Buying in regional New South Wales used to feel like the “safe” alternative—cheaper prices, less competition, and fewer moving parts. But according to buyer’s agent Matt Ward, those assumptions no longer hold.

In this episode, we unpack how regional NSW property markets have fundamentally changed since COVID, and why buyers who rely on old advice are getting caught out.

Matt shares what he’s seeing on the ground in towns like Orange and across regional NSW—from rising prices and tight stock to increased competition from investors and city-based buyers. We dive into why regional doesn’t automatically mean affordable anymore, how street-by-street differences can make or break a purchase, and why buying remotely without local insight is one of the biggest risks buyers are taking right now.

You’ll also hear practical guidance on how first home buyers can still make regional buying work: how to prepare properly, what to prioritise when competition is fierce, and the types of due diligence that matter more in regional areas than most people realise. From flood risk and termites to boundary issues and buyer blind spots, this episode highlights what buyers often don’t know until it’s too late.

If you’re considering buying in regional NSW—whether as your first home or a stepping stone into the market—this episode will help you approach the process with clearer expectations, smarter strategies, and fewer regrets.

Episode Highlights

01:21 — Meet Matt Ward: Regional Market Insights

02:46 — Affordability, Family Help & Moving Regional

05:09 — What Makes a Regional Town Thrive?

08:16 — The Real Challenges for First Home Buyers

18:58 — Regional Due Diligence: What Buyers Miss

22:39 — When a Property Appraisal Goes Wrong

24:23 — How Regional Property Auctions Really Work

26:28 — Why Organisation Wins in Property Buying

32:19 — Why Local Buyer’s Agents Make a Difference

39:44 — Key Takeaways from Regional NSW Markets

Mentions

1. Episode 169 - Mistakes to Avoid When Buying in Regional Locations

Course Details:

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If you enjoyed today’s podcast, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the show! There’s more to come, so we hope to have you along with us on this journey!

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HBA 270 : Matt Ward

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Meighan: Yeah, that's exactly why today's conversation matters. Regional New South Wales has been one of the most talked about markets over the last few years, but it's also one of the easiest places for first time buyers to make costly assumptions if they don't understand what's really driving the market right now.

​

Meighan: ~Tune into your favorite podcast platform to listen to the full episode.~

Veronica: ~O to you.~

Speaker: Welcome to your first home buyer. Guide the podcast for first home buyers who want to feel confident, smart, and totally in control of their property journey. I'm Veronica, and that was Megan. And yes, we are probably old enough to be your mom's, which is a good thing because between us, we've got decades of experience and we've got your back every step of the way.

Speaker: You'll wanna hear this episode. I.

​

Meighan: So today we're joined by Matt Ward, a specialist buyer's agent based in Orange, who works on the ground across regional New South Wales. Now, Matt sees what buyers are doing well, where they're overreaching, and where they're getting tripped up in the current market.

Veronica: So we're gonna unpack exactly what's happening right now in regional New South Wales, what first home buyers need to be careful of, and how to approach these markets with clarity instead of guesswork. And I would also hazard that even if you are buying in a regional,~ uh,~ location outside of New South Wales, there's gonna be some great lessons here that you'll be able to learn from and take to your market.

Matt: Oh, thank you. Thanks Megan. Thanks Veronica. Um, yeah, good to be back. Yes, there's, uh, it's a interesting time in the regional markets at the moment. Um, rightly so. You know, the affordability thing has certainly been driving people across the mountains now for a number of years. Um, and certainly COVID probably put these regions on the.

in the psyche of Sydney siders particularly, you know, things were getting crazy down there and, people were sort of looking for other options moving forward five years from that, which is about where we are, five or six years. ~Um. ~what I have seen, I guess, is the consistency in those markets.

So where do they go and where and, and where's the future of, housing for those, ~ uh,~ children of the family? Um,~ Um, ~so. They've been coming regional and they've been coming regional and buying multiple properties because if they've got three kids or two kids, they can buy a house each,~ uh,~ rather than try and buy half a house in Sydney for, both of them.

and that's, you know, that's the reality of it. ~Um, ~they just can't afford even to,~ uh,~ the assistance that they can give you is still not enough anymore,~ uh,~ in some, you know, in, in a lot of cases. So where do they go? Now they go to,~ uh,~ cheaper markets,~ uh,~ uh, or more affordable markets. So yeah, that's where,~ um,~ you know, orange is still seeing consistent growth.

