Unlocking Subiaco’s Property Market

Transcript

Peter Fletcher

[00:00:00] Peter Fletcher: Welcome to the WA Property Q& A, the podcast where I explore the ins and outs of buying property in Western Australia. I’m your host Peter Fletcher and each week I interview local property experts to help you to develop a deep understanding of the nuances of buying property in WA. From market trends to legal considerations, no topic is off limits.

But before we dive in, a friendly reminder, while we provide valuable information, it’s important to note that nothing discussed in this podcast should be construed as personal investment advice. Always remember to seek the appropriate professional advice for your specific circumstances. Now, let’s get started and unlock the secrets to successful property buying in WA.

I’m joined this week by none other than Clare Nation. Clare Nation is a director, a chief negotiator at the property exchange in Subiaco. A long time real estate agent, Clare. You’ve been in real estate now for how many years?

[00:01:07] Clare Nation: I started when

I was 17. Ah, okay. Down in Scarborough.

[00:01:12] Peter Fletcher: In Scarbs, yes. And and then you moved to After a while, you, you ended up having a stint up north somewhere,

[00:01:20] Clare Nation: or kind of.

Yeah. So I, I did, I started at the bottom and I worked my way up. So I started at reception, started and then went into sort of PA to director role, went into property management assisting. And it was when I was about 21, Janie Sanderson and Nikki Pynker started the property exchange and they rang me and said, Oh.

Hey, Claire, you know, we’re starting this new agency in Subiaco, it’s super hip. We want to start a rent roll, but all the property managers we know are really old and grumpy, and we really want someone new. And I didn’t really at that point know what I was doing, like really to be starting a business, but I was like, sure, not a problem.

I’ll come and join you girls. So that was back in 1999 that we started the rent roll from scratch down on the corner of Churchill Avenue in Subiaco. And from there. Built it up and developed a team and was with the girls for another 11

years before I then. I moved into another role of managing a business in Karratha, but I was based in Claremont.

[00:02:15] Peter Fletcher: Mm hmm. Yeah. So that was and that, that was for a little while and then, then you’ve moved back to

[00:02:22] Clare Nation: And then I’ve come back home. I’ve come back home. So now I’m So that was six years ago. I’ve been back and rejoined Nikki. Mm hmm. Five, five years ago, actually. And with always the intention to have ownership of the business with Nikki.

It was really her heart and soul that wanted someone. That she knew and that loved, that she knew loved the business and wanted to take that next step with her in between myself and Julia, our managing director and Kylie who manages our property management portfolio as well. So the three of us then had our own rentals, management, sales, little caps on, and it works brilliantly.

[00:02:56] Peter Fletcher: You, you guys have got something really special going on over there. Yeah, we do. We do. It’s it’s, it’s a special office. I, I’ve been in there and there was dogs in there and there

[00:03:06] Clare Nation: Yes, It’s not your typical office. It’s definitely not grey. We have decluttered a little bit since Nikki’s left because she would bring lots of All sorts of things that she’d picked up from some garage sale in Collie or something like that.

But it’s just home. You walk in and it feels like home. It does feel like home. And I think that that resonates in the way that we do our business and the way that our property management girls, you know, look after their. Their, their tenants as well as their landlords because it’s all about home and sort of where our heart is.

[00:03:38] Peter Fletcher: And, and is it an all female team now?

[00:03:40] Clare Nation: We are back to all females. Back to all female teams. Not to say that we won’t welcome any men. It’s just the right person in the, in the business and I think it makes it a bit scary for men to reach out to us but we’ve had some great guys working for us and successfully.

So, yeah, I’d be happy to expand, you know, our sales team. You know, with more women and more men. Mm. Mm.

[00:04:01] Peter Fletcher: Yeah. It’s, it’s something unique. You guys have had, you’ve had that, that sort of thing going on for a long, long time in that business. And it’s kind of like you, you’ve become kind of famous for it.

[00:04:12] Clare Nation: Yeah. Well, I mean, we’re fondly known as the girls, you know, you know, the girls of the property exchange. And I don’t think it was the intention when they first started the business, but that’s where it organically grew. And I feel that. The right people for the way that the business wants to be projected in the community with just more of that feminine feel.

So, but then I guess it evolved over time and we did have a husband and wife team at one point. And yeah, I think if the right person’s doing the business the way we want to do, it doesn’t matter what gender you are.

[00:04:44] Peter Fletcher: Mm hmm. And do you think that there’s a, the, the way you market properties is influenced by like the, the, the breakup of your team or the, sorry, the, the makeup of your team?

[00:04:55] Clare Nation: I think it used to be a lot. Nikki would have a lot of fun with her marketing and Could get away with it a bit more than you can now and was very progressive at that time in the industry where

[00:05:06] Peter Fletcher: She’s a real personality driven brand. Oh,

[00:05:08] Clare Nation: Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. And it was very much Nick Pine could the property exchange for a long time.

And so, but then a lot of other agents did sort of follow suit a little bit and sort of become a bit more creative, which gave everybody a different type of voice and that also reflected in the way that we start our properties as well. So. That was, you know, ever since Nikki well, I’m sure I can’t remember exactly how many years ago, but she had a whole house full of furniture, so before anybody would style homes, she was styling them herself with her own furniture that she’d bought, and actually bought a home just on Gloucester Street to, To store all the furniture.

So it was only in the last year or so that we’ve, well, she’d sold that now, but that we had knickknacks that were able to then softly furnish homes. But she was doing full couches, the whole kit and caboodle before even anybody else was. So, which is a big job. No one does that now. But it but yeah, she was sort of definitely a leader in that sort of.

Part of the the styling process.

[00:06:04] Peter Fletcher: It’s also owned, owned or owns a tram?

[00:06:07] Clare Nation: Owned the tram. The tram now lives in Bunbury, I believe. Oh, is that right?

[00:06:11] Peter Fletcher: Yes. It’s no longer part of the Subiaco.

[00:06:14] Clare Nation: No, and it’s so missed. I mean, the, the fumes from the tram isn’t missed, but it’s so missed. So many people still ask about the tram.

