The process
What the downsizing transition process looks like if you're still yet to sell your current home and buy in the same market.
Eight stages, from the first conversation through to settlement and the move. Here's exactly what working with me looks like.
- 1
Discovery
- A no-pressure conversation to understand your situation and what you're hoping to achieve
- This is exploratory only, nothing is signed, and you're not engaged in my services yet
- Off the back of this call, I'll send you the Downsizer Transition Assessment
- This looks at your personal situation, plus the current markets you're wanting to sell from and buy into, what are they actually doing right now
- This tells us whether it's viable, and whether it's worth arranging an in-home consultation with your listing agent, you, and myself
- 2
Selling Agent In-Home Consultation
- You, me, and your selling agent sit down together
- We test whether the buyer pool is genuinely there for your property, and whether your priorities, time, price, or certainty, line up with what's realistic
- We discuss whether your current selling agent is right for this campaign, or whether another would serve you better, I can help you select one if needed
- This comes down to a clear yes or no
- If it's a yes: you sign Form 6, and a monthly retainer of $990 (inc. GST) becomes payable for ongoing advisory support and liaison with your listing agent while your property is on the market
- 3
List and Campaign Launch
- Your property goes to market
- I liaise directly with your listing agent to track how the campaign is performing and what buyer interest looks like
- This can run anywhere from the first week through to several weeks, depending on the market and what you're selling
- 4
Sale Under Contract
- An offer is accepted and your sale goes under contract
- What happens next depends on your specific situation, whether you need the funds from your sale, or you're using bridging finance, and that gets worked through with your selling agent
- In most cases, where there's no bridging finance and no rent-back or other terms negotiated, we'll wait for your sale to go unconditional before starting the active search
- During this conditional period, your $990 monthly retainer keeps me actively working alongside your listing agent, not just checking in
- This includes bringing my own network to the campaign: liaising directly with the agent, tapping into my contacts with property developers if it's a development site, and drawing on my broader network of interstate agents, all aimed at widening the pool of genuine buyers for your property
- If your property hasn't sold within four weeks, we'll sit down and reassess price expectations and campaign style together
- 5
Active Buying Search
- Once your sale reaches unconditional, we sign a new agreement for the active search and buying phase, typically a 90-day term, at a monthly retainer of $1,990 (inc. GST). Every $1,990 retainer payment made during this active search phase comes straight off the total flat fee of $24,990 (inc. GST). The earlier $990 liaison-phase retainer is a separate advisory agreement and does not credit toward the $24,990.
- I actively target specific properties, off-market, pre-market, through other listing agents, property managers, or wherever's been agreed in your property brief
- Every property goes through a two-stage due diligence process before it reaches you:
- Stage one: a desktop check before anything reaches your shortlist, council portals, flood searches, and other due diligence sources, giving you the most up-to-date information available, not generic reports
- Stage two: once we've identified a suitable property, I arrange inspections, including midweek and weekend, I'm on the road most days to make sure no suitable option gets missed
- For day-to-day updates and shortlisted properties, we'll use whatever works best for you, straightforward email and text, or I can add you to an online tool I use for sharing and reviewing properties
- 6
Offer, Negotiation and Buy-Side Contract
- I find a property and negotiate terms on both sides
- I make sure the purchase goes under contract with the right conditions in place to protect you
- 7
Working Toward Unconditional
- Your situation determines the order here, your family home might go unconditional first while we're still negotiating your purchase, or the reverse, there's no fixed sequence
- Once we have a property under offer, I liaise directly with your conveyancer
- I handle communications with your mortgage broker and any other third parties involved, so you're not chasing separate people
- I organise and personally attend building and pest inspections
- Where it's useful, I'll liaise with both conveyancers to see whether settlement dates can be brought closer together, this is floating and only happens if it actually benefits you
- 8
Unconditional to Settlement
- Once both sides go unconditional, the remainder of my fee becomes payable, calculated as $24,990 (inc. GST) less any retainer payments already made.
- Between unconditional and settlement, I'm still actively working on your behalf:
- Liaising with the agent on settlement-day logistics and any last-minute details
- Staying on top of your conveyancers and broker to make sure no timelines or deadlines are missed
- Arranging any other services you need around the move, removalists, connecting utilities at your new property, that kind of practical handover support
- Organising a pre-settlement inspection, typically carried out the morning of settlement, to confirm everything's as it should be before keys change hands
That's the full picture, no surprises, no guesswork. If you'd like to talk through your specific situation, I'm happy to have that conversation.