In the Media - 2020

Where to buy in Melbourne without having to pay a top price tag

Miriam Sandkuhler, chief executive and property advocate at Propery Mavens, lists Albion as one to watch in the west, for those who have been priced out of nearby Footscray, West Footscray and even Sunshine.

“There are some great 1950s and 1960s-style properties within walking distance to the train station which gives this area easy access to the city. Like nearby Sunshine, which has benefitted from the ripple effect from Footscray for the past three or four years, we are seeing the younger, smarter set targeting smaller homes on decent-sized blocks in this area,” she said.. Read More

Courageous Conversations Ep 57 Miriam Sandkuhler

This week on the Courageous Conversations podcast, we had Miriam Sandkuhler in the guest's chair. Miriam is the CEO and Buyer/Vendor Advocate of Property Mavens, which happens to be Australia's first franchised property advocacy agency. 

Miriam entered the property industry in the late 1990’s  after a previous career as a financial advisor. After working as a Buyer’s Agent in WA, Miriam relocated home to Melbourne after a separation. Not long after, her father passed away, which she says felt like her world was collapsing around her. On top of this, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue having bearing the front of many things happening at once. 
Despite this, she pushed through and launched Property Mavens. How? She knew how to stand her ground, breathe deeply when things got tough, and she also chose to be empowered rather than just accept things for how they are.  
There are some fantastic lessons from Miriam's journey in this week's episode that you will definitely be able to learn from. Sometimes, all it takes is a courageous conversation with yourself to know your worth and make the choice that will change your life for the better.  Click here to watch or listen 

Communicate Clearly 

When dealing through a buyer’s agent – how open and frank can you be?  How open and frank should the buyer’s agent be with the selling agent?  Is it smart to play your cards too close to your chest so to speak because at the end of the day the selling agent wants to get top dollar and the buyers agent wants to achieve the opposite? Listen here

Be Responsive

Without a buyer’s agent involved in a transaction, the selling agent needs to be in good communication with the buyer but as we know, many don’t do that even not following up after opens and so on.  How responsive do you want selling agents to be when they are working with you? Listen here

Respect the brief

Buyer’s agents receive a very detailed brief from their client which they use to help them find suitable properties.  How should the selling agent handle that brief? Listen here

Build relationships

When an agent is working through a buyer’s agent – how should they go about building relationships and who should it be with? Listen here 

What is advocacy

Increasingly we are seeing more buyers employ their own agent to negotiate.  This is common overseas but still relatively new in Australia.  How are selling agents coping with the growth?  Listen here 

How Melbourne house prices have fared during lockdown

Melbourne home prices have defied doom and gloom forecasts to remain resilient through debilitating coronavirus restrictions, new research shows.

Metropolitan house prices dipped just 1.7 per cent to an $846,000 median in the September quarter, during which the market all but ground to a halt while physical inspections were banned.

And the figure shot up 5.1 per cent to $442,500 in regional Victoria, according to data from Victoria’s peak real estate body obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun.   Read more here 

Melbourne lockdown: surging demand as private inspection ban lifts

Private home inspections are already underway less than a day after coronavirus restrictions were lifted from Melbourne’s property market.

The floodgates have opened for buyers and sellers desperate to restart their property plans, after the ban on one-on-one inspections ended at 11.59pm Sunday — about a month earlier than anticipated. Click for more 

On your Marks ! 

The good and the Bad of Covid and Covid finance

The impact of severe lockdown in Victoria has prompted many in the industry to call on the Vic Premier to declare real estate as an essential service.  Is that going too far?  Also if you are looking to buy or sell real estate right now, Miriam Sandkuhler has some ways to prepare.

Real Estate Talk: https://channels.realty.com.au/realestatetalk/the-good-and-bad-of-covid/

Realty: https://www.realty.com.au/

Home buyers, sellers caught out in longer lockdown

Buyers and sellers caught short by the lockdown extension in greater Melbourne face potentially severe financial losses if they can't complete transactions, industry advocates say.

Buyer's agent Miriam Sandkuhler of Property Mavens said those who had bought to upgrade or downsize, but could no longer sell their own home, might lose their deposit or incur hefty bridging finance costs.

Those who have sold but can’t buy, due to low stock levels or because they can't inspect the property in person, are facing the possibility of homelessness, given they can’t even inspect property to rent, as an interim measure," Ms Sandkuhler said.

Read more here 

Melbourne spring market: Property market goes private amid COVID

Melbourne’s spring market could be dominated by private sales rather than the usual auction action — and any auctions we do see will be held online until COVID-19 restrictions ease.

But the change in selling style is unlikely to stop vendors from listing their homes during the busiest property season of the year, experts say.

