$2.65M garden apartment secured in Bondi Beach

The brief

A professional couple came to us looking for an apartment in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. They were open to anywhere between Bondi and Coogee, but they knew exactly what they wanted from it: a home that suited the life they had worked hard to build.

Bondi was always their first choice. They pictured a coffee at their local in the morning and then an easy walk down to the sand, with restaurants, bars and the shops they use every day all close enough to reach on foot. They were buying a way of living as much as a home.

The apartment itself had to tick a few boxes as well:

• A real garden apartment, with outdoor space big enough to use as another room
• Two bedrooms
• A floorplan that works for both working from home and having people over
• Secure parking

They were willing to settle for one secure car space. The apartment we found has two, adding everyday convenience and supporting its resale appeal.

The result

We bought a $2.65 million garden apartment in Bondi. Our clients walked through the front door and knew straight away that it was the one.

From our first meeting on 9 December to exchange on 23 January, the whole thing took just over six weeks.

Six weeks sounds fast, but nothing about it was rushed.

We inspected plenty of apartments along the way that looked good and did not hold up. Some asked for compromises that would have chipped away at the reason they wanted to be in Bondi in the first place. Others threw up problems during due diligence. We told our clients to wait rather than settle.

When the right one came up, we were ready.

The strategy: six days of preparation, then a Friday night exchange

Contracts exchanged at 10:39pm on a Friday. It would be easy to say the apartment was won in those last few minutes, with our clients still on the phone, our clients’ solicitor still at their desk and us still talking to the selling agent.

It only worked because we had spent the week before getting everything ready.

Saturday: the property appears

On Saturday 17 January, while our clients were away for the weekend, an apartment came onto our radar that stood out. We inspected it that same day.

Rather than wait for them to get back, we filmed a walkthrough and rang them. We explained why we thought this one was different and asked them to see it the moment they were back in Sydney.

They watched the video and replied within minutes: “We really like this.”

Monday: private inspection

We booked a private inspection for first thing Monday morning, as soon as they were home.

Some buyers need days or weeks to decide. Not these two. They walked through the apartment, looked at each other, and that was that.

Tuesday to Thursday: due diligence

We immediately instructed our clients’ solicitor to begin reviewing the contract while arranging a building and pest inspection. The inspection took place on Tuesday and we received the report later that same day. We also ordered the strata report.

Then we waited.

Waiting on reports is the longest part of any purchase. Nothing looks like it is happening, and yet every decision that follows depends on what comes back.

The strata report landed on Thursday. Both reports were clean, and only then did we know we could move.

By that point we could also tell the apartment was not going to sit around. Interest was building, and holding off until the following week would probably have cost them the property.

Friday: offer, negotiation, exchange

Our clients came back for a second inspection. They wanted one last walk through the apartment before making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.

Then we put in the offer, and negotiations started.

Most people think this is where a property is won. It is really where the earlier work gets tested. The contract had been reviewed, the building and pest report read, the strata report checked. There were no questions left open.

Another buyer was still in it as the evening wore on. What separated the two offers was not the number, it was being able to act on it. Our clients’ solicitor stayed available, our clients stayed on the phone, and we stayed in touch with the selling agent.

At 10:39pm, contracts were exchanged.

Why it worked

Most of the work behind a purchase is invisible to the buyer. Preparation, due diligence, knowing the market and having the right people lined up are usually what separates buying a home from missing out on one.

On this purchase that meant buyers agents, a solicitor, building and pest inspectors and strata specialists all pulling in the same direction. When everyone knows their job, buying is faster and a lot less stressful.

By the time negotiations began, the groundwork was complete and our clients were ready to act.

Preparation gave our clients the confidence to act decisively when the right opportunity came.