~Um, ~even this week,~ uh,~ I bought for a client in September last year. He paid eight 90. He tried to replace the house,~ uh,~ this week literally.

Meighan: When you say replace the house, for those who, who sort of aren't to that point yet, you're talking about maybe selling it and upgrading.

Matt: No, just buying the same product again.

Veronica: Oh, as in he missed out on one and then he couldn't find another one for the same price. Is that what you're saying?

Matt: Well, he, he, he bought one in September for eight 90. He's trying to buy the same thing, same thing again. 'cause it was a good deal. ~Um, ~now they're talking nine 50 to a million. And that's in the space of what? Four months? Five months. If that doesn't happen every four or five months, but that's, there's pressure in the market.

~Um, ~and he's like scratching his head about that. And I was like, well, you are winning on the first one. You're gonna take a hit on the second one, average amount. ~Um, ~it's, you know, long term it's still, still gonna be a good thing. So, but that's where the affordability piece is coming in. You know, they're, they're up to sort of a million dollar mark

First of all, how. Much competition is there in regional towns for first home buyers from investors.

So it's sort of like the first thing we, we do wanna talk about,~ um,~ where are the people that are living there? So the first time buyers might be relocating there from the cities. Like where are they working? Like, how are they gonna sustain that as their, you know, where they're gonna set up their home.

But another one too, is it. Can you sort of describe Orange Forest and some of these sort of bigger towns? Because you know, like I think of Orange and I think of Beechworth for example. They're both really pretty towns, totally different. I mean, they weren't, I don't think Orange was built from the Gold Rush, but they got wine regions close by, really pretty local, you know, local streets at the um.

So if you can start there.

Matt: ~uh. ~it's jobs and affordability and lifestyle. ~Um, ~it's, it's been said before, but a lot of the regional cities are 10 minute towns. ~Uh, ~you know, it's 10 minutes to, to work, to school, to shops, to whatever you're doing. And it doesn't matter whether it's eight o'clock at night or eight o'clock in the morning, that 10 minutes, you know, traffic doesn't exist like, you know, in metro market traffic.

~Um, ~and it's,~ um,~ it's just a nice place to live, you know, like if you are not, you know, I don't go to the beach very often and even when I'm in Sydney, I don't go to the beach. So.

you know, if you're looking for different things. You know, every city has its thing. Orange has its wine and, and food and all those sorts of things. And it's probably good medical and they've all got broad economies. ~Um, ~they're not angry centric or mining centric towns or cities.

~Um. ~And there's a whole range of jobs that are that, and industries that are represented in these cities. ~Um, ~so it allows diversification and you can grow a career. You can grow good businesses. ~Um, ~you can still have the economic affluence if that's, if that's what you're after,~ um,~ or you can have the affordability of lifestyle.

~Um, ~and they moving into, a more of a lifestyle phase of their, of their Time life. So, ~um, ~certainly, you know, big cohorts from those western towns are now living in, in the regional cities. ~Um, ~so they're still connecting with old friends and, and all that sort of stuff. ~Um, ~but close to doctors, maybe closer to family, family, uh, back on the farm.

They might be in a regional city. ~Um, ~it's those sorts of things as well. ~Um, ~and look, first homeowners moving outta Sydney, uh, is where I see most of it. Some come down from Brisbane,~ um,~ but it is really. It's the first place that they can, if they, you know, we, we get a lot of medical people through, um, doing placements and stuff.

It's probably the first place that they're gonna spend a bit of time and they can actually afford to buy. A decent property. ~Um, ~and particularly by the time you get through your medical degree,~ um,~ you're in your late twenties, early thirties. Often when I'm dealing with them, they're recently married, maybe they got a kid on the ground.

If you don't wanna live in an apartment or take on a massive mortgage.

Meighan: It's interesting to say, you know, some of those people are coming from,~ um,~ interstate. ~ uh, ~

Matt: ~Um. ~

Meighan: ~Um, ~so Matt, with people coming from interstate, are they coming with a. ~Um, ~outdated price expectations of what they're going to get for their money in a regional market. ~Uh, ~you know, so they're a bit surprised when they get there.

Things are more, maybe more expensive than they were a couple of years ago, or, or are people coming with realistic price expectations and pushing prices up above what locals would pay for them?

