Expressions of Interest - James Buyer Advocates

How Strategy Won an $8M+ Brighton East Battle (While Our Clients Were at the Colosseum)

We bought 10 Roosevelt Court, Brighton East about a fortnight ago for clients we’ve known for over a decade. We’ve bought a few properties for them over life’s journey, and this one tells you everything you need to know about why strategy matters.

The Discovery

I was out doing my property ratings when I spotted it. Exceptional home. I sent the clients a rating sheet plus video and suggested they take a look. They loved it immediately.

The Due Diligence

We went through the full process on their behalf—pest and building inspections, legal checks, council checks, the works. Then sat down for a comprehensive rating discussion covering values and strategy.

Once they were certain they wanted to buy, we formed our plan.

The Strategy

We believed this property would sell around $8 million—highly unusual for Brighton East. There had only been two or three sales in the area’s history at that level. But this was an exceptional home.

Our strategy: bring the close of the EOI campaign forward with a strong pre-emptive offer of $7,520,000.

What Happened

The offer created exactly what we expected—competition. Three other serious buyers emerged at that level, confirming our read of the market. The agents organised an auction.

Here’s where it gets interesting: our clients were now overseas. In Rome. At the actual Colosseum.

So there we were—a Colosseum in East Brighton, them at the Colosseum in Rome. We discussed the situation via video, talked through alternatives if we weren’t successful, but came back to the same conclusion: give this a red-hot go.

They gave us instructions on their limits (approximately), and that evening we were successful, buying the property over $8 million. Two other bidders competed with us above that level.

The Aftermath

Our clients said afterwards they simply would never have bought this property without us. They would never have got their act together, never made it happen.

But here’s the telling part: texts came through to the agent during the auction from one of the unsuccessful bidders saying, “I would have paid a lot more, but you gave me no time to get organised.”

That’s what strategy delivers.

Our clients bought at their limit. They got what they wanted. The unsuccessful bidder had more money but less preparation.

Would our clients have secured this property themselves, competing from Rome against cashed-up local buyers?

You be the judge.