Nervous first-home buyers set out to buy in Homebush, but ended up with a 95 m² two-bedroom apartment a five-minute walk from Strathfield Station. Here’s how we found it, and why holding firm at $715,000 got it done.
The Clients
My clients were first-home buyers, and understandably a little nervous about buying into strata. They’d worked hard to save a good deposit and were eligible for the first home buyer stamp duty concessions. They weren’t looking for their forever home. They wanted a smart first step onto the property ladder.
They were renting in Ashfield and were realistic about the market: a two-bedroom apartment with parking in Ashfield was out of reach on their budget. So they turned their attention a little further west.
The Brief
With a budget of $700,000, they set their sights on Homebush and Homebush West. Strathfield, as much as they loved it, felt ruled out from the start.
What was important to them:
A two-bedroom apartment
Easy walking distance to the train station and shops
Access to the train line, as they regularly commuted to the city and the Blue Mountains
A small, well-built strata block without significant strata issues
Parking, with a strong preference for a garage for storage
No shared laundry
A good-sized balcony to grow herbs
They didn’t mind buying something they could renovate down the track, but that wasn’t their key driver.
The Search
I had my work cut out for me. In Homebush and Homebush West, the challenge was finding something that ticked the walkability box and the strata box at the same time. Plenty of options were ruled out because they weren’t within walking distance of the station. Many others sat in large modern apartment blocks (think Courallie Avenue) that typically weren’t going to stack up from a strata perspective.
Over six weeks, I found my clients 13 off-market and pre-market opportunities that were very close to their brief.
The Near-Misses
One on Henley Road in Homebush West came close enough that we inspected it together. It was in a very small strata block built around 2000. But it felt a little too cookie-cutter, and my clients wanted something with more character. We passed.
Then I got a great lead direct from an owner: an apartment on Burlington Road, right near Homebush Station, recently bought and renovated by a builder who was preparing to sell. Great apartment, great renovation. Unfortunately, we just weren’t going to get there on price.
Neither was a waste of time. By this point, my clients knew exactly what they wanted, and that clarity meant we could move decisively when the right one appeared.
The Property
That’s when an agent gave me a pre-market lead on a tenanted two-bedroom apartment in Strathfield.
The tenant was making access difficult, so I couldn’t see it before it hit the market. Because of the tenants, the first inspection would be a public open home on Saturday at 10am. I knew this was going to be a top opportunity for my clients, and I wasn’t going to miss it at any cost.
But life had other plans… At midnight the night before, my daughter woke up screaming with stomach pains. By 2am we were in the children’s emergency department. Thankfully, she was fine, but there was no sleep that night. We got home at 7am, and because she’d fallen asleep on the drive, I grabbed an hour’s sleep in the car. Two coffees later, I was out the door.
I made it to that 10am inspection like a zombie. But I made it.
When I walked in, it wasn’t presented well. It was dirty and full of the tenants’ belongings.
But I could see past all of that. The floor plan was excellent, and I knew a little cosmetic work would turn this into everything my clients wanted, in a location that was ideal for them. It’s a five-minute walk to Strathfield Station, and if you commute to the city and the Blue Mountains, you know Strathfield is where the express trains stop.
What it offered:
95 m² of internal space, a really good size for a two-bedroom apartment
Two large bedrooms and a separate bathroom
An oversized east-facing balcony, and a separate north facing balcony
First-floor position with windows on three sides: north, east and south
Its own separate laundry room, not shared
A car space, plus generous secure space for storage
A proactively well-managed strata block with a good financial health check
It wasn’t a garage, and it wasn’t Homebush. But it delivered on everything that really mattered, and for clients who had been nervous about strata, the strength of this block gave them real confidence in both the building and the apartment.
The Negotiation Strategy
Because the property was already on the market, the agent wanted to run two Saturdays of open homes before taking offers. We used that time well:
Completed our strata report review
Had the contract reviewed and changes made
Did further due diligence on neighbouring properties
By the end of the second Saturday, we were in a position to make an unconditional offer. The price guide was $700,000 to $770,000. We had two strong comparable sales:
An apartment in the same block that had recently sold for $745,000. It was better presented but in the same structural condition, and faced the road, so it wasn’t a quiet apartment.
An inferior, smaller apartment in a neighbouring block that sold for $765,000 earlier in the year, when the market was stronger.
My clients’ tax returns had just come back, which gave them a little extra room above their original $700,000 budget. But only a little, and we needed to factor in painting costs.
My goal was twofold: get our offer accepted and the property off the market, without my clients paying a dollar more than they needed to. We knew this was our one shot at Strathfield.
We offered $715,000.
The agent came back to me four times. Could we get to $750,000? $730,000? $720,000? Each time, my answer was the same. Our offer was $715,000, and that’s where we were.
So we held.
Sometimes you just have to see what is possible
The Outcome
Forty-eight hours later, my clients had signed to buy the property unconditionally, with vacant possession, so the tenants would be gone before they moved in.
They’d set money aside for painting and some handyman repairs, and they now own a spacious, light-filled apartment five minutes from Strathfield Station, a suburb they thought was out of reach when we started.
Why Preparation Pays Off
Our offer carried weight because it was clean and unconditional. The strata review, contract changes and due diligence were all done before the second open home, so the vendor was looking at a certain sale, not a maybe. That certainty is what gave us the strength to hold our number while the agent tested us four times.
Thinking About Your First Home?
If you’re a first-home buyer feeling nervous about strata, stretching to reach the suburb you really want, or just unsure where to start, you’re not alone. That’s