~Um, ~but if you are into the sort of sub million dollar investor market, ~um. ~What people don't always wake up on is they see a price point. The house might look reasonably good,~ um,~ well cared for whatever and buy it sight unseen, full asking price. No negotiation rents through the roof. ~Um. ~And they're usually in, you know, the lower socioeconomic areas of town troubles with tenants, damage to the property, it all starts to flow.

~Um, ~so I think there's a fair bit of that that goes on, uh, particularly from, for either,~ um,~ you know, remote buyers,~ uh,~ whether they're represented by a buyer's agent or not. People who don't actually understand what's happening on the ground. ~Um, ~and, and don't inspect the properties. They will always get caught out.

And with that comes with, you know, two or $300,000 different price tag from the odds and need in numbers and things like that. or slopes or, you know, the usual thing that happens in any neighborhood. ~Um, ~if you're not on the ground eyeballing and stuff. ~Um.~

Veronica: that same sort of story. In fact, I was talking to a selling agent from Orange who was telling me stories in her property management business where interstate investors have been buying properties and didn't realize that, and she's had to educate them as to, you know, and I've heard, I've heard stories from, you know, in, in all the towns we've talked about and also in other states similar stories.

So there's all these traps, I guess because like in any area, you don't know, there's all this stuff that you don't know. You don't know, and then you can fall into those, those holes, right. are you seeing first home buyers get caught up in these traps?

Matt: Yes, absolutely. ~Um, uh, um,~ they dunno what they don't know and they're asking possibly the wrong people. Um, usually parents, well-meaning or friends or you know, a mate who owns a couple of investment plot properties. ~Um. Uh, ~yeah, look, it's, it's one of those things and it's, it's easy to do and price alone or address a alone won't always tell the full story.

~Um, uh,~ like I was driving a client around town last week, just information overload for her for a couple of hours. But what the, one of the key things she took away was, I can't tell the difference. Between the good, the good part of town and the, less desirable part of town.

~Um, ~and that's a lot of time spent. You know, she's based in, you know, Sydney trying to run a couple of kids in a household and trying to get up to orange to buy property,~ um,~ and learn the market and learn the,~ um,~ the nuances of, of it to get confident enough to buy and for, seven, eight, 900,000.

You don't wanna do it wrong the first time. ~Um.~

Veronica: and also we have heard stories and we we're very aware that there's been a lot of, um. Buyer's agents in particular buying in regional towns,~ um,~ in bulk effectively. And so they're buying at a very similar price bracket to first home buyers. So what are you seeing in that space?

Matt: there is, you know, first of all, be pre-approved. If you've got money and you are ready to go and you know what your budget is,~ um,~ that is a massive leap forward to everyone else who sort of finds a property, then goes and finds their money. ~Um, ~so. Know what you want, know what your your, your budget is.

Know what your pre-approval is. Understand, the, the nuances of. Of the areas that you're looking in,~ um,~ if you're, you know, if you're coming to orange, not the whole of orange is open to you. Certain pockets are, and certain streets are, depending on your budget and depending on what your briefing criteria is, um, be realistic.

If it's your first home, it's such your last home, it won't be your forever home. ~Um, ~you know, don't be afraid to take the rough diamond. Physically not, geographically. ~Um, ~because if you're in, the investors just want a, a plug and play result. They just won't be able to stick tenants in day one.

And there's a delay in income. So, find where you've, can sort of, ~um, ~slip through the cracks when you're trying to compete with investors. And, and that's where those opportunities come up and. It might look like hard work, but that's where the opportunities always are. ~Um, uh, ~and try to try to build a relationship with the, with the real estate agents who are selling the properties that you real have a realistically chance of, of buying.

Not every real estate agent sells every property. They tend to specialize or have a, you know, an area where they cover or a sector of the market where they seem to operate more in,~ um,~ and get to know those guys. they get paid by selling homes and selling homes quickly for as much as they can. Is is the best way for them.

~Um. Uh, ~and you you don't need to know every agent in town, just the three or four key ones who are dealing with the property that you've got.

Meighan: Roughly how many agents would there be in orange? Like how many would,~ uh,~ first time buyers maybe be dealing with?

Matt: I think there's 60

Meighan: So it's a manageable number of people to have conversations with and, and work out who might be specializing in the area that, or the, the types of properties or the price ranges that, that a first time buyer might be interested in.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. And look, realistically, you know, if you are first homeowners, there's probably 10 that you know that, that you'd have to get to know. And some of those are really active and some do a little bit. ~Uh, ~so it's, yeah, you could, you could narrow it down if to. Two or three if you really, really wanted to.

