Home Owner 2

I recently decided to settle in Melbourne and as such decided I would buy a property. I spent many weeks analysing the housing markets and ‘advisory’ websites and finally arrived at the realisation that I did not know what to buy, where to buy and how to buy.

This was tremendously frustrating as I had already bought and sold 6 houses previously. With this in mind I decided to seek professional help. Having never heard of a ‘buyers advocate’ I was curious as to how they could assist me. I visited three different advocates and listen to what they had to say. One of the advocates I visited clearly outshone the others and having completed my due diligence on all three I decided to engage with Miriam Sandkuhler at Property Mavens.

The reasons I chose Miriam:

• Professionalism - Miriam is structured in her approach and lays out a very clear process road map in which she carries the load, what my role would be in the process and where my touch points in the process were. Her supporting literature is also very informative, easy to follow and well presented.

• Experience – Miriam demonstrates a well-established track record within the property industry and offered excellent testimonials from her previous clients which is something that was not forthcoming from her competitors. I found the testimonials very positive and encouraging to see that she had successfully assisted people that had been in the very same position as me.

• Relationship - from the first meeting I had with Miriam I knew this was somebody I could work with. She was friendly, obviously passionate about her role in the industry and very responsive. She also exudes confidence which is firmly based on her extensive knowledge of the property industry.

Following our engagement Miriam assisted me in establishing what type of property I really wanted (owner occupier but with strong capital growth potential) and also gave me a realistic idea of what I could expect from the market for my budget. We identified a search area and within a couple of weeks we found the property that ticked all the boxes. The purchase of the property was not smooth due to a very frustrating vendor team but Miriam’s resilience and negotiating skills shone through. Finally, we managed to close the deal before the property went to market and at what I believe to be a very good price which was within my budget. I am now the owner of the first property in what I hope will be an extensive portfolio.

I now see Miriam as part of my ‘team’ and her advice and services will certainly be used on my future purchases.

David Atkinson, South Yarra - March 2014