I have been a buyer’s agent for 17 years, and before that, I worked as a property solicitor. I understand what it takes to find the right property, assess the right price and negotiate without getting emotional.
So when I decided to buy an investment property on the Central Coast, I knew exactly what good buying looks like. I also knew I was not going to achieve it on my own in a market I did not know intimately, which is why I didn’t think twice about calling Central Coast Buyer’s Agent Michael Olivieri.
Here is why I hired a buyer’s agent, and what the experience actually looked like from someone who does this for a living.
Why local knowledge matters so much
My business, Buyer’s Domain, focuses on Metropolitan Sydney, particularly Sydney’s Inner West, Inner City, Lower North Shore and the Eastern Suburbs. I know those markets deeply because I have spent years building relationships with agents, understanding which pockets perform and learning which properties look good on paper and which ones actually are.
The Central Coast is not my market, and I was not about to pretend otherwise. There were two factors that made the decision easy. One was the convenience of having someone local handle it. The other, and more important, was the in-depth local knowledge that only comes from being on the ground every day.
On the Central Coast, pockets matter enormously, rental demand shifts suburb by suburb, and knowing which streets are truly desirable as opposed to those that only look fine from a distance takes years of being there.
I had known Michael for several years before looking at buying on the Coast. Another buyer’s agent from the Central Coast introduced us around the time of COVID. After she left the industry, I kept the relationship going directly with Michael.
Whenever he came down to Sydney, he would give me a call, and we would catch up for coffee and talk about the industry. It was a useful relationship with someone in the same field who is not a direct competitor. Over time, I found him to be personable, trustworthy and reliable, so when it came to buying on the Central Coast, the first person I called was Michael.
How the purchase went
We were heading into the quieter end of the year, coming into Christmas, and we still had a property secured within about a month! Michael knew the northern end of the Coast well, moved efficiently and got the job done at the right price. Nothing dropped below my expectations, and given that I came in with fairly high expectations as a buyer’s agent myself, that means something.
What stood out most was not the purchase itself. It was the depth of his overall knowledge, including on the rental side and the way the buying and management parts of his service worked together. When you buy an investment property, you are really buying an income stream, and the quality of that income stream depends on decisions made well before a tenant moves in.
The property management side
Michael doesn’t just help with the purchase of the property – I’ve been delighted with his property management service too.
Michael arranged the building and pest inspection report and then referred back to it when it came time to prepare the property for rental. There were a couple of items that needed attention, and he made clear recommendations about investigating those issues, obtaining quotes and organising the repairs. At the same time, he was getting the property presented and marketed for tenants.
He advised pitching the rent at the higher end of the property’s range. I did give that some thought, but we followed his advice and had three applications within the first week.
Michael helped us assess the applications in more detail and navigated that process well. The property is now tenanted at the rent he said it would achieve.
For an investor who is not local, having someone on the ground who can oversee work, position the property correctly and filter tenants thoughtfully makes a clear difference to how the investment performs over time.
Why the one-stop shop model matters
At Buyer’s Domain, we run a similar model to Michael, with the buyer’s agency and property management working together, so I recognised the value in what Michael offers immediately. Many of our clients live interstate or overseas, and being able to provide an end-to-end service once they have bought the property makes a real difference to how the investment actually performs.
When the buyer’s agent and the property manager are the same business, you get continuity of knowledge that you do not get when those roles are split. The person who walked through the property with a buyer’s eye is the same person who knows the condition at settlement, what was repaired and what was promised to tenants. That removes a handover gap that often causes problems for non-local investors.
What I would tell anyone considering the Central Coast
I will not pretend to know the Central Coast the way Michael does, but from what I have seen through this process and from my conversations with him, the northern end of the Coast has real growth potential. It sits between Sydney and Newcastle, with price points still accessible compared to both cities, and the geographic advantages are strong.
Michael understands the reasons to buy there in far more detail than I do, and I do not think there would be another buyer’s agent who knows that northern end as well as he does. If you are buying on the Central Coast and you aren’t based there, use a buyer’s agent who is, and if you are looking at that market specifically, go with Michael because he will not let you down.
