Ian & Anna’s Journey

Ian and Anna* were based in Sydney and were keen to build a great portfolio of blue chip properties quickly. Running a dental practice though, they were time poor and keen to use proven expertise to help purchase great properties. Similar to most of our other clients, they’d previously engaged our Property Investment Advisors for a Property Portfolio Plan and were clear about what they needed to do to achieve their goals. That is why they engaged with our Buyer’s Agent, Linda Blaschka, to implement their plan and start the journey towards achieving a passive income at retirement.

 

The Search process
Both Ian and Anna were savvy investors who outsourced the implementation, but also researched on their own too. They’d surfed the net, read quite a few recent papers on property investing and realised that if they wanted access to some solid investment grade properties, they might want to consider becoming borderless. For this reason, instead of Sydney, their search area was Melbourne; Blue Chip and gentrifying suburbs. Based on their plan and cash flow position, Ian and Anna were looking for a few investment grade properties, preferably houses, in order to leverage further on the strong capital growth potential.

 

The selection
With access to Empower Wealth’s research data and her own extensive network of agents, Linda searched for character homes for Ian and Anna.

The first one she found was a lovely weatherboard character-home in Fawkner, a current gentrifying location.

After this one was secured, Linda restarted the search for another property; this time finding a gorgeous Hawthorn brick terrace house in Moonee Ponds, an established Blue Chip suburb. Through her connections Linda was able to source and purchase this home off market.
Because of the success of these two properties Ian and Anna reenlisted Linda’s expertise to find yet another property. This time Linda secured a fabulous weatherboard character-home in the very popular Matthews Hill in Sunshine.

 

 

The Negotiation
Considering Melbourne’s property market, Linda was certain that the property in Fawkner would face strong competition if it went to auction. Considering its investment grade attributes—less than 1km away from growing lifestyle drivers and transportation, as well as its owner occupier appeal. The best point of attack was a pre-auction offer. By learning the agent and understanding the vendor’s motivation, Linda successfully negotiated the property prior to auction. It was purchased at a fabulous price and has since shown great capital growth in only a few months.

Due to strong market connections Linda was able to purchase the Moonee Ponds property off market. At Empower Wealth our Buyers’ Agents receive a lot of off market properties but, contrary to popular belief, not all of them are investment grades. Our team follows a strict due-diligence process to make sure these properties pass the required filters and research. A strong return for our clients is always at the forefront of our selections and not every off market property makes the cut. In Ian and Anna’s case, however; the Moonee Ponds property had a lot going for it, ticking the boxes for wealth-building potential. Although it wasn’t under auction pressure, the negotiation wasn’t any easier—so everyone was stoked when it was sealed for a great sale price.

The Sunshine property was a very popular one, offering many key factors that make for a great investment property—loads of character; owner occupier appeal; lots of nearby lifestyle drivers, and; a great gentrifying location. Because of this though, there was a chunk of competition and the vendors wanted, understandably, to proceed to auction. There were almost 100 people present on the day of the auction! Still, Linda confidently outbid the main players, purchasing the house at a great price, and everyone was super happy.

 

The pre and post settlement service
As usual we coordinated all contract reviews, additional contract conditions and various maintenance items that were included in the negotiations to be rectified by the landlord.

As a bonus for Ian and Anna, one of the properties offered a rent back to the vendors and another had a long term tenant in place, which meant there was no vacant period! And lastly, we assisted Ian and Anna with property management through recommended property management companies.