Last Saturday morning we did the long-awaited brunch to celebrate the house purchase. The venue? One found during many weeks of Saturday morning searching: Glen Huntly’s Club Cafe. It’s like one of them English caffs, the food loaded up with grease and cholesterol, and proud of it.
It was the Champagne Breakfast that we went back for — billed as the brekky of your choice, an OJ, a cuppa, and a glass of champagne! And though the champagne may not have been a big prize-winner, it was suitably celebratory… not to mention the huge serves of food filling us all to the brim. I made sure to have a good walk later in the day. As long as you’re not already at risk of a heart attack, it’s a thumbs up.
It was Mal, the buyer’s advocate hired help who had insisted on the venue.
You may know of my many attempts over the past couple of years at buying a house. Though in fact if you don’t know me in person, you haven’t heard the half of it.
So after my sister successfully used a buyer’s advocate last year to buy, I thought I’d try it too. There’s a bunch of things a buyer’s advocate can do, and often they deal with people looking for much more expensive houses than I was, but Mal (and team) were very helpful at identifying. Though they didn’t find the house I ended up with, they did do some work on looking through places, offering an objective view on how much they were worth and whether they would hold their value.
And of course, the wheeling and dealing, which is what I needed the most help with. Though one auction didn’t work out (some foolish people really wanted that place) when I found The House, Mal moved in quickly, handling negotiations with the agent, and ensuring we nabbed it before it went to auction. Hooray, victory for me!
So, if the circumstances are right, a buyer’s advocate is very helpful.
5 replies on “Champagne breakfast at the Club Cafe”
Daniel
as long as the quality of the coffee in Club Cafe does not match that of an English caff. Yuck!
Interesting. I have see one cost a client a lot of money too, along the lines of $40,000. Do they charge a flat fee or percentage?
Ooohhh… That sounds like the go for us when we start The House Hunt.
Daniel I used a buyers advocate here in Sydney and was really happy too! We are early adopters, it is a very new industry in Australia, a bit contentious too with some people thinking why pay when you can do if for yourself (my answer to that – I get an expert to cut my hair & do my taxes). Worth the money I paid because I got a really great property and learned SO MUCH from Debbie (we found a unit in Meadowbank). EPS Property Search tel +61 2 9904 4722.
Roger, I don’t drink coffee, so I can’t tell you. I didn’t notice the others spitting theirs up though. The hot chocolate was okay, though not brilliant.
Andrew/Sussy, mine was a flat fee, though I’m at the bottom end of the scale they deal with, and I’m not sure if others would be charged a percentage. Put it this way: the total cost to me wasn’t cheap, but was the kind of money that could easily be burnt up at auction with the blink of an eye.
They’re also looking at cheaper options for the property valuation part of their service.