Sunday Blog - Expert property investment insights

In this tough investor market, the term “valuation shortfall” is dreaded by all. It is a banking term which means that the bank valuation is less than the price paid for a property. This is a particularly rare occurrence for an auction property but nonetheless, it is something that every buyer should be mindful of…

Yesterday we bid on a rare property; a classic single-fronted Victorian cottage in Footscray on just over 300sqm of land with dual street frontage. Many such blocks have since been subdivided and it is no surprise to familiar locals that these streets boast a blend of period cottages and street-frontage townhouses.   When our investor clients selected…

Last Saturday a delighful new investor client followed her itinerary through her first weekend of inspections and later that afternoon we received her diligent feedback. One property was a strong ‘green light’ and clearly stood out from the rest. Situations like this can prove to be a real challenge. Quite often we’ll identify a winning property in the first…

Yesterday we had an auction bidding assignment in Armadale at a beautifully renovated, substantial family home in a pretty street near the train line. While we knew we’d have tough competition, gauging the interest and appraising the property was indeed a challenge.  This is because of the uniqueness of the house. This beautiful brick Federation…

Our Melbourne property market has been going strong, particuluarly in the housing market throughout the inner and middle ring suburbs for some time now. Unprecedented low interest rates, strong demand, stock shortage and the rising popularity of inner-ring urban living for young professionals and downsizers alike have been drivers for this growth. When auction stock…

In the last two months we have had a surprising number of buyers contact us about assisting with a purchase strategy that has glided off the rails. All have had one thing in common; they have presented offers in the wrong way. From misunderstanding the process to making verbal offers, the outcomes could have been…

Many of us receive the auction reports on a Saturday night with the clearance rates, but in the sea of contradicting media articles about our housing market, how can we digest the auction reports and make sense of them? As at this morning, Melbourne’s auction clearance rate is 75% for this pre-Queen’s Birthday weekend. Not…

I am often asked this question. Risk averse buyers like the idea of spreading their risk and often ask whether three or four regional purchases would aid a safer journey. Buyers who apply their own love of period properties will ask where they could buy in order to secure a beautiful Victorian at this level. The…

Yesterday was a dismal day for us out at five auctions. Three bidders, five properties, five lovely anxious clients.  We secured none of them. Weekend auction success rates vary, but in this hot and unexplained market, our overall auction success rate is considerably lower than past years… and so it should be.  Yesterday’s auction misses…

Two years ago this week marks the date which a family bought a house for $406,000 at auction in East Geelong. There was nothing ordinary about this adventure though… not for us, nor for them. The journey has been noteworthy from the conception of their idea to build wealth, to the finished product that they…

The first half of 2017 is shaping up to be defined by our business as the change of our normal blend. We have historically helped a larger proportion of investors in their quest to build a wealthier future; and our blend of home-finders has generally sat between 20-40% of our active clients. The Home-Finder client numbers currently sit…

When we commence a Mentored Advocacy assignment with our locally based clients, the process is quite different from a traditional Buyer’s Advocate brief where the tasks are totally handled by the engaged third party. The essential process steps are the same, but the role our Mentored student plays is the differentiator. Equipped with a tailored weekly itinerary, Mentored clients…