And it was such a beautiful, I mean, it had its set route. It’s, you know, you see all the. Nana and Grandad’s on there with their little kids. At Christmas, we would get Santa Claus on there and be throwing out lollies. And it was a beautiful initiative to the community. And it wasn’t something that was backed by the council.

It all came out of Nikki’s pocket. And that’s what everybody didn’t realize is that she wanted to give back to the community. And that’s something I think from our business now is that, you know, we’re looking at ways to be involved in the community by giving back, not to be that real estate agent that wants to be seen to be doing it, but by actually doing it.

[00:06:54] Peter Fletcher: And yeah, yeah. So, so you, you, you less bus stops and, and, and been, you know, bins and.

[00:07:02] Clare Nation: Well, I just did do a billboard. So that’s a bit different, but, but it was just that net, just, it was more organic style. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And it was also, it was the community. It was like she wanted to do something and not only that, it’s actually had helpers and volunteers.

And you know, there was people that were there managing socials and these were all out of their own time. So that I think was beautiful.

[00:07:26] Peter Fletcher: How do you think the property exchange is going to evolve in the years, years ahead as, as you know, things change for you guys?

I

[00:07:33] Clare Nation: I feel like I have a vision with the business of what I would like to do.

I know that small business is starting to get a little bit trickier with lots of different legislations coming in and acts coming in. Grey fleet vehicles and a

whole lot of things that are going to affect the way that we run the business. And I guess there is that fear that the bigger corporations have a lot more power in regards to, probably, and financials to be keeping up to speed a lot more with marketing and creative.

And secure, like security, like cyber security or data protection, all of that. So we do see our team evolving. We love that we are still a boutique but I think that at some point we will look at exploring options on how we can evolve our business and our brand.

[00:08:19] Peter Fletcher: Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s hard to be a boutique and stay on the, on the leading edge of all these, these, you know, tech innovations and experiments.

It’s, you know, you, you’ve got to have the money to throw at that stuff. That’s right.

[00:08:35] Clare Nation: And we made a conscious decision that, you know, we would keep the business as status quo for a few years after we had bought out from Nicky. Because we still had to sort of get our feet in running the business ourselves.

[00:08:45] Peter Fletcher: Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm.

So your, the, the business is in the heart of, of Subiaco. Like it’s, it’s right there. You’ve got a coffee shop next door. You’ve got a hairdresser’s, I think. Is there a hairdresser?

[00:08:56] Clare Nation: You’ve got the unicorn wine bar. There’s a beautiful new French restaurant across the road that’s open. So we’re on the Shein Park Subiaco border.

[00:09:02] Peter Fletcher: Mm-Hmm. . Mm-Hmm. So you guys spend a lot of time listing and selling Subiaco Shein Park dag leash.

[00:09:11] Clare Nation: Daglish, Jollymont, Ingrid, Bradshaw is our Leaderville Queen you know, branching even out into the North Perth. We have Emily Garden, who’s one of our apartment specialists. So she does a lot in sort of West Perth, even sort of, you know, now Yoakum, Wembley, Glendalough, even that, that sort of pocket of, of property as well.

So we sort of still keep that inner city. We’ve sort of genuinely gone towards the Leaderville side as opposed to down to the Western suburbs. But that’s worked

really well for our clientele. And I think with our type and brand of marketing it fits really well suit there.

[00:09:42] Peter Fletcher: Mm. Who’s your, you know, what, what would be your ideal customer?

[00:09:49] Clare Nation: Well, it’s interesting when I, I mean, I predominantly sell Subiaco. So Subiaco has a really interesting demographic cause we have upsizes and we have downsizes and then we have investors. So we’ve got such a range of properties. So there’s so many markets within a market. And I know we talk about that a lot about how many different.

Markets within a market, but in Subiaco, really, I can be selling a $400,000 one bedroom apartment or a $3 million character home in, in Haightsbury Road. Mm-Hmm. . So it’s very, very different. And I’ve got my downsizes perhaps coming off a thousand square meter block in Netherlands coming into a 500, which is a big square meter block in, you know, that’s a big block in Subie.

Mm-Hmm. . Or I have the opposite of my families or my young professionals coming into Subie and then potentially then growing their family and going to their thousand square meter blocks. So we get a very. Interesting cross pollination from that area. We then get them coming from potentially the north. So again, it’s sort of, you know, maybe previously where they were spending 700, 000, which was like a million now, but, and then going into a million to 1.

5 market. So you’ve got a lot of that. And I think now that Subiaco has had a massive resurgence in the last few years people have always loved living in Subiaco, but they just forgot to come to Subiaco. No one would come out to Subi anymore. That has completely changed. So now we’ve got people wanting to come into Subiaco for a lifestyle.

And if they’re working in the city, they don’t want to be doing Stirling Highway anymore. They want to sort of have that seamless transition in and out of the city and still have all of the amenities around them.

[00:11:17] Peter Fletcher: It is beautifully close to the city, isn’t it? Like it’s right there. You just cross, what is it?

Is it Roberts?

[00:11:24] Clare Nation: Thomas Street.

[00:11:25] Peter Fletcher: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:11:26] Clare Nation: And when we have our clients from the East Coast, that is what they want. That is what they’re looking for. That easy transition. But then really you can go straight down Hay Street and you’ll. You’re there, you’re on the coast. Mm-Hmm. . So you’ve got, it’s such a perfect location for someone wanting all those different lifestyles.

[00:11:40] Peter Fletcher: Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm.

Yeah. So, talk to me about a bit more about the sort of people that are coming into Subiaco. So, they’re upgrading to Subiaco from places Like what? Leadville

[00:11:55] Clare Nation: Oh. It’s like, it’s really honestly a mixed bag, Peter. It is. It’s a lot of people. Sell in Subie Subie and they want to be, they, they want to be in that area or there are families now that have perhaps young children, like when I say young, maybe in their twenties and thirties or starting new families that they are bringing into Subie as well, and maybe topping up their funds so that they can get into a better area.