And just hammer those guys or,~ uh,~ get to know those as women as well. ~Um, ~so yeah, you know, there's some very, you know, really proactive agents there. If you are, if you can get in into their ear and, and get to know them a bit. Yeah, be quite good.

Matt: Uh, yeah, look, I think so. I think ultimately people just like to deal with good people. Um, and if you are good, good to deal with. And you're, you know, you're pleasant and polite and respectful and all those standard sort of stuff. ~Um, ~and not trying to be a smart ass or a, you know, or a tough guy or whatever you think you're trying to do, they're humans.

~Um, uh, ~and good reputations is good business. ~Um, ~and, you know, generally and genuinely they are mostly pretty good people. So, ~um, ~it's about. getting to know those people, building a relationship, and just being. a good business operator or a good person to deal with in through the process. ~Um, ~and they'll help you where they can.

'cause they obviously wanna get the deal across the line as well. But you've gotta present yourself,~ um,~ as a, as the best offer. it's not always about the money. Yeah. As money is a big part of it, but then if you can't complete or you drag your feet or you're not organized, or I can't get in contact with you for a week or, you know.

Those things start to undermine your credibility, then they'll go and find someone else. ~Um.~

Meighan: You make an important point there. I think about the fact that in a, in a, in a regional area, you're probably going to run into the people that you're going through the purchase process with quite a lot. So you don't wanna be stepping on any toes or making any enemies along the way because you might, you might end yourself a little bit of a reputation.

Matt: You know, different, different markets have their own nuances. ~Um, ~orange, thankfully isn't on a river, so, but we do have, flooding issues,~ um,~ overland flow and those sorts of things, particularly in the older parts of town. ~Um, ~but if you're in, you know, in, in the Dubbos or the Wagga or every other regional city actually is basically on a river.

But that doesn't mean they don't exist. They, we just don't, we just don't have, have them patrolled quite as the other, like other parts of the world. ~Um. ~So there's those sort of things. ~Um, ~you know, back in the day when these towns were developing, the 18 hundreds, surveying was pretty loose. ~Um, ~so if you were buying,~ um,~ you know, an older home in an older part of town, make sure it's on the block that you're actually buying,~ um,~

Veronica: I saw something,

Meighan: Such a good point.

Veronica: I saw something online about,~ um, um, ~a woman who bought a, maybe it was in orange and ~um, ~she bought. block of land and then she started building a house on another block of land. 'cause she mistakenly thought she bought that and she actually bought something else. And,~ um,~ there's this big hoo-ha as to, well how do you untangle that mess?

Meighan: I guess fences sort of get put up randomly sometimes without any reference to the actual boundaries and, and they become people's reference points.

Matt: Yeah. ~Um, ~particularly in the older parts of town,~ um,~ and I'm sure it happens in metro areas, you know, the Bal Mains, et cetera of the world. but even the other day on a brand new property, The bloke who put the mailbox up, put the numbers on the wrong, it was a duplex. He put the numbers on the wrong houses and it didn't get picked

Meighan: You had one job.

Matt: yeah.

Veronica: They told me to put it on the left side, but they didn't say whether you're facing the house or standing on the front doorstep.

Matt: and it got through to contract stage before someone went, hang on,

Veronica: I'm not buying the right house. And it can go all the way through. Because think about it, and this is what we teach in the course, right? We teach that little detail because the solicitor doesn't see the property, right? They just see the contract and they go, yeah, that looks right. You know? And it's only if, you know, hang on a minute, I'm not.

Matt: And, and they do. And, and I was, you know, I was involved in that deal and I was showing through the wrong property with the, with the right number. ~Um, ~we were going through the contract. I was like, this is not, something's not right here. I couldn't work out what was going on. ~Um, ~and I eventually got to the bottom of it.

They put the mailboxes on the wrong house, on the wrong side of the duplex. So it happens. ~Um, ~so just hope. Hope you got a

Meighan: living in that other place. And you're looking through somebody's, somebody's home.

Matt: There, it was a new build, duplex, and, and what picked it up was that the other side had already sold. Well, and, and that's how the con the contracts weren't matching up to the properties, so, ~um, ~yeah. Yeah, because it was bought off plan the other one. So there was no mailbox to inspect. Yeah.

