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GOOD MORNING FROM ELITE AGENT 👋 Good morning, and welcome to The Brief for Friday 9 October 2026. |
TRUE OR FALSE? Investor Warren Buffett once told his shareholders that buying his family home for $31,500 was the third best investment he ever made – and, in the same sentence, that he'd have made far more money if he'd rented and put the cash into shares. (Scroll to the bottom for the answer!) |
In today's edition of The Brief - Still typing questions into ChatGPT? Samantha McLean reckons the chatbot era is over, and it's time to give your AI a real job.
- Angelo Svic told his vendors the price back in January. Even a stalled auction couldn't knock it off course.
- First home buyers in your open homes? They're borrowing nearly $50,000 more, but they're not buying more homes.
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TODAY'S FEATURE  Stop chatting with AI and start handing offEvery morning, an email from ChatGPT lands in Samantha McLean's inbox, telling her what's in her calendar and where it could take work off her hands. That's why she opened the Transform XIV kickoff on 1 October by calling time on the chatbot era. In this session video, Sam explains the move from typing questions into a box to delegating whole jobs to an AI assistant. Picture that same morning email for your week of appraisals and vendor updates. |
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What you'll learn in the full article: - Why your AI sounds like a siren emoji: It says "what keeps me up at night" and it doesn't even sleep. Sam's fix is a single number, somewhere between a text to your mate and a contract.
- The prompt that makes it yours: Fill in the blanks on your three biggest skills and your weaknesses (Sam shares hers, fine print and all) and see the difference in what comes back.
- Tribble mode: Touch one AI agent and it multiplies. The helpers split the job and report back up the line, and yes, they're named after the Star Trek creatures because they're "less scary than gremlins".
Read the full article → |
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TOGETHER WITH AVI KHAN  We've been fixing the wrong things in property managementAsk each of your property managers to describe their next step in your business. If they can't, Ray White AKG's Avi Khan says that's on the principal, not them – and Kolmeo's new State of Property Management report, independently analysed by Kantar, backs him up, with a visible career path showing a 60-point gap in intention to stay. Portfolio size, agency type, and software showed no consistent link (so much for the usual culprits). Avi's three moves for Monday cost almost nothing, so have a read before your next one-on-one. Learn more → |
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DEPT OF DATA  Victoria's completions grow by just seven homesSeven. That's how many extra homes Victoria finished in the year to June compared with the year before, even as the state's fast-track planning pathway has approved thousands more. Construction starts are picking up, but the Property Council's Cath Evans says the state is still well short of its own 80,000-a-year target. |
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DEPT OF PLANNING  LJ Hooker becomes OHOME's exclusive backyard home distributorA furnished backyard home for around $250,000, from order to move-in in under 150 days (planning permitting), is the pitch LJ Hooker agents can now take to investors and homeowners. The network is OHOME's exclusive distributor, starting in Sydney before a staged national rollout. Director at LJ Hooker Lifestyle Group, Hunter Maxwell, says it shifts the chat from what a home is worth to what the whole block could do. |
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DEPT OF LENDING  First home buyer loans swell by nearly $50,000Roughly $587 a month – that's the extra repayment on the average first home loan since the 5% deposit guarantee opened to every first home buyer in October last year. Buyers are borrowing more, not buying more: loan numbers are actually down on the pre-scheme quarter. Primara Research's Peter Drennan says how it lands depends on whether buyers already had a deposit saved. |
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HOW IT SOLD  The $1.5m price guide that survived a stalled auctionSixty-two inspections, four registered bidders, and one stalled auction later, Angelo Svic's transparent pricing strategy delivered $1,690,000 for a Black Forest bungalow – landing exactly within his January forecast of $1.65 to $1.7 million. Find out the story behind how it sold → How's your findability on AI? The agents who turn up have more content out there. getailsa.com → |
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MOVERS & SHAKERS  REIWA Council elects Rob Mandanici as Institute's new presidentAfter two years as Suzanne Brown's deputy, Rob Mandanici is REIWA's new president. He brings a background in residential sales, residential and retail property management, and experience of Victoria's legislative reforms. Peta McKenzie is the new Deputy President, Chris Tana chairs Finance and Risk Management, and Clare Christiansen joins that committee as Council nominee. Housing supply, affordability, and rental reform top his two-year agenda.  REA Group's Excellence Awards mark a decade with 11 categoriesA decade on, REA Group's Excellence Awards are open for submissions until 11:59pm on Friday 6 November, with 11 categories spanning Rising Star of the Year to Contribution to Local Community. Winners can pick up grants of up to $10,000, and eligible realestate.com.au customers are automatically in the running for the data-driven Top Agent award. An independent panel will name the finalists and winners in February. |
 PRD Queanbeyan adds Adam Heading to its sales teamQueanbeyan buyers are doing more homework these days (median house prices still rose 3.0 per cent to $850,000, according to PRD Research), and PRD Queanbeyan has added local agent Adam Heading to its sales team. Sales and Operations lead Martina Woodford points to his regional reputation for honesty and market knowledge, while Managing Director Todd Hadley sees the hire as part of PRD's push for respected local operators. |
 Knight Frank appoints Ben Turner and Georgia McDonald to NSW teamTwo more names for Knight Frank's NSW office leasing build-out. Ben Turner joins as partner with more than 13 years in Sydney CBD office leasing and will focus on major projects, large backfills, and development leasing. Georgia McDonald arrives as associate director after more than seven years in the CBD office market. Both start in early 2027, alongside recent hires Hamish Stuart and John Brasier. |
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AGENTS ON SOCIAL Found the lockbox! Now, if only I could remember the code… 🔐🤔 |
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TRUE OR FALSE: Investor Warren Buffett once told his shareholders that buying his family home for $31,500 was the third best investment he ever made – and, in the same sentence, that he'd have made far more money if he'd rented and put the cash into shares. And the answer is … Yes, true – and it gets better. It's in his 2010 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. The house, he wrote, gave his family "52 years of terrific memories", even if the share market would have paid better. The two best investments? Wedding rings. via Berkshire Hathaway 2010 shareholder letter. |
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