So we have a very strong family demographic. We’ve now got the new Bob Hawke College, which is really attracting a whole lot of. Different areas coming in to the, to the, you know, sorry, different people coming into the area. And that for me, I’m seeing it’s becoming more and more prevalent. I think we’re up to year 10 now and maybe you’re 11 next year at Bobcourt College and you’ve still got Shenton College too.

So that those schools around this area are, that’s what a massive driving force for Subiaco Shenton Park. So, you know, these people are coming from south of the river even.

[00:12:53] Peter Fletcher: Interesting you should say this because I did some research on, on this area and the, the predominant age group in Subiaco’s is 30 to 39 years of age.

You know, it’s a, it’s a pretty like, upwardly mobile.

[00:13:09] Clare Nation: It is. It is. But getting to that younger demographic, it’s because I also think. that what I’ve seen post COVID is if you’re a young or couple, an executive young couple in that 30 to 39 price, like age bracket, they’re buying capacity previously, I felt was sort of circa one mil.

Now they’re sort of one, five to two, maybe even more. So that, that age group, I feel has. created a lot more wealth or there has been more wealth or something

that’s present there that has actually changed their ability to buy sort of better quality homes in that area. But you’ve also got, you’ve got, we’ve got.

You know, the hospital, so we’ve got the doctors coming into the area as well. And at that age, they’re sort of gone perhaps to that next level of earning earning. And so that maybe means that, you know, what they can buy is certainly different. Or on the other spectrum of that, you might have that 30 year old that is maybe a first or second home buyer that potentially will buy in that 500, 000 to 800, 000 bracket of an apartment because they want the lifestyle.

So you, this. Again, we could talk so many different so many different variations to what’s actually happening each and every time. And it’s so product dependent a home I had on the weekend, I had two new launches on the weekend. I both had 50 odd, 50 odd groups through both. My God. One was a little two bedroom, one bathroom, art deco y style apartment.

Five offers were written. All of those offers were investors, not one owner occupier. And four of those people were. Residents within the area that particularly wanted, like, had walked past that, I mean, it was a very unique, it wasn’t your Subicentro apartment, it was a very unique apartment just in Campbell Street.

But they were all, they were all just wanting to put their little stamp. You know, and, and sort of invest in that.

[00:14:56] Peter Fletcher: Almost get a foothold in the area.

[00:14:58] Clare Nation: And it was for lots of, all various different reasons. It was actually quite interesting from that investment perspective, they were not actively looking. And so this is where every story is so different and I can be launching a property and have no idea really until the day about what’s going to happen.

Now we’re coming into a bit of a different market. The stock level is obviously the lowest that we’ve seen, it’s madness. And I think that when we look back in the 1960s, when we had the same level of stock, but only 400, 000 population, it’s just crazy to actually feel that, oh gosh, this is actually what’s happening.

But you know, now we sort of see a few farmers coming in this time of year and they’re wanting their lock and leaves and the so there’s lots of different things happening and it can’t be, if there’s not one particular. driving force that I feel that I can say, especially in this area, maybe when you’re looking out in the

outer suburbs, where you have one or 200 four by twos with a theater double garage.

And, and, you know, so you might find that that might be sort of, you could be a bit more specific there. In Subiaco Stratoshenton Park, it’s totally different.

[00:16:04] Peter Fletcher: You’ve mentioned the word lifestyle about 50 times so far in this conversation. And Subiaco is, is like, it offers a great lifestyle.

And I think that it was recently voted by, I think it was Ipsos as the number most livable suburb in, is it, was it in Australia? Yeah. In Australia. And that doesn’t surprise me. Talk to me about what factors you think make it livable.

[00:16:28] Clare Nation: Community. Mm hmm. Definitely community. The streetscapes are really pretty as well, and I think that, you know, being so inner city but, you know, living in these gorgeous tree lined streets.

[00:16:39] Peter Fletcher: The streetscape in Subiaco is, is absolutely amazing. Yeah. And I did some other research about tree canopy. Yes. Like, because tree canopy is a, is a massive thing. And, you know, suburbs like Daglish and, and, and Subiaco have, have very, very high levels of tree canopy.

[00:17:00] Clare Nation: They do.

And even when they did the redevelopment in Subicentro back in 2000, sorry.

[00:17:05] Peter Fletcher: Yeah. Sorry, Tindra. I think Daglish has about 30 percent of the suburb is parks. It’s beautiful.

It’s massive.

[00:17:13] Clare Nation: And people love that. I mean, there’s people that want to be particularly in that area because they love the dog parks in that area. And again, that’s community. That is people going out there and they all, I mean, I can remember a dog’s name, any, any easier than I’ve perhaps sort of a human, because it’s like, you’re sort of interacting and everyone knows everyone by their dog’s names and it’s so lovely.

And back, sorry, what I was saying back in Subi is when they first did Subicentro back in 2000, it was like, Oh my gosh, what have they done? This is horrendous. And like, it’s, it was, it just felt like there was home upon home and it had, you walk through there now and it is. Lush and green and you would not

believe just, I mean, obviously it’s taken 23, you know, 23 years to get to that point, but it’s, it’s beautiful.

And I think that people love that sense of the greenery. You just have to walk down. I mean, even just the streets behind our office, Gloucester Street, Hatesbury. All of those sort of, you know, Rawson Street, all of those little pretty streets, they are, they’re picturesque and people love that. Park Street, I just saw a little two bedroom cottage on and the amount of people that said, I just want to be here because I love Park Street, love Park Street.

And it’s because it’s so pretty. So, and then you were literally. in the city within five minutes. So it’s just this whole different feel. And so I think people love that. The schools are gorgeous. They, they do have an amazing sense of community. Only to sort of, when we just recently had Halloween, there was thousands and thousands of kids and families.

Up and down Gloucester Street, it was unbelievable. And everyone knows each other and they all chat and, you know, it’s beautiful. It is, you know, but then you’ve got on the other side, those apartments of low maintenance living and right into the, you know, right into the hub of Subie for your restaurants and your bars and things like that.

So you’ve just got the best of everything, full on walkability. Yeah. Off the

chart. Mm-Hmm. Hopefully our shopping and retail will increase.