And it wasn't until I was halfway through the house, so I didn't even look at the number. I just, she just started talking to me. Right. And I've got halfway through the house and then she's like, oh, ~um. ~Are you a racist? I dunno, I just can't remember what exactly happened. But she was like, she dawned on her that she didn't even know who I was.

And, and I'm like, aren't you Kate or whatever? And she's like, no. And I'm like, I'm meant to be doing an appraisal in a house. I walk out the front and she has to explain, I'm sorry I to the other woman, Kate, I hijacked your agent. ~Um, ~but I just walked in to this total stranger's house. Strange things happen.

I was invited. Yes. And I'm thinking it's such a mess. Such a mess too. I'm thinking, you, you, you got me through to apprais this house and you haven't even bothered tidying up. That's disgusting. Anyway, I don't know who she thought I was. All right. ~Um, ~so prices are rising, right? You know, the, the markets are being tight.

Matt: Yeah, we've got got a couple of agents down here at the moment using guiding prices guiding from A to B.

Veronica: It's a pretend auction.

Meighan: As opposed to a price range.

Matt: yeah. So you put an offer in, in the guiding range, and then the, the vendor counters with a price higher than the guide range. You are like, oh, that's, but apparently I've looked into that. That's,~ uh,~ within the, the, the law,

Meighan: not a lot of auctions down in the regional areas, or is that starting to pick up?

Matt: ~Uh, ~certain places will auction. ~Um, ~there's, you know, if they're a, a special property or a unique property, they'll go to auction. Farms usually go to auction. ~Um, ~but the bread and butter houses in town, not so much. They just put a price on it, see how they go. ~Um, ~so yeah, look. auctions are not the norm down.

Are people still able to buy with a five day cooling off period?

Matt: Yeah, I mean, yeah. ~Um, ~we, what we tend, what tends to happen down here,~ um,~ or out here, is that we shake hands on the deals a day, and I need finance, I need peston building, I need the contract reviewed, and you'll get 10 days probably to do that.

Meighan: So I haven't exchanged at that point. It's just a handshake at that point.

Matt: yeah, it's just a hand stroke.

Meighan: still could be gsum.

Matt: Yeah, in, in theory it could be. ~Um, ~but ~um, ~not a lot of gazumping happens.

Veronica: Just country, country real estate versus city real estate.

~Um, ~but yeah, rather than have a cooling off period or, you know, the 0.25% on refundables or Those types of things. ~Um, ~they may happen and it's not that saying it won't happen, but,~ um,~ it's generally

Meighan: it's because they know you better than, than the average buyer or the out of towner that they know that you're good for your word. But I, I would imagine for someone new,~ um,~ it might be,~ um,~ wise to firm things up a little bit quicker than 10 days if you can.

Matt: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's, comes down to being, being pre-approved, having a solicitor in already. Clued up to what's going on. ~Um, ~knowing what a building and pest inspection does and who, who's gonna do it, and the, the lead times those guys sometimes need,~ um, um, ~they're the sort of the helpful things that if you can get them lined up before you start looking for a house,~ um,~ then You know, you can be certainly quicker than 10 days. Yeah, absolutely.

You know, if, if investors are all over the, a market and, and they're competing with first home buyers and same price bracket, then look where the gaps are. Not for the stuff that's easy to buy, but for the good stuff that, you know, might need a little bit of work that they're avoiding because they don't want anything that, that.

Needs work, but certainly potentially you could get yourself ahead of the game too if you are able to move quicker and more decisively. Yeah. Would that be fair?

Matt: absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, organization in any program or industry is,~ um,~ being organized is always gonna get you in front. Buying a house is no, no different and in difficult markets,~ um,~ or, or moving markets or competitive markets, or just being organized. Is such a, you know, is such a relief for an agent to go, oh, thank God these guys know what they're, at least what they're doing.

Meighan: As opposed to needing to hold somebody's hand and. Them every step of the process, which can be very time consuming.

And then, you know, what's this, what do I say? Do what you say and say what you do, or whatever that phrase is. But just perform, just do what you say you're gonna do.

Meighan: Act with integrity.

Matt: it's not rocket science stuff, but people just stuff it up all the time. ~Um, ~you know, don't try and be tricky. Don't try and have some amazing deal.

