A busy surgeon and a full-time mother of three came to us with a clear brief and little time to spare. Here’s how we helped them secure a rare inner-city asset and gave their family room to grow.

Conditions secured: 3

Our clients were referred to us by their mortgage broker, a pattern that reflects how we work: around 80% of our clients find us through trusted professionals or past clients who have experienced our service firsthand.

The couple were already living in Toorak, but their existing home, spread across multiple levels with no backyard, had become unsuitable for a young, growing family. With three children under the age of six, they needed space, practicality, and room to breathe. One partner is a surgeon; the other devotes her time fully to raising their family. Between theatre schedules and nap schedules, finding and securing the right home on their own simply wasn’t feasible.

They engaged our Negotiation Service: a targeted offering for buyers who are confident conducting their own inspections and shortlisting, but want experienced eyes and hands at the critical moment, when it comes to assessing value, navigating due diligence, and negotiating terms.

About our Negotiation Service

Our Negotiation Service is designed for buyers who are happy to lead their own search and attend inspections, then call us in at the decisive stage. We assess the property independently, provide a frank market valuation, assist with due diligence, and take the negotiation off your plate, ensuring you don’t overpay, miss a risk, or leave conditions on the table.

Our clients had identified two properties that met their brief: one in Brighton, one in Windsor. Both sat on comparable land parcels of over 740 square metres. We inspected both and worked through the numbers together.

The deciding factor wasn’t the properties themselves; it was geography. Proximity to the hospital where our client practises, and to quality schools for their children, pointed firmly toward Windsor. Staying in the inner city over a move to Bayside meant far less time spent in the car across the years ahead. That kind of future-proofing is difficult to quantify in dollar terms, but it’s the kind of decision that shapes daily life for a decade or more.

“Staying in the inner city, rather than moving to Bayside, will save this family an immeasurable amount of time and stress over the coming years. Some decisions are worth more than their price tag.”

The property at 21 The Avenue had been taken to auction and passed in. Subsequent offers were made, but the vendors declined them all. That’s where we came in.

The home had been in the same family since 1966, a comfortable, well-proportioned residence that had been both lived in and rented over the decades. That longevity told its own story: original proportions intact, genuine bones, and a site that had never been carved up or compromised. Its position near Chris Gahan Reserve and Victoria Gardens, a short walk to the foodie end of Chapel Street, Windsor Station and the Dandenong Road trams, placed it firmly among the most connected and liveable pockets of inner Melbourne.

Most buyers circling it were approaching it purely as a knock-down-rebuild or multi-dwelling development opportunity (subject to council approval). And on paper, that case was easy to make. But our assessment told a different story. After a thorough inspection and careful analysis of comparable sales, we valued the property at between $2.700M and $2.800M, not as a development play, but on the strength of its long-term value as a family home: the rarity of the land holding, its character, its location, and prevailing market conditions. The home’s original proportions made it ideally suited to a considered renovation, exactly what our clients had in mind.

We were able to close the transaction at $2,740,000, comfortably within our assessed range. But the purchase price was only part of what we negotiated.

The contract was secured subject to finance and a building and pest inspection, providing our clients with appropriate protections throughout the settlement period. Critically, we also negotiated an early-access condition, allowing the family to begin internal upgrades to the property before they move in. For a busy household preparing to relocate, the value of that time cannot be overstated.