[00:19:05] Peter Fletcher: So what’s happened there? Because back in the, let’s say the two thousands, the early two thousands Subiaco was the place Wow. To be. You had the, you know, you had Sapphire Bar and you had.

[00:19:19] Clare Nation: It was a few,

[00:19:20] Peter Fletcher: You know, all those, Lama Bar, that’s the one, yeah.

[00:19:25] Clare Nation: It was definitely the place that’s been, like I previously said, it was more that, when all sort of that died off, people stopped coming to Subi and when the markets were gone, they stopped coming to Subi.

[00:19:35] Peter Fletcher: Rents, commercial rents were a huge problem for tenants for, for a while there, weren’t they?

Is, are they, is that still a problem for tenants?

[00:19:43] Clare Nation: I still think it’s a factor that people are strongly considering, but now that the, you’ve had so many more people coming into that area and and Really, I mean, obviously Hay Street’s still going through a bit of a transition as well, but definitely Rockaby Road.

There used to be a lot of empty shops there and now that they’ve all, you know, they’re all filled. Because people are coming back into Subie, they are coming in there for their Saturdays and Sundays and even during the week it’s busy and it has that vibe back. And I think that whilst people have always loved living in Subie, hence the growth of what we’ve had, they just didn’t come to entertain their friends or they, you know, there, there wasn’t a reason, you know, for, I mean, obviously the football was a big driving factor, but.

[00:20:25] Peter Fletcher: Is the loss of the football, was, was that a factor? Is it, or is that just something that, okay, well, the Oval’s gone now and it’s not a big deal.

[00:20:32] Clare Nation: I mean, it was a certain amount of times per year that it would be busy.

And I think perception was that, yes, it was a massive loss and I’m sure it was a massive loss financially, but what’s happened now and what we’ve created is far better because it’s consistent. Better fundamentals. It is. It’s consistent. And we’ve got the big new wine development in Subiaco that has come on, that was fought by a few people.

A lot of people.

[00:20:56] Peter Fletcher: So that’s the, the development on the corner of rockaby.

[00:21:03] Clare Nation: And that created the resurgence of Subiaco. It really did. It’s, we’re absolutely thriving. And I know that, you know, when we first met with, we met with Paul after he sort of took on the project and he was like, well, what does Subiaco want?

Talk to me about what is Subiaco looking for from a residential living perspective? And we just said, no more one bedroom apartments. We cannot sell them. So stop building them at that particular point. And we. Our downsize is that while wanting to, you know, stay in the area and they don’t really have anywhere to go, they don’t want two bedrooms.

They want to have a nice terrace. They’d love, you know, a nice master bedroom, a study, you know, potentially then a room for the grandies, you know, things like that, that they wanted. So they. Really changed sort of a lot of their configuration so that they could appeal more to that Subiaco Shenton Park or that sort of surrounding demographic.

And we had a lot of buyers from our intermediate areas buy into there. And now they’ve got, you know, the markets happening underneath and the new Subi Continental on the corner. And again, all of a sudden now that’s lifted the game of everyone around them. So it’s just created such a great feeling and people are loving it.

We’ve got Subi night markets this weekend. But the day markets, I think they’re just going to get better and better.

[00:22:15] Peter Fletcher: Mm. So that, that’s interesting. You should say that about that, that development, because there’s a lot of people, you know, in a vertical like, space. So there’s a lot of people there and it sounds like it’s actually a good place to live.

[00:22:32] Clare Nation: I haven’t really had anyone say they don’t like living there. Mm. They don’t like living there. It’s been. I’ve got a client of mine that she bought one at and she’s based in Singapore and she’s renting it out. But when she came back to view it, she was like, Oh, I, I really want to keep this. Like I just can see myself being here.

So I do, I do think it was so positive for the area massively. And you know, you’ve got the train station right there, which can take you. You know, straight to the airport now. So we’ve all, you know, got that FIFO sort of, attraction to, you know, get out straight to the airport, you know, airport, don’t have to worry about any of that.

But then I come back into Subi and I’ve got everything I need. I don’t have to really go anywhere. So again, it’s, we’ve got so much variety now in Subiaco that’s creating such like a welcoming vibe to anyone outside of that area that they’re, they’re really sort of. particularly saying, this is the area I want to be.

[00:23:24] Peter Fletcher: What’s the crime like in CBACO?

[00:23:27] Clare Nation: It’s something I don’t really follow. It’s not something I don’t really hear about actually.

[00:23:31] Peter Fletcher: So you feel safe at night?

[00:23:34] Clare Nation: I feel very safe at night. Yeah, absolutely. I think any area that you’re in, you always have to be conscious of your security.

[00:23:42] Peter Fletcher: But some areas more than others.

There’s some suburbs in Perth that I’m not sure that I’d be all that keen to run around.

[00:23:50] Clare Nation: And I don’t think Zubiaco would be one that would, you know.

[00:23:53] Peter Fletcher: It strikes me as being, as feeling very safe.

[00:23:56] Clare Nation: Well, all the parking that surrounds it, there’s lots happening in between. So you’ve got little pop up places and then bars at the back of bars.

So there’s lots of little areas that, you know. you feel quite safe and secure walking through and it’s nice trail, you know, lit, so, street litch, you know, little alleyways and bits and pieces. So I don’t think that anybody, I mean, of course you might have your sort of standard, you know, break into a car here and there.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, but we don’t hear about it.

[00:24:23] Peter Fletcher: Nothing, nothing too dramatic.

[00:24:25] Clare Nation: I’d let my daughter walk. Yeah. And CB obviously with me. But

[00:24:27] Peter Fletcher: Claire, ipsos did some research and I think this is what they, the reason they voted you know, Subiaco is the number one spot about livability and they, they had 17 different factors.

And Subiaco ticks so many of those boxes, it’s you know, close to the, close to employment centers. It’s got cafes, dining it’s got hospitals, health care it’s got tree coverage. It’s if you could create a perfect suburb, I think Subiaco is very close to being the perfect suburb.