It's, it's a first home. Just buy the bloody thing may keep it simple. ~Um, ~and stop trying to be, the Donald Trump of negotiations.

Matt: No. and, you know, ~um, ~I, what I find is. ~Uh, ~with the agents that I deal with, clear communication and a straightforward deal, and this is it. This is where we're at. Everyone knows what the, the parameters are and you shake hands on it. That's the deal. Now, if you get a building and pest inspection back and there's some issues there that you need rect rec, rectifying, well, well, okay, there's, there's room to move around those things or negotiate around that.

~Um, ~'cause. Fundamentals have changed, but,~ um,~ trying to renegotiate for no reason or un unreasonably,~ um, um, ~it, I, I think it's always better to have the property than wish you had the property missed or missed another property. ~Um, ~just for the sake of, you know, five grand and $800,000. ~Um, ~dunno, that's, that's just my philosophy on it.

~Um. ~Question for you, just to sort of, you know, if, if a firsthand buyer is listening right now and they are considering orange or, or any other regional center, really, what is the one thing that you really want 'em to get clear on before they embark on that search?

Matt: Uh, know what you want. ~Um. uh, ~so many times I'll start a brief looking for, I always use the, the analogy of an apple. People want an apple, apple, apple, apple. Then they see an orange and they start chasing an orange, and oh, they're so confused now because they don't, they, they keep changing their brief.

Veronica: Apples are good, and oranges are too.

Meighan: And each day, the apple and the orange get more expensive.

Matt: That's right.

Veronica: Why are you looking at apples? Oranges are going up in price and vice versa.

Oh, only if they come up, then they start confusing themselves. 'cause they don't stay focused. So you've gotta have that conversation. This is what the brief was. What's changed in the last two weeks that all of a sudden you wanted a whole new outlook on life? So. Maybe spend some time having a look at all the options that are around in the market and then have a serious conversation with yourself or your partner or whoever else,~ um,~ about what does the next one to two years, this is your first home, what does the next one, one to two years look like?

And is it gonna meet that criteria? If it does, well stick to that. And, if you're still there in 10 years time, well that's okay, but ~um. ~You can't have your forever home on day one. Just doesn't work that way. Life changes. You're gonna have different needs. You don't even know what you want in 10 years time.

And confidence comes from knowledge and experience and, you know, ~um, ~and it's hard to get that, but, um, on your first home. yeah, if you can just stay at least stay focused, that's the, and, and clear in your direction, that'll, that'll help a lot. Yeah.

Meighan: You are, you're not gonna blow your own trumpet. But I just wanna add in there that if you're considering a buyer. Agent Veronica, I'm sure that I, I hope that I speak for both of us. When I say make sure it's a local and experienced buyer's agent, if you are, if that's the path you want to consider to have someone on your side and, and really helping you through the process, local and experienced, not buying from somewhere, somewhere else,~ um,~ without that local knowledge and experience and, and never work with a buyer's agent who isn't going to be.

Property by property, not somebody who's buying from outside the area. So I just wanna throw that in. I know you're not gonna, you're not here to sell your services. You're here to give us our, our listeners information about buying regionally. But if that is an option, I really wanna make sure that people do take that local and experienced over buying from Sydney or any other.

Matt: Yeah, I think the, the biggest thing is, is that sight unseen purchasing. ~Um, ~yeah. That's got hands all over it and, and you know, I talk to agents about the people who are doing that,~ um,~ and they're kinda laughing about the process. ~Um, ~it's a bit awkward really.

Buyer'ss agent and that's the one good thing, I guess a lot of these towns now do have,~ um,~ you know, buyer's agents on the ground. You know, there's, there's, I guess, a demand. So there are people out there, whereas, you know, even five years ago, it's probably, I mean, you were rare five years ago you were doing it, but you know, a lot of towns.

They'd never even heard of a buyer's agent. You know, so, so it is changing and I think that, it's, it's the same thing. Even if you're buying in a suburb in, Sydney, you know, you need local expertise. So if you're not gonna engage that and pay for that expertise, you gotta go out there and get it yourself.

~Um, ~and that's really important, not just sort of hope that it's gonna work out ' cause it's cheaper, it must be easier, or, or okay. You know, you, you've really gotta, it's still an important purchase, really important purchase.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. I had a, a, a client, um, late last year. She was,~ um, uh, ~a new property developer. ~Um, ~and she'd come in, she'd an, she'd fully analyzed our, she had a really well pulled apart,~ um,~ to the point where she couldn't make a decision. She just overanalyzed the hell out of it.

