“There will be a lot of opportunities that will come from the changing landscape.”
For Michael Kollosche, regular training not only keeps your health and nutrition on track but keeps your mind sharp. He prefers to train a minimum of 6 days a week with a combination of group circuit training at BMF in Burleigh and F45 in Broadbeach. It’s a lifestyle he encourages in business and his entire team at Kollosche embraces this philosophy, they are all very active.
Michael and his team consistently have the largest share of prestige residential property transactions on the Gold Coast, with Michael dominating this top-end sector of the market for over 15 years.
During his career Michael has achieved over $2 billion in settled sales for his clients, with almost half of that on beachfront properties on the Gold Coast’s famed “Millionaires’ Row” – Hedges Avenue and Albatross Avenue.
Source: Kollosche
WILLIAMS MEDIA spoke to Michael about the changing conditions within the prestige market in 2020 on the Gold Coast and beyond.
What are your predictions about the 2020 luxury market on the Gold Coast with the current restrictions and also moving forward?
At the time of writing, we are currently in an Australia-wide lockdown due to COVID-19.
2020 is destined to bring phenomenal changes to the way that we operate and transact, there will be a lot of opportunities that will come from the changing landscape and some businesses will experience significant growth whilst others will contract. Although this is a very nervous time for many, I feel opportunity and growth lies just on the other side of this for those that are quick to adapt and embrace the changing environment.
Stock in the luxury market has been limited for some time due to the low cost of funds, however there is no doubt that some sellers of luxury homes will need to transact to get liquidity for their core businesses as a result of the COVID-19 impacts to trading. That being said, we are fielding an unprecedented number of enquiries from high net worth individuals within our database that are sitting on cash, and who are keen to deploy those funds into residential property if the right opportunities arise. Unlike the GFC, there is currently a lot more capital in the private sector on the Gold Coast, and homeowners in the luxury end of the market were generally more conservative this cycle with personal borrowings, which will mean less forced sales and more demand for distressed assets than we saw 12 years ago. Because of the low interest rates available to investors and the significant capital in the private sector I feel that this will help any distressed assets find a value inflection point quicker resulting in a faster recovery.
In regard to our current situation, due to the recent operating restrictions we simply have had to evolve very quickly to adapt to this change. The technology has always been there, so this has not impacted our processes or ability to transact. Buyers can inspect properties via virtual inspection, private inspections, via our property videos or using 3D Matterport Virtual Tours.
What advice would you give to vendors for the best outcome?
The advice for a Seller always depends on their level of motivation and personal circumstances. If you are buying and selling in the same market, then the impact is minimal. If you are selling because you have suffered significant losses elsewhere or you need liquidity for a cash injection to save your business, then the quicker you can make the hard decisions and align your price to the market the better.
My advice is to be prepared: at Kollosche we encourage sellers to prepare all of the due diligence material that a buyer requires to make a decision prior to actually launching the property to the market so that the ability to transact is seamless, quick, and not hindered in any way. This includes presale building and pest inspection reports, presale valuation reports, a list of all outgoings including council rates and body corporate levies, fact sheets on the home, itemised inclusion lists, detailed contracts etc. By being prepared and not adopting a piecemeal approach it enables a buyer to study all of the information prior to their first inspection, encourages more unconditional offers and speeds up the entire transaction process with a higher percentage of unconditional offers.
What advice are you giving to buyers?
Don’t hesitate, make offers, keep them clean and cash where possible. The market is still very stable with low interest rates and significant stimulus being injected by the government. There will be a lot of competition for any distressed assets and so the best time to buy is now whilst there is uncertainty and you are bidding in isolation. Warren Buffet is one of the greatest investors of all time and he says “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy only when others are fearful.”
Source: Kollosche
What are vendors saying?
Most are happy to sit on their assets and if they get their price they will sell.
The freeze on mortgages for 6 months and low fixed interest rates means the majority can ride out any market fluctuations.
Unfortunately some will need to transact because they need the cash reserves for their businesses, and they are more amenable to an offer right now to give them certainty. These present opportunities for astute buyers that are prepared to deal immediately.
What are buyers saying?
Buyers are looking for value and if their offers are clean and fair, they might be able to achieve a meaningful saving on what they would have paid for the same asset in February 2020,,.
Are the buyers changing? Are they downsizing/upsizing?
The Buyer demographic is 90% local at the moment, but there is no doubt that with the dollar dropping that we will see an influx of foreign money being invested into new residential properties.
The downsizer market remains strong and there are a number of high net worth local investors in the market.
Source: Kollosche
Can you share with our readers some of your personal milestones and career goals?
Looking forward our business goals are to dominate the prestige sector of the Gold Coast residential property market, continuing to improve and provide a service that is far better than our peers. It is our intention to continue to recruit the leading agents on the Gold Coast and have them work collaboratively under the one brand to benefit our clientele.
Real Estate has traditionally been a solo game and Agents have not worked together due to the commission-based nature of the industry and/or the culture in their businesses. We have changed that at Kollosche and we protect it with everything. We want to disrupt the way the major brands have operated for so long on a model of churn and burn focusing on a sale at all costs instead of providing the right advice to their clientele for long term relationships that are mutually beneficial.
There is a conflict for a commission-based salesperson between getting a sale and advising a seller to wait because you know something is well below market value. Sometimes you have to tell them I believe there is more out there if you are prepared to be patient and other times you need to have a confronting conversation because you know their personal circumstances.
At Kollosche, we work hard for our sellers and understand that they engage us for a particular service to advise them on how to obtain the best price in the marketplace and if we live by that mantra the business is continually attracted to us and we become less reliant on cold prospecting and focus more on sustainable databasing and long term relationships.
Source: Kollosche Sold by Michael Kollosche - 32 Naples Avenue, Isle Of Capri, Qld 4217
What is one thing you have learned over your years as a luxury agent?
You can operate in any market. Real Estate is a mind game and if you focus on a downturn or negative event then you will take actions or a lack of action to ensure that you are right. Buyers and Sellers will transact in any market and its about being adaptable, professional and applying the same amount of energy in good and uncertain times.
It is imperative to service all of your clients and work to their agenda, not your own. They are mostly looking for your advice and opinions as an industry expert and if you are genuine and humble you will have clients for life.
Related reading:
High-Profile Southern Gold Coast Agent Joins Forces with Kollosche