[00:25:02] Clare Nation: Well, and the lovely thing about it as well is even in that little pocket where we are, Sort of on the outskirts of Subi Shenton Park, you do have your two unit coffee shops.

You’ve got your little bar. So you can still pop down even if you’re on that side of Subi and wander down to your local little bar, wine bar, and meet some friends. Even in Shenton Park. There’s a strip on Onslow road. They’ve got a new gorgeous restaurant there. It will, I don’t think it’s going to be long before a wine bar pops up.

And you know, you’ve got a lovely iGA in there. You’ve got, you know, beautiful bakeries and it’s, you know, it’s a little particularly popping up. So any, everywhere you go, even the top end of the Parisian end of Rockaby road, they say now, you know, it. Just it’s changing and it’s evolving. And I think anywhere you live in Subie, you can actually just, you can walk and people like that.

They like to have that space and be out. And especially if you’re working from home, which in our area, when you’ve got probably a lot of. you know, law, mining, medical professions, there are, there are a lot of people that do work, walk from work from home. So to have that walkability and a livability sort of, or ticking those boxes to things that are around them, it makes that working from home a lot more enjoyable as well.

[00:26:18] Peter Fletcher: And demand is off the charts in Subiaco, it’s just for property, it’s it’s just not so, you know, that I tried to buy a property for a client in, in Heightsbury and got dinged by what we went in at 1. 357, I think, and it sold for 1. 6 and I, I, I did not, I was not at all surprised. It’s like the, the demand I went through a home open and there was just like walking room only standing room only.

It was just like nuts.

[00:26:47] Clare Nation: Well, yeah, it has, it has been, and you know, it wasn’t uncommon for us to be having 70 to 90 groups through our home opens and we’ll do two on the first weekend. So we’ll do one in the morning and again in the afternoon.

[00:26:57] Peter Fletcher: Wow. So. Is that just to manage demand? Well.

[00:27:02] Clare Nation: For us, we found it we do that with all of our new listings.

So I still do that now, even from my apartments. Cause what I like about that is it does give people the second opportunity to come back on that day with the market moving so fast when they go through and they only have viewed it once and really what for five. 10 minutes and I doubt they’ve opened any cupboard

doors or looked at if their washing machine’s going to fit or anything like that to give them the availability to come back later that afternoon and bring mum and dad through or hubbies at golf, whatever it might be.

When the market was moving so fast, that gave them that sort of other quick opportunity to be able to do something because we were literally going back to the office and writing 10 to 12 offers that day. And people were ready to do that. Now I’m seeing that change slightly the ones we had over the weekend when we had 50 groups through, you know, is that because the stock levels are low?

Is it because they were both very beautifully presented properties? You know, who knows, as I say, it’s a bit of a mixed bag with what’s going to happen on the day. But that just, but, but we would see that. consistently happen. And in one day doing three to five or six home opens, we’d seen three to 400 people.

It was, it was exhausting. And then you sort of think, well, the shoe’s on the other foot for that particular buyer that wants to be able to go in and make that decision. I’m saying that buyers are a little bit more. They’re being just a little bit more conscious of their decision to how far over the price they’re going to go at the moment.

Yeah, right. Okay. I’m, I’m seeing they’re a bit more collective in their thinking and there’s lots of factors, obviously, our interest rate rises that are. affecting that, but also the thought that, you know, are we buying at the top of the market? Conversation to a buyer is very different to a seller, but the conversation to a buyer is the market’s going to continue to go.

So if you want to get in, we need to make an act right now. But I think that you know, we’re a market previously that we would say offers over one nine nine five, we’ll comfortably two, two, two, three, two, four, even because that demand and that energy of, and the amount of offers would drive it there.

Now, if I’m saying offers over one nine nine five. It’s maybe 2050, like it’s not, people aren’t, they’re not going crazy over they’re being a lot more considerate in their final purchase price. So we have to be very price specific and that’s where I think we’re seeing a language change a lot. I don’t I haven’t particularly used the offer strategy and I understand why now that’s actually very beneficial to be using, but having a price guide of the, you’re seeing it now.

low millions, one in mid millions offers, you know, in the nine hundreds is where we positioned to properly the on the weekend because it could have, you

know, evidence was here, but where it went was completely different. But at least it gave people a guide of where we’re expecting to see results.

[00:29:38] Peter Fletcher: How are you working through the difficulty of getting a price guide that is half accurate.

I talked to a lot of agents and they’re just going, well, we think the property, all the evidence is saying the property’s worth between 850 and 900. But we sold it for 1. 2. Yeah. Like, how do you, like, even the best agents with all the research, you know, CoreLogic RP data, you know, 30 years experience and they’re still getting it wrong.

Well. How are you dealing with that?

[00:30:16] Clare Nation: I just think you can’t speculate and this is where you have to be very particular about it. Yeah. And very direct with your conversations with your sellers because they right now have a greater expectation more than ever, Oh, we’re going to get this, et cetera.

And I’m like, well, the evidence is sitting here and you want here. I’m not saying we can’t do that here, but as an agent, I can only ever give you my professional advice based on evidence. But what I know is how, how to increase the perception of value, not the value, the perception of value and likely what is going to happen on that day.

But. I can assure you, if we start there, you won’t finish there. If we started here, you will likely finish there or even higher. So buyers are also very well educated and they won’t. You know, they’ll, they’ll be very, right now, as I say, their confidence to go out there and just buy it at all costs is not there anymore.

So you have to be really direct and honest with your sellers and not be too influenced by what they want. I could say, well, I want 1. 9 for my property and it’s worth 1. 5, but that’s not necessarily means what I’m going to do, but it could happen on the day. If you can listen to the advice of the agent, and I do believe that as agents do give you the advice on how to best get that price, then that will likely happen. And, you know, if you are guarded correctly, but if you start there, you may, you may not result in that.

[00:31:33] Peter Fletcher: Yeah, the market, despite it being very strong, it’s not a recipe for I’ll get whatever I want. I’ve, I’ve got some friends up in the hills that own a property that they you know, they’d like to sell it at a price that they have in mind.

