☎️ The 7-second call trap, magazine delivery, and $1B in sales

GOOD MORNING FROM ELITE AGENT 👋

TODAY'S FEATURE

The ultimate Claudio Encina cheat sheet: 30 rules for any market

He's coached some of Australia's best agents for close to fifteen years, written for this magazine almost since issue one, and still gets on a Saturday call where someone else asks him the hard questions. Samantha McLean spent months in the Elite Agent archive – more than twenty recordings from 2016 to 2022 – pulling out the lines that survived every kind of market since. Here are 30 of his most valuable lessons.

What you'll learn in the full article:

• The good faith guarantee: the script Claudio uses to write two competing fees onto the agency agreement and let results settle the argument.
• The seven-second rule: why he says your mind negotiates you out of the phone call before you've even picked it up, and what beats it every time.
• The first seven buyers: the pattern he tracked showing who actually buys the home, and why it changes what you tell your vendor before the first open.

Read the full article →

TOGETHER WITH PM/ONE AND TAPI

Tapi helps property management teams take the stress out of maintenance by bringing jobs, messages and approvals into one place, giving property managers greater control and business leaders better visibility.

Its TapiHQ platform is an AI-first maintenance workbench, combining Maintain, Inbox, Manage and Comply to streamline maintenance coordination, from automated scheduling through to one-click invoice approval. The platform is designed to reduce complexity for property managers while helping businesses operate and grow with confidence.

At PM/ONE, attendees can see TapiHQ in action, meet the team and spin the Tapi Wheel of Chocolate, with a QR code competition offering the chance to win a special prize.

See Tapi at PM/ONE
PM/ONE brings Australia’s property management community together in Sydney on 13–14 September 2026. Explore the event and get your tickets at PM1.com.au.

Learn more →

DEPT OF DATA

Where $1M still buys a house outright

Nationally, 25 suburbs have every single house selling under $1 million – none of them in Sydney. But Sydney buyers aren't shut out: Blacktown's Willmot and Tregear sit at 99% sub-$1M, and stretching a Parramatta budget from $1 million to $1.3 million jumps your options from 3% to 25% of the market.

DEPT OF LENDING

29% of borrowers now spend half their pay on repayments

Finder's 2026 Home Loan Report puts a hard number on what you're already hearing at open homes: 29 per cent of mortgage holders now hand over more than half their take-home pay, with millennials worst off at 41 per cent on average. Meanwhile, a new survey by Money revealed younger Australians fear they may never own a home.

DEPT OF WEALTHY CLIENTS

London's priciest suburbs shed 25% in a year

Westminster prices have fallen more than 25 per cent since last year's non-dom tax changes and higher stamp duty pushed wealthy buyers to the sidelines.

Trevor Abrahmsohn says a $3 million London home that once drew 40 buyers and five bids now attracts 10 buyers and one or two offers – with many choosing to rent for up to $76,000 a week instead. A pattern worth watching if you work with high-net-worth or expatriate clients.

HOW IT SOLD

A backyard sealed this $1.85m family sale

Three offers came in from developers and families alike during a 70-day Melville campaign, but it was the back garden that won over the eventual buyers. Antony Doolin priced the 975sqm block to current conditions rather than the market of six months ago, and the vendors listened.

Find out the story behind how it sold →

Stories like this build your online reputation long after the sold sticker comes down. Want yours told? getailsa.com →

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Alexander Phillips launches Ray White Phillips & Co in Woollahra

More than $1 billion in property sales a year and 400-plus clients – that's the business Alexander Phillips brings to Woollahra as he launches Ray White Phillips & Co. He started 24 years ago delivering real estate magazines and is a fourth-generation salesperson, and now leads a new eastern suburbs office with access to Ray White's NurtureCloud and Smart Buyer Match technology.

Brett Reddell builds family succession plan at Area Specialist Six years after starting on a shoestring budget through a divorce, Brett Reddell has built a Gold Coast and Logan business he now credits with changing his financial trajectory entirely. His next project is closer to home: son Ethan Reddell, 20, already a licensed agent working alongside him, is being groomed to take over the reins gradually over the next five years.

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Done talking, back to closing 🤝💸

TRUE OR FALSE:

The U.S. scored the ultimate real estate deal, buying Alaska for two cents an acre, but the $7.2 million cheque bounced at settlement.

And the answer is …

It's False - The cheque never bounced, but the settlement period was an absolute nightmare. Congress spent months debating the funds, meaning the cheque wasn't actually handed over to the distressed vendor (Russia) until August 1868 - more than a year after the treaty was signed. A painfully delayed settlement that any agent (and conveyancer) can sympathise with! via Study.com.