Property Mavens director Miriam Sandkuhler said buyers who were “waiting for a fantasy market crash run the substantial risk of missing out altogether” in the months to come.  Read more here

Now is not the time to buy sight unseen

Buying sight unseen is sometimes what has to happen if the property you want is not local. Property author and buyer’s agent Miriam Sandkuhler delves into why people are willing to do this and the risks involved.   Listen here for more 

PROPERTY EXPERTS: WHAT IS A BUYER’S AGENT?

A buyer’s agent or buyer’s advocate is a property professional who works for and represents a buyer, as opposed to a seller, in a property transaction. Demand for this service is growing in Australia each year.

In the second instalment of our ‘Property Experts’ series, we spoke to Miriam Sandkuhler, owner of property advocacy firm Property Mavens, on the role a buyer’s agent plays in purchasing a property and the importance of buyer representation throughout the process.   ‘I’m passionate about protecting consumers when it comes to buying and selling real estate’, says Miriam, a twenty-year veteran of the real estate industry. She decided to move into property advocacy to ‘protect clients from making poor property decisions and to help them secure good outcomes.’ Read more here

Melbourne CBD high rises: International tensions a problem

Chinese buyers deserting the Victorian property sector could seriously damage the CBD market — but an influx of Hong Kong nationals is expected to soften the blow.

Experts say strained China-Australia relations could lead to a dramatic drop-off in foreign investment, leaving apartments in Melbourne’s high-rise buildings sitting empty.

The Chinese Government’s call for students to avoid Australia was “a risk” to established and upcoming developments, realestate.com.au executive manager of economic research Cameron Kusher said.  Read Miriam sandkuhler's comments here 

Melbourne auctions: Investor beats first-home buyers in Northcote, pays $102,000 over reserve

The fresh outbreak of the coronavirus didn’t deter keen buyers in virus hotspot council areas, with six bidders putting their hands up at a Northcote auction and another three parties vying for a Brunswick home on Saturday.

In Northcote, 13 buyers registered to bid on a recently renovated two-bedroom terrace, with six of them weighing in at the auction.

It was one of 510 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday. Read more here 

Melbourne liveability: Outer-ring suburbs surge, PwC report

Outer-ring suburbs are leapfrogging trendy inner-city haunts in liveability as homeowners adjust to working from home, a new report has revealed.

Consultancy giant PwC Australia’s CityPulse analysis found the COVID-19 pandemic had driven a transition to more flexible work practices, reducing Melburnians’ reliance on closeness to the CBD and dependence on transport.

                                                    The CityPulse liveability score takes into account housing affordability, access to amenities and health services, crime rates and                                                       commuting distances to rank suburbs out of 10. Read more here

The dangers of taking a mortgage holiday

Our CEO Miriam Sandkuhler is seeing vendors and buyers suffer from the effects of taking a mortgage holiday. Listen or watch here 

Capital gains tax: Expat loophole set to close next month

Most homeowners are waiting for COVID-19 restrictions to lift before selling, but a closing tax loophole could motivate one group to list. And it might lead to some bargain buys across Melbourne.  Read more here 

Coronavirus rental support: How to negotiate with landlords, tenants

Coronavirus rental support: How to negotiate with landlords, tenants.
Miriam Sandkuhler was asked to provide her top tips. Click to read them
https://bit.ly/2Y2SkCT 
#covid19 #propertymavens #askforexperience #rebaa

Melbourne house prices hit record highs on cusp of COVID-19

Melbourne house prices hit record highs on cusp of COVID-19.
Miriam was asked to comment on the market.

Melbourne prices hit new highs before coronavirus flipped the industry on its head. But experts predict the strong start to 2020 could help the market find its feet once again on the other side.   Read more https://bit.ly/3bCm3GA
#buyersagent #propertymavens #askforexperience

Sellers opt for a Quick ‘no fuss’ Sale

Miriam Sandkuhler is being inundated with requests to present ‘off-market’ properties to her buyers.

#PropertyTV #RealEstateTalk #OffMarketSale 

LISTEN HERE

Should you defer your mortgage repayments?

To help those struggling to repay their home loan because of coronavirus-related financial stress, some banks are allowing borrowers to defer their mortgage repayments for up to six months. But what are the ramifications of choosing to do so?

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic grinds the country to a halt, hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs and may no longer be able to make their mortgage repayments. To help ease some of the pain, most banks are rolling out home loan support for impacted customers, including deferring home loan repayments for up to six months.  Read more here 

Coronavirus: How hard Melbourne’s market will be hit 

As fears about the COVID-19 pandemic continue to plague the world, questions about the impact on the local property market are being raised.  Amid the rapid-changing conditions, we asked the experts just how hard the coronavirus outbreak could hit Melbourne real estate.

THE PEAK BODY

Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Gil King said the property sector would “surge on” despite alterations to auctions and open for inspections.

Read more here