The market’s not giving it to them and I’ve been saying to them, it, you need to, to drop the quote price and then, you know, allow the market forces to, to flow from there. But they’re resistant to that because it sounds like, Oh no, we don’t want to sell it too cheap.

You know?

[00:32:07] Clare Nation: Well, I don’t think anyone’s ever complained of selling a property too cheap.

Like really, like no one’s ever come, Oh, well, we sold that for way too cheap. Or, you know, when I’ve heard this, Oh, that, that particular agent underprices property. I’m thinking, how can you ever underprice property? Like you, if you, if you underprice a property, you’d just be writing 40 offers and it would probably go to the same amount.

But I, you know, I do think that as agents, we are, some of them are being influenced by what the seller wants and are starting at that particular price. And, you know, there are some conversations that I have with other agents that have gone, wow, you know, did you go in there and did, you know, and did you appraise and how did you go and what did you say?

And then they’re like, wow, I got that completely wrong. Because I don’t think anyone’s getting it a hundred percent right these days. I mean, it is, I know and have an understanding, but two bedroom semi that was sold on the weekend, you know, there was a lovely home that is sold very similar for nine 51.

This one was in a better location, probably not as nice on a smaller block and it sold for something like 6, 000 less, but I could use that as evidence and to knowing that likely it should have been in the low, low nines but we use the language in the nine hundreds so that if potentially there was so much interest, it could have driven it past that price.

So you just, you know, you just don’t know. And I think that you’ve got to be, I do feel that agents are being very coerced into sort of What the, what the owner wants so, and it’s our job to give them the education. So look, based on fact one, two, three, four, five, this is where it’s at. Well, I want this.

Okay. Well, where, you know, if you were going into the market and you’re a buyer. Where are you going to get that price from? I’m just putting it back on their wall because it’s this and I said, but what, how would you feel comfortable putting two and a half million down there when really the evidence is saying 2. 2? Yeah. There’s nothing else in the area, Clare. Well, I’m like, okay, well that,

that definitely could make, that could be the clincher, but on the day allow that to happen organically and allow me to use my negotiation skills to get there. Don’t sort of feel that’s just going to happen.

[00:34:12] Peter Fletcher: Are agents buying listings?

[00:34:14] Clare Nation: I don’t like that terminology. I don’t like that terminology. I don’t think in my area I could say that I see that happening. I have in, in our area there are very, there’s probably three or four predominant agents and all exceptional professional reputable agents. So there’s, you know, if and we have, because we’ve got such a big demographic of all different type of property and have small apartments, big apartments.

In Subia, we get a lot of different agents coming in, but the core agents are extremely, these, these are top notch professional guys. There is no way that they’d go in there and, and, and, and buy a listing or reduce their fee to get the business. They don’t need to. And we all do a very, we’re all very similar in the way that we present our homes and our properties.

And we all have something different about us that particularly that client might relate better to. So, I don’t feel in our area. I see that happening in outer suburbs.

[00:35:10] Peter Fletcher: Is there any, I think it’s happening, but yes, I like your observation about the professionalism in your area. I think that there, there are some really good agents through that patch.

I was going to ask Clare I was talking to Nat Hoy recently, as you know, on this podcast, and she was saying that that if there is any part of the market that is a little not so much soft, but the demand isn’t as strong, it’s properties that aren’t finished off.

[00:35:38] Clare Nation: Yeah. I totally agree.

Yeah.

[00:35:40] Peter Fletcher: Is that still okay?

[00:35:41] Clare Nation: I agree. Maybe a little bit changing now, but a home that is completely finished. Literally, you can walk straight into in Subie will far more attract a double, three times or four times people coming through at the home opens. I think also the reasoning behind that is my client, particularly, potentially, it could be time poor or, and I had this conversation with my girlfriend the other day who was selling in Sorrento or Hillary’s.

And she had a home to be renovated and she goes, I’ve got all my clients are all tradies. And I’m like, I wish I had a lot more tradie but I don’t tend to have. Build like, you know, home builders that are in Subi that can go, Oh yeah, I can do that. You know, they’re more, it’s a different demographic of perhaps professional clientele.

So they, they see homes that need a little bit of work as either worried about obviously the cost, the availability of trade, the length of time, et cetera. If they’ve got young families, I don’t want to do that. The one that I sold on the weekend, it was a, it was a little cottage, but you could do an extension renovation at the back.

And. I had a mixed bag on that. I had people that were either just trying to get into the area and get a foothold and loved it the way it was. People that were looking at it and going, okay, well, if I buy it for 9. 50 and then I’m going to spend 400, will I sell it for 190 square meters. So that is a bit of a, actually, probably you will, because it’s Subian, it’s a great location, but you know, people also equate value to land.

So that could be a little bit tricky. So there’s just. Again, there’s not, I don’t have any one answer that would fit all the different properties in this area. So, but tech, but, but in my experience, you know, I mean, I pretty much paint every single house that I sell if it’s vacant. Yep. If I can paint it and carpet it and clean the grout.

Is my three main things that I will do because even just doing that is just takes off that one job for the particular person. Does it increase value? And obviously we style our homes beautifully. Yes. I, you know, I think that it increases the overall perception of value, but it just gives that what that person one less job to do.

They can move in and they’ve got lovely fresh white walls. If they don’t want white walls, I can paint them, but at least they’ve got a, they’ve got a blank canvas. Yeah.

[00:37:48] Peter Fletcher: White’s never going to offend. No. Yeah. So. Paint, carpet, clean the grout. So you’re talking roughly 20 grand.

[00:37:57] Clare Nation: Not even. Yeah. Not even. You know, we could do that for a four by two for under 15.

Changing door handles is my other favourite thing to do.

[00:38:06] Peter Fletcher: Changing door handles.

[00:38:07] Clare Nation: Tap points.

[00:38:08] Peter Fletcher: Yes, yes.

[00:38:09] Clare Nation: Just very little. We don’t have to spend a lot. And I never want my sellers to To spend money to chase money. Don’t spend the money to chase the money. We will spend the money to create a higher perception of value of your home and that will create more competition in the, in, in your buyers, which will then drive your, drive your sale price.