Meighan: Analysis paralysis. Yeah.

Matt: Yeah. ~Um, um,~ she knew all the agents, she knew all the properties.

~Um, ~she knew all the nuances. It was quite incredible, really. ~Um, ~but ultimately just couldn't, couldn't get anything across the line. ~Um, ~so it's, I guess that's another thing,~ um,~ that I really, you really should understand is you might get a hundred data points about a property,~ um,~ and. Putting weight on each of those as a risk factor, is really key.

Well, it doesn't impact your house. What, what does it matter?

Meighan: Yeah, so understanding how the data applies.

Matt: Yeah, and I think that's really where people get caught up. You know? Oh, someone said that's, that house has X, Y, Z. Well, it does, but it doesn't impact on value. So who Or, or livability, so who, who cares? You know? Um,

Veronica: how to make sense of all those

Matt: of that stuff.

Veronica: points and put 'em into context and like you say, weight them. Yeah. What's important, what isn't.

Matt: Yeah. I dunno how you'd teach that either. I, it's just something you gotta pick up as you go along.

Veronica: Well, we do campfire with our students every week. So we do a campfire and that is a live, you know, catch up with anyone who wants to check in on a Wednesday lunchtime, and that's where they actually learn the bits about what they're overanalyzing versus what they're under analyzing. You know, they bring all sorts of questions to us.

Meighan: a great one today. I had had three in today. One has property under contract and he's got,~ um,~ a bit of a hair building and pest inspection to work through. ~Um, uh, ~and, and,~ um,~ another lady ready to make an offer on a property tonight, and she just wanted to work through,~ um,~ some of her data points and which one. Mattered and which ones didn't. So she's done a brilliant job gathering all the information, doing the due diligence, but she just wanted to sense, check a couple of the, oh, what about this?

Is this important or not? And so we're able to work through those in the mentoring session, and she's come out of it just absolutely super confident, ready to go. Her and her partner are on the same page. They understand the risks. Eyes are wide open. Understand where value is and, and good to go. But she said she sort of came in and she was chewing her fingernails, didn't know what to do, was concerned that there, you know, there was a deal breaker here and it really wasn't a deal breaker.

Veronica: Beautiful. And that's, that's how we help them move through that sort of, that, that point. 'cause nearly everyone who does the

Meighan: analysis paralysis.

Veronica: Nearly everyone who does the course values learning and, and, and will, you know, gather, they tend to gather too much information so it helps get it. In a really good format for them to work through and get where they wanna be.

Now I was gonna ask you our last question for a guest,~ um,~ Matt, which is always, what is the one thing that you know now that you wish you knew when you were a first home buyer?

Matt: ~Um, ~the importance of a good solicitor,~ uh,~ just being able to someone who is pragmatic and get the job done. And,~ um,~ is experienced in the type of property and location that you are buying in. ~Um, ~it's not horses for courses and you might have the best solicitor in the CBD. Great. He's overqualified and doesn't understand the nuances of buying in a small regional town or whatever.

~Um, ~he'll, he'll, he'll signify the process and complicate beyond belief. do a very thorough job. You may not end up buying the house.

Meighan: Right specialist for the area that you're buying in. Yep.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. ~Um, ~and yeah, look, there's some very confident people in their, in their areas, you know, they are,~ um,~ that comes with experience, but,~ um,~ not. It's not one, one suit for all flavors. So, yeah, it's,~ uh,~ I don't know. That's, that's probably my biggest takeaway,~ um,~ is,~ um,~ yeah, just having someone who's across it, who's, who's competent and is, and, and experienced in the types of property, particularly if you're not buying strict residential,~ um,~ or a strict freehold property,~ um,~ there's, there can be some nuances there that you need to understand.

Matt: Thank you Ika and Megan. That's been great. Yeah, no, happy to have, happy to been on. It's ~um, ~it's always good to chat to you ladies. It's always interesting to hear. What you are up to with your,~ uh,~ first homeowners program. It's a, it's a great initiative, I think. And,~ um,~ um, I think the industry really needs some, some strength around that education piece.

~Uh, ~for, for, well, for new homeowners as well. But anyone else trying to enter into the industry? I think it's,~ um,~ it's great. So well done to you. Yeah.

Veronica: you

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We hope to see you there soon.