Agency experiences and insights: Southbank Residential

Southbank Residential director Mel McLennan has spent the past 20 years in Southbank developing a wealth of local knowledge and 18 years’ experience in owners’ corporation management, finance, and building management in Clarendon Towers. Southbank Residential is a boutique agency expressly dealing with residential apartment sales throughout postcode 3006. As a specialist agent who sells apartments exclusively, Mr McLennan has used his extensive background to achieve high prices for his clients – nothing is left to chance when preparing an apartment for sale. Every aspect of the building is checked whether it be owner’s corporation management, maintenance plans, resident owner’s occupancy rates as a percentage versus investors or short-stay operators. “Other established agents do not necessarily get better results; all agents use the same property websites, RealEstate.com and Domain.com to attract and generate buyers,” Mr McLennan said. “Selling properties in Albert Park or South Yarra is certainly no guarantee of a higher price for your apartment in Southbank.” “As a specialist, we only have prospective apartment buyers on our books and market your property through this network exclusively before we request any advertising commitment from our vendors.” According to Mr McLennan, the market had changed and buyers were far savvier today than they had ever been before. “Buyers have also worked out that older residential buildings that have been well managed and maintained offer far better value, they feature apartments that are larger in area, generally with higher ceilings and more storage space, strong maintenance plans and more resident owners, which is a good sign,” he said. “There is strong interest from first home buyers under $600,000 where stamp duty savings are significant, while apartments from $600,000 to $1 million plus are always of interest to empty nesters, professionals or those downsizing.” Mr McLennan said for those seeking to finance an apartment purchase, there had been a noticeable reluctance from traditional lenders in Southbank and Docklands who required more equity through larger deposits, possibly due to over exposure. “Insurance companies rate your motor vehicle insurance policy by your postcode and the banks are applying a similar system to their lending policies. If you are intending to purchase an apartment it would be wise to have several options for finance rather than rely solely on one of the four big banks,” Mr McLennan said. “My associate, David Gay, has developed a special sales role for our clients where he assists families selling the family home for elderly parents where he takes all the stress away by appointing a top local agent to sell and market the property, dealing with the agent throughout the process to a successful sale.” “We are senior in terms of age but are very traditional in offering a style of service and understanding that is now difficult to find. We certainly do not have a young sales team or make promises we can’t keep, we just keep it simple, offering a personal service that is focused on achieving the highest selling price for our client’s apartment.” Southbank Residential work solely through private appointment inspections, further highlighting its tailored approach to sales and building relationships with buyers • For more information: southbankresidential.com.au