But if you’re going to come to me and say, Claire, should we do kitchens and bathrooms? I’ll say no. Okay.

[00:38:36] Peter Fletcher: So the, there’s another thing that’s going on in this market. And that is that, you know, we, around this, we want things that are finished. There’s a, there’s a, I don’t know whether it might’ve come out of COVID where people are just going, life’s too short to put up with. Crap, like we’re just going to buy what we want today and not have to suffer through endless renovations and all that sort of stuff.

Just, we just want to get what we want and move into it.

[00:39:11] Clare Nation: Well, I think a younger, and I’m not, I’m not going to put myself into that generation. I wish I was, but. The want I, the want I’m wanting now of the, it’s on your phone. You can, you can download your TV show straight away. You can, you don’t even have to go to the movie theater anymore.

You can watch it. You know, a series of a show within a day, you don’t have to wait from week to week to be, you know, being on television. That ability to want and want now, I think is prevalent throughout, throughout everybody. Yeah. They don’t want, you know, if they see it, they want it. And I think even that younger generation, particularly, I say that on Instagram, I want that there.

I want that house, you know, and you know, I want that picture. , they want everything here and now. They’re not willing to. Right. I mean, that’s a, probably a generalization. There’s a smaller, there’s a smaller lot that can go, okay, I can make this my own. I don’t want to buy someone else’s rental. I want to do this myself, but I’m telling you that’s actually fine for you between.

Yeah. Yeah. Home in Shenton park that we recently sold. For over 3 million was a brand new home that was built and we had buyers coming from far and wide because in that area, we do very, very rarely get a brand new build, gorgeous location and street. And. You know, I know that other agents had actually appraised that under, under where we had sold it.

But not knowing what the demand is for a brand new bill that they could walk into, not have to do any work, was so attractive to so many people. Yes. You know, not to say that my beautiful homes that are older in, in Subi that people don’t say, Oh, you know, we could do a project here and we could renovate it ourselves.

But you know, the cost of these now, I’ve just sold one on Gloucester street that was on less than 500 square meters for 1. 9 and that needed. new kitchens, new bathrooms. I only had one bathroom. Potentially needed to go up. So if you’re going to spend another million, you now in Subie, you’ll likely get over three, but it’s a big cost.

And then they’ll have to find somewhere else to live while they’re doing it. And we know that rentals are very hard to come by. Yeah. So yeah,

[00:41:13] Peter Fletcher: We could talk about rentals just as a whole nother episode. Tell me What would your advice be to, to buyers? Like it’s just really hard to get. To the top of the pile, when you’re making an offer, what’s your advice?

You know, like take, take your agent’s hat off and, and put on the hat that you would say if I was your best friend and I was wanting to make an offer on a property, what’s your advice to me?

[00:41:43] Clare Nation: I think about this quite a lot. I’m very much a people person. I love face to face. DocuSign’s great.

It’s efficient. It’s effective. I love it, but it does take out a lot of that face to face negotiation. And also if I’m sitting with you writing an offer and as the buyer and as, as also the agent, we’re getting to know each other, we’re getting to understand where we’re at you know, we get, we’re talking about different scenarios.

If we’re in a multiple offer situation, quite often. My buyer that sits in front of me will be my successful buyer. Wow. And I don’t know whether that’s because it’s my negotiation skills or the fact that we have actually worked through to get

them at their best and strongest point. I, I mean, I, as I love DocuSign, I think it’s great.

It does take away that personal connection between the buyer and the agent. And I think at the moment that’s extremely important for their trust in you to be guided. And, you know, really when I say the trust in you is that quite often, and I don’t get it too much, but they’ll say, well, how do I know that you’re telling me that there is four other offers?

And how do I know that there is this and I’ve gone, well, you know, you will know at the end of the day, because you haven’t either been successful and you’ll see the price point come up, you know, that you’ve missed out. But you know, sometimes the highest offer doesn’t win and I had that happen on the weekend as well.

And I don’t like to say win, but wasn’t successful. It was all the terms surrounding that. And so I do believe getting in front of the agent with you and having that time to make the offer and saying, can we sit down and write the offer together? Because there could be a. Right. Well, let’s get on the phone to the broker now.

Let’s have a chat to the broker together. How can we get you in a position, better position financially to be putting your best foot forward here? How can we get you in a position better to have better terms of settlement? What, you know, that, cause I’ll just come in and go, okay, well you’re filling the form, send it off and write an offer.

And quite often the agent won’t even call them to talk through that. And I know my girls do. We’ll go, okay, so this is your offer. So what’s your situation? I don’t even know what they do for a job. So when I’m presenting to the seller, how can I go, Oh, you know, I, you know, I met Peter and Ann and he’s a school teacher and I’m creating the story behind their offer and it’s, I miss that part of the job.

We wrote 12 offers on a property in Scarborough recently and everything was DocuSign. No one wanted to meet with me and I’m like, come and meet with me and talk to me. But no one wanted to sit down and have that conversation. And I think that, you know, what I’m talking to my buyers about the language that I’m using is very different to the language I use with my sellers, of course, but they need to be guided.

They need to say, well, if the offer’s really low, I’m like, okay, well, let’s have a look at the evidence. This is the evidence, you know, and they’re like, cause

they’re nervous. They’re so nervous. They don’t want to try going too high. Another strategy I work really well with, with my buyers is saying, okay, well, what wouldn’t you pay Peter?

Well, Claire, I’m not going to pay 2. 5. I don’t think it’s worth 2. 5. Okay. Well, do you think it’s worth 2. 45? Do you think it’s worth 2. 4? And they, they can come to that conclusion of, well, Their best offer going backwards and not going forwards. Cause when you go up in your 2. 1 or 2. 2 now, Oh my God, I’m paying too much.

It’s just a, you’re psyching yourself out. So start from the top and come down. And then if you know that that night when I ring you and say, you know, yes. You’ve, you’ve successful. Congratulations. We’re excited. You don’t think, Oh my God, I paid too much or, or, or I should have given the extra a hundred thousand, like, you know, so I’m very, I say, let’s work it that way.

