Sunday, February 5th 2012
Articles | Archives
2011/2012 Thoughts from our Inner East and Bayside Selling Legends
BY Mal James 4th December 2011
To help us get a sense of what happened this year in Melbourne’s Top End property market, on both sides of the fence, we asked some of the greats of Melbourne real estate – our Legends – to give us their perspectives. We also asked them to take a longer historical view on how this [...]
A strong-ish start to the Top End after The Cup – but a lot of stock is now here and more on the way. Getting tougher as the month goes on!
BY Mal James 27th November 2011
Monday 28th November – 57 Cole Brighton ( Peter Kennett of Hocking Stuart). A family home with some floor plan issues that has been on the market for sometime, has been bought after a few interested parties were gathered together in an Expressions of Interest Campaign and one person popped up over $3,000,000. We rated [...]
The Risks of Chasing a Housebuying Reward
BY Mal James 8th November 2011
Negotiating on a property is all about balancing the risks with the rewards. In your quest for the reward of buying your dream home, you might run the risk of paying more than you needed to. But focusing purely on the reward of paying a lower price for a home might raise the risk that [...]
It’s Expression of Interest Time @ $3m+ – The Tennis Court Mexican Wave is in.
BY Mal James 29th October 2011
October 29th: Excerpt from October 15th James Marketnews: Want a home with a Tennis Court in Toorak? Got around $6 million dollars? In the last week we visited, assessed and rated: 11 Scotsburn Toorak (Andrew Smith), 10 Montalto Toorak (Mike Gibson) and 25 Scott Glen Iris (Rae Tomlinson). All have tennis courts.
The Question: After [...]
Heading for the Home Stretch
BY Mal James 27th October 2011
You’re a $M+ family home buyer. Super Saturday (October 22) has been and gone and you didn’t manage to buy yourself a home from the 150 or so properties that were on offer. What now? With the Melbourne Cup break coming up, it’s time to a) assess your form b) assess your goals c) improve [...]
Truth and Emotion
BY Mal James 15th October 2011
None of us like to be lied to or feel we’ve been fooled – and very few of us want to be beaten in a deal.
Buying a home is a significant emotional experience – and for many buyers there’s an extra emotional stress when we start dealing with agents and negotiating.
Selling agents are masters at [...]
How to Value the Top End in this market
BY Mal James 24th September 2011
Recently we gave a talk to more than a hundred high net worth individuals at the Sandringham Yacht Club for Peter Wilson of Godfrey Pembroke where we involved the participants in a hands-on exercise that introduced them to “valuing” high end homes.
There were three steps to the process. First we asked them to give [...]
Solid demand on very low numbers is pushing prices past conservative expectations
BY Mal James 24th September 2011
Week 4 September 24th: Overall market interest is down this week, best evidenced by the fact we had 30% less Marketnews readers on the Monday of this week than the past two month average (alternatively we may be just getting boring). While some new AFL coaches bobbed up, so have some interesting [...]
Step (Under/Over + Skilled) Quoting – Black or Noble Art?
BY Mal James 3rd September 2011
Agent Step Quoting is a contentious part of our industry: It’s how selling agents nudge buyers up the staircase towards a price their clients are hoping for. Done badly it can make buyers feel cheated and manipulated and invite accusations of under-quoting. Done well it’s a legitimate haggling process agents use to get a buyer [...]
The Block broke all the rules in the book
BY Mal James 29th August 2011
The Block was great entertainment – but for me it was also the best reality TV show in a decade because it showed the harsh reality of what happens when you break all the rules in the property investment book.
I took the opportunity to go through each property a few weeks before the auctions and [...]
Million Dollar Melbourne
BY Mal James 29th August 2011
James Private Client Briefings contain far greater and more client specific detail than what you see below and are available for full service James Search and Negotiate clients throughout Melbourne.
For a private, confidential and no obligation discussion on what is really happening in your street, precinct and suburb from a buyer’s perspective contact Gina on [...]
There’s a heartbeat in the $3m+ market – and off-market sales are back.
BY Mal James 27th August 2011
Week 4 August 27 2011: Not a lot happened at auction in this market this weekend at $3M+, with the exception of 25 Kent Avenue – the action was all last week and it was away from the auctions.
Biggest Sale: 25 Kent Ave, Brighton, Leigh Hallamore (Buxton); After auction, $6,400,000, 4 bidders
Crowd numbers were high [...]
Expert tips The Block’s most expensive house – but says he wouldn’t be buying
BY Mal James 17th August 2011
This article first appeared on Property Observer, Australia’s top site for property investment news and advice.
The projected priciest offering of the four Richmond houses on The Block is 37 Cameron Street, renovated by the hometown couple Jenna and Josh, according to James Buyer Advocates. All four properties go to auction this weekend.
The buyers’ agency deemed 41 Cameron [...]
Sellers will determine Spring action
BY Mal James 10th August 2011
Well, here we are in early August – and anything that has been written about the market in the last few months has been to fill some space. Because nothing has been happening. Nothing good and nothing bad – just plain ‘ol nothing.
There’s a saying in our business that the really good agents should take [...]
The Big Predictions – Part 2
BY Mal James 3rd August 2011
Last week we covered the Early Spring Market
There’s no guarantee we’ll see a lift in the housing market as we go into Spring this year. On the supply side, there’s a build-up of long term unsold properties (stales) and a compounding shortage of exciting, well priced new stock. On the demand side, buyers have had [...]
Few sales – few homes of quality on offer
BY Mal James 30th July 2011
James Private Client Briefings contain far greater and more client specific detail than what you see below and are available for full service James Search and Negotiate clients throughout Melbourne.
For a private, confidential and no obligation discussion on what is really happening in your street, precinct and suburb from a buyer’s perspective contact Gina on [...]
Not only do we report on the state of the Melbourne Real Estate market, we are also government licensed Buyer Advocates. We only work for buyers, so think of us as the opposite of selling agents.
Find out more about who we are and what we do.
Find out more about who we are and what we do.
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THE RISKS OF CHASING A HOUSEBUYING REWARD...
BY Mal James
Negotiating on a property is all about balancing the risks with the rewards. In your quest for the reward of buying your dream home, you might run the...
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