market. She spent considerable time with us to understand what we were looking for and then researched suitable options for us to consider. She has an eye for detail and offered us sound advice and useful insights In a male dominated field, Cate has presence and enjoys considerable respect from agents across the suburbs. She helped us interpret their advice and was able to cut through the hyperbole. Cate is well supported by her team. They all supported us from engagement to turning the key. Second property: Without hesitation we re-engaged Cate and her team as we sought to purchase our next property in Albert Park. Although busy and much in demand, Cate made time for us and assessed a property of interest at short notice. Cate’s comprehensive and detailed report provided an estimated value, highlighted strengths and listed issues – some of which we had overlooked. Like last time, Cate came into her own once we had registered interest with the agent. Her expertise and strong reputation provided cut through and put us in a strong position leading up to the auction. Cate’s confidence and measured assertiveness during bidding at the auction was next level and worthy of the spontaneous accolades from unknown spectators. We secured a price below our ceiling and in line with her initial valuation. Should we be in the position to purchase further property we will seek to re-engage Cate and her team. In the meantime, we will continue to recommend them to others seeking to purchase property in Melbourne.

Highly recommend Cate, Renee and the team. As a first home buyer, she was knowledgeable, honest and incredibly supportive. They made the whole process as stress free as possible. Highly recommend!

My husband and I engaged Cate and her team's services to help us find our first property as first home buyers after missing out on another house due to fraudulent and deceitful real estate agents and vendors. We found a house we wanted to put an offer on and then the team assisted with negotiations and next steps. The team were knowledgeable, communicative, kind, and empathetic to our situation, even though we were very green and inexperienced. They reduced the stress of buying our first property and made us feel confident with proceeding with the sale. We have since recommended Cate and her team to all our friends and family wanting to buy property and would engage them again!

Absolutely trustworthy and makes a process that can be very difficult, clear to navigate. Thank you Cate!

We could not speak more highly of Cate, her team, and their services. As young working professionals, my partner and I found it difficult to navigate the property market for the first time as first home buyers. We had spent months going to inspection after inspection, missing out at auctions, and getting blown off by real estate agents. We were sick and tired of it all and we wanted someone in our corner who understood what was going on — enter Cate and her team. Cate is a consummate professional with decades of experience in property — and it shows! Straight away, she was able to listen to us and our requirements, and was able to find us a series of properties that fit the bill. She was thorough and dedicated in her searching and was able to note plenty of little details that we had missed before. Cate supported us all the way throughout the process, from helping us decide our pre-auction strategy, to bidding and navigating the auction on our behalf, and to ensuring that no details were overlooked in the lead-up to settlement day. We are eternally grateful for the help of Cate and her team and strongly endorse her buyer advocacy services!

I highly recommend reading Cate's book Successful Property Investment: 48 Real Life Property Adventures and The Buy Right Approach to Property Investing by Cate Bakos and Pete Wargent. After reading Cate and Pete's book I gained a greater insight into property, goal setting, calculating returns and what is a buy right approach. After reading this book I wanted to learn more, I read Cate's book; 48 Real life property adventures. This was seriously one of the better property books I've read! There are so many nuggets of gold, from understanding agent lingo, PPOR vs investment, auction and negotiation strategies, mistakes to watch out for and SO much more. The 48 case studies made for such an easy and interesting read and each story gave something different. I highly recommend you won't be disappointed with either book :)! Big thanks to Cate for organising a paperback for me to read over my summer break too. 5/5 stars!

A huge thank you to all of the team at Cate Bakos Property for your support on our recent property purchase. We spent a long time researching the right partner for us and we couldn't be happier with our decision to work with Cate, Renee, Jade and her team. From start to finish, Cate's process kept us feeling informed, educated and that our brief was being acted on with our best interest at the forefront. As first time buyers originally from overseas, we benefitted from Cate's industry experience and local expertise on multiple occasions, likely setting us up for future success with our property purchase.

Looking for our next 20-year+ family home, we went with the co-involved package of service. The support and guidance we received included defining our requirements, due diligence, auction bidding, and settlement support. Cate and her team were responsive and supportive throughout the process. I believe the partnership we developed with Cate, and her team, was instrumental in supporting us to find and purchase our new home. I feel for a purchase of this magnitude and nature the cost of the service represents good value for money.

Cate and her crew helped us to find our dream apartment in Altona with a view of the sea. We were living overseas so it was quite important for us to have someone with local knowledge to avoid making a mistake. Cate was extremely efficient at removing problem properties from our list so we could concentrate on the most promising ones. We quickly learnt to trust her judgement on all aspects of the process. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Cate and the team for making our property purchase a very smooth process from the initial conversation all the way post purchase, which really is a testament to the experience of Cate and her team, especially catering to interstate investors like ourselves who have not a lot of knowledge of the local market and also navigating the auction process which would have been very stressful if not for the composure Cate showed bidding on our behalf, to secure a quality property. We plan to hold this for the very long term, and look forward to some good results over the years!

If I could give them 6 stars I would! We've never had such good professional service from anyone. The help insights and support we got directly from Cate and her amazing team was second to none. They helped us find, evaluate, negotiate and settle on our home, which we absolutely love. If you're on the fence about using a buyers advocate, I highly recommend it. If you're deciding which one, you're in the right place. Thanks again House Mum

Recently my wife and I purchased an investment property from interstate through the Cate Bakos Group. Cate and her team were outstanding from start to finish. Cate’s market knowledge and genuine care gave us the confidence to move forward with buying a property interstate. The team were also incredibly helpful with third-party recommendations, connecting us with local real estate agents, solicitors, and quantity surveyors, which made the whole process a little easier. Cate and the team at Cate Bakos property come highly recommended!

I would highly recommend Cate and her team to support you with your property purchase. Cate’s advice gave me confidence in my decision-making and piece-of-mind throughout the purchasing process. I loved Cate’s data-driven and structured approach, and honesty. I appreciated the attentive service from the whole team, and proactive information provided at each step of the process. Cate’s knowledge and relationships - that her clients benefit from - would be hard to beat in the industry. Her service package is great value for money - if you want the best advice and expertise to handle any surprises that may pop up. And to top it off, you won’t find a nicer team of people to work with.