[00:45:09] Peter Fletcher: I talk to buyers a lot about their no regrets price and it’s that price where if. The agent phones up and says congratulations, your offer was successful. You might feel a little bit of remorse. You might feel probably paid too much and it’s possible that you did. The point is that that was your no regrets point, that that’s the price that you decided.

The other side of the no regrets price is if I miss out. Yeah. I don’t care. That’s right. I wouldn’t have paid. Totally okay with that. I wouldn’t have paid a thousand dollars more. I wouldn’t have paid a hundred dollars more. Exactly. That’s my line in the sand. Yeah. And it’s, it’s all over at that point.

[00:45:49] Clare Nation: Oh, a hundred percent.

That happens. It happens. And you know, I have a, had a gorgeous client of mine. I sold a property for her in King street. And so she was, was primed, I’m ready to go cash buyer and saw a property in Park Street, again, gorgeous Park Street, loved it, loved the location. She’s an inner city, Melbourne woman.

She’s, she wants lifestyle. She wants to walk everywhere. And she came in with an offer, 200, 000 less than when she, where she ended up. She goes, but I wanted it. You’ve got to kill me, Claire. You’ve got to kill me for doing that. And I’m like, well, everyone around the area is going to be really happy with that particular price.

And the seller was extremely happy. But she did, she went up and above because number one, she wanted, she had to move out of her place. Mm-Hmm. So her drive and, and, and the reasoning behind that was that, right. I do need to

find somewhere. ’cause I have to move and I’m okay with that. I’m okay with paying that price.

Mm-Hmm. Because that’s what I want. Okay. And I will go above, so, you know, yeah.

[00:46:45] Peter Fletcher: I’ve secured the home, I’ve secured it. I, I don’t have to think about it anymore.

[00:46:49] Clare Nation: And I’m just not gonna have the regret. I’m just gonna buy. And then that’s what I say. Don’t wake up tomorrow and go, Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.

You just be happy. And that’s the price. But when you come back.

[00:46:57] Peter Fletcher: And that is often the case when people miss out on a home, it’s the story that defines them in 10 years time. It goes, well, we made an offer on a place in Netherlands and we, we missed out on it by, you know, 10 years ago, 50 grand, and now it’s worth 3 million more than we paid for it.

I know. You go, well, you know, what might’ve been, and hadn’t we not been so wrapped up around the axles around this 50 grand or in today’s terms, it’s more like 200, 000, don’t, don’t get yourself too wound up about paying a few dollars. Too much, think about the, the future, you know, what’s the story you’re going to tell to your, you know, yourself in 10, 20 years time, this moment’s going to define that.

[00:47:54] Clare Nation: It is. And look, it’s also the stories like that, that being an agent that solely works in these areas and understanding the intimate. Transactions that have happened, all the intimate details of the transaction that happens because next to him, I go, Oh, well, he sold that for that. And now mine’s worth this.

Well, yes, that underpins value of you, but on that particular day, this is what actually happened. So this is where we say, well, if you were to start there, you might not finish there. So we need to bring you back a little bit. So, you know, it. I mean, everybody’s different with the advice that they give, but understanding those intimate details of transactions, I think it’s very powerful for an agent.

And this is where having relationships with other agents. And I know that maybe my situation is different with the people that I surround myself in, in my areas, because we all have the utmost respect for each other. And yes, we’re

competition, but again, these are professional. Industry leaders that I go up against and they regard me in the same way and we can have these conversations and we might be going up for it together, but we’re happy that either or, you know, achieve that, that, that listing, because we know, great, they’re going to be service.

They’re going to uphold the value. They’re going to uphold the presentation and they’re going to uphold, you know, our reputation within this area. So, you know, knowing a lot of those back end. Pieces, again, when we talk about, okay, how have we come to pricing and things like that is that we can sit there and really go, well, this sort of this, this, this all happened.

It’s knowing your stuff and being confident about what you’re actually talking to your client about. And I just, I always bring it back to being real and yourself. And when you’re across the table from that particular person don’t sell them the dream because you know that you can achieve that with them, but it’s a journey together that you’re going to get there.

[00:49:35] Peter Fletcher: Clare. I’m aware of the time. You know, we can talk about this for hours and, but, you know, we’ve both got things to do. Yeah, we do. Clearly obsessed. Yeah, well, you know, it’s, it’s, once real estate is in your blood, it’s, it’s hard to get it out. Let’s face it.

[00:49:51] Clare Nation: Well, I have my daughter working for me now.

Yeah, I know. And honestly, when she started at my business, I could hear her downstairs on reception and I was just like, Oh my gosh, like, she just sounds like me that the poor girl that she was, you know, in the back of the car listening on the phone, her language, she just knew exactly what to say. Like when you talk about it’s in your blood, like literally it is in her blood and she’s amazing at it and she’ll become an amazing young agent.

And it is quite funny. I just hear at the front welcoming clients and she knows the answers to the questions. It’s just so natural. It’s so beautiful. I just love watching it. It’s really good fun working together.

[00:50:31] Peter Fletcher: Beautiful. Claire, thanks so much for for your time today. I’ve learned a lot. for having me.

It’s been a real treat. Thank you. And I think anyone that looking to, to buy in Subiaco, how would, or sell in Subiaco, How would they get hold of you?

[00:50:47] Clare Nation: Thank you. Call me 0400 586 281, you can find me on my socials. I have a very active Instagram page. I have a lot of interaction on my Instagram page, which is great.

I’ll just come in and say hi.

[00:50:59] Peter Fletcher: There you go.

Claire, thanks so much for your time. Thanks Peter.

And that wraps up another episode of the WA Property Q& A. We hope you found our discussion valuable and gained some valuable insights. into the world of property buying in Western Australia. Remember, while we strive to provide useful information, it’s crucial to consult with the appropriate professionals before making any investment decisions.

Don’t forget to tune in next week for another exciting episode where we continue to unravel the mysteries of the WA property market. If you have any questions or topic suggestions, Feel free to reach out to us. Until then, happy property hunting, and remember to seek the right advice for your personal circumstances.

Thank you for listening.