When Grant Ferguson of Calibre Nine joined Fresh, he was looking for business relationships and referrals for his SEO agency. He never dreamed that the people he met at Fresh would help him realise his dream of owning a home – a lot sooner than he could have imagined. But that’s exactly what happened.
Grant explains: ‘I knew that I wanted to own my own place one day but thought that it wouldn’t happen for quite some time. So my partner and I weren’t really looking seriously but had set up alerts for properties that might be right for us. But to be honest, it was still a bit of a future dream at that stage.
Then one day, an alert popped up and we fell in love with the property, in Ashwood, exactly where we wanted to live. But when we saw that the auction was just 17 days away, we realised there was no way we could think about it – we didn’t have a pre-approval, a buyer’s advocate or a conveyancer.
But I’d reckoned without the power of the Fresh Network! I spoke to Rory Sercombe, the mortgage broker at Abbotsford hub, expecting him to agree with me that even thinking about this property was pointless, but in fact he said ‘Yes, we can make this happen’. I was blown away, delighted and pretty nervous, all at the same time.
Suddenly, it was all systems go and my next conversation was with Jeff Anderson, the buyer’s advocate at the Hawthorn hub. Geoff went to the open for inspection and came back to me with his thoughts. He felt the property would be a good buy, but crucially he also said that he felt that the estate agent’s guide price was too low, and that the property would sell for more. That was invaluable advice because I could be realistic and get the right level of finance in place through Rory. Without that kind of insight, I could have wasted my time getting excited about a property that sold for more than my pre-approval.
Jeff handled the discussions and negotiations with the agent on my behalf – organising the settlement period, the chattels to be included in the sale, understanding the reserve price and how many other bidders there were likely to be. I would not have known how to have those conversations, and I am sure that the agent told Jeff things that he wouldn’t have shared with me!
Of course, I also needed to be sure that there were no ‘gotchas’ in the contract, so I spoke to Margaret Zoides, the conveyancer in our Abbotsford hub. She reviewed the contract and settled a few issues that she found – which I would never have spotted.
Rory had been as good as his word, and managed a fast-track pre-approval, getting the finance finalised the evening before auction day.
So on the big day, we were ready to go. I was very nervous on auction day, but Jeff was amazing. He had an auction strategy – he stood next to the auctioneer, stared down the other bidders. I felt intimidated by him, and he was on my side! I wouldn’t have wanted to be bidding against him! Every time someone else bid, he came back really rapidly, until – success! We bought the property at the lower end of Jeff’s predicted range.
To say my partner and I were over the moon is a serious understatement. It was all such a whirlwind; we still can’t quite believe it. But I feel I now have stability and financial security.
I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for my Fresh Networking contacts, this couldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have finance in place, I’d have unrealistic views of prices, I’d have been a nervous wreck at auction, and I’d be caught out by contract clauses.
I would still be looking for a property now. But as it is, my partner and I and our two dogs have a beautiful new home, and the prospect of capital gain and moving up the property ladder.
I can’t thank Rory, Jeff and Margaret enough for the house that Fresh bought.