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GOOD MORNING FROM ELITE AGENT 👋 TRUE OR FALSE? After his famous scheme collapsed, the infamous Charles Ponzi went into real estate. He bought Florida swamp at $16 an acre, cut every acre into 23 lots, and sold them at $10 a lot as prime land. (Scroll to the bottom for the answer!) |
In today's edition of The Brief - Death, divorce, downsizing – Tina Ashton says the market never stopped, so why are so many agencies still waiting for it to turn?
- Economists say hold, futures say hike – someone's wrong about September 29, and Mansour Soltani reckons you'll want the argument sorted before the peak of spring.
- Got clients of Greek heritage buying back home? Greece wants to lift transfer tax for non-EU buyers from 3 to 15 per cent – Tom Panos on who's caught and what to tell them.
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TODAY'S FEATURE  Growth doesn't wait for the market to turnDeath, divorce, downsizing. Tina Ashton says those three constants have outlasted every property cycle since she started in real estate in 1996, and they're why she's not interested in waiting for rates or listings to improve before making a move. Her argument: the agencies that grow through a flat market are the ones that stop waiting for it to turn – and the biggest gains are usually sitting right under everyone's nose. |
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What you'll learn in the full article: - Growth without the market: the five levers Tina says work in any cycle – productivity, service offering, holding fees, acquisitions, cutting costs.
- Negotiate while everyone's nervous: why a flat market is the time to renegotiate leases, lock in contracts and consolidate sites – the other side wants certainty too.
- The four touch-point rule: the annual contact pattern Tina says separates agents with a real pipeline from those hoping the phone rings.
Read the full article → |
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TOGETHER WITH PM/ONE AND KOLMEO Property managers have plenty to say about the job, and Kolmeo asked 400 of them. What they said – and the industry roadmap built from it – gets its first airing at PM/ONE in Sydney this weekend, 13–14 September. Kolmeo builds property management tech around how PM teams actually work, state legislation included. Kleo, its AI assistant for property managers, takes the admin so people can get back to the relationships. Bring your hardest PM question to the stand and put Kleo to the test – there's a K Beauty Box in the draw for anyone who does. Tickets and the full program at PM1.com.au. Learn more → |
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DEPT OF MACROECONOMIC POLICY  Economists and markets split on rate callTen of the 12 economists tracked by OurTop10 expect the RBA to hold on September 29, but futures markets are pricing a 54 per cent chance of a rise. Mansour Soltani says the gap "does not happen often" – one side is wrong, and it's worth knowing before your spring vendors ask which way it's going. |
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DEPT OF DATA  Premium suburbs turn as investors exit affordable areasSydney's Eastern Suburbs has picked up 0.8 more buyers per open home since the Budget – the same areas that copped the biggest price falls are now leading the recovery. Nerida Conisbee links it to negative gearing and capital gains changes pushing investors out of affordable, investor-heavy markets like Adelaide South and Perth, while owner-occupiers return to the premium end. |
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DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS  Clients buying back home in Greece? The tax bill just changedIf you've got clients of Greek heritage buying a place back home, they're about to pay a lot more to do it. Greece is proposing to lift transfer tax for non-EU buyers from 3 to 15 per cent – on a €500,000 home, that's €75,000 instead of €15,000. Tom Panos says the move is pitched at housing affordability but lands squarely on Australia's Greek diaspora, and whether the old or new rate applies comes down to citizenship and residency status. Tom's advice: get proper legal advice before rushing in. |
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HOW IT SOLD  One registered buyer, a 40-minute auction, $1.85mNeil Sharpe and Sophie Boardman prepared their Patumahoe lifestyle listing with a full building report and repairs before launch, giving buyers confidence to go unconditional. With only one registered bidder, auctioneer David Johnstone worked a lengthy negotiation between contractor buyers and firm vendors, landing on NZ$1.85 million. Find out the story behind how it sold → Create the case studies AI likes. Third-party, fact-checked, indexed. getailsa.com → |
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CELEBRITY HOMES  Skytower architect's rare Clayfield creation hits marketThe man behind Brisbane's Skytower residential levels also designed a Clayfield home with its own wine cellar and a dumbwaiter running from the basement garage straight to the kitchen. Noel Robinson's four-bedroom creation is now for sale, with owners Jo and Andrew heading back to Noosa. Best offers close 22 September – the basement storage alone is worth the click. Read the full article → |
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MOVERS & SHAKERS  Scott McElroy takes out Belle Property network's top CEO awardScott McElroy, who runs Belle Property's Carlton, North Melbourne and Ascot Vale offices, has won the CEO Award, the top prize at the 2026 National Awards for Belle Property, ACTON | Belle Property and Hockingstuart. More than 1,500 people from the 215-office network gathered for the night, which also saw Belle Property Northern Beaches take home 15 awards and Belle Property Cairns collect eight.  For Zoran Solano, property has always been about the long gameZoran Solano has built Hot Property Buyers Agency into a boutique Brisbane operation, running it alongside his wife Maddy Solano since she formally joined in 2012, with around 35 per cent of the properties they buy each year sourced off-market. He's now president of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia and is focused on lifting professional standards across the industry sector. |
 Robert Krnjeta launches Harcourts TWG in Melbourne's westMelbourne's west has a bigger banner to rally around – Harcourts Melton and Werribee have merged into Harcourts TWG (The Western Group), with Robert Krnjeta returning to Werribee to lead it alongside Petar Krnjeta, Rick O'Halloran, Reece Beckley, Martin Mintoff and Mark Mintoff. The group is aiming for seven offices across the western corridor, with shared marketing, systems and training designed to bring more Harcourts businesses into the fold as it grows. |
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TRUE OR FALSE: After his famous scheme collapsed, the infamous Charles Ponzi went into real estate. He bought Florida swamp at $16 an acre, cut every acre into 23 lots, and sold them at $10 a lot as prime land. And the answer is … Yes, true – and it gets better. The Florida boom was hot enough in 1925 that people bought sight unseen. He advertised the blocks as "near Jacksonville". They were 65 miles inland and mostly underwater. He was indicted within months. So "swampland in Florida" isn't a figure of speech – it was an actual subdivision, sold by the man whose name we still use for the other scheme. via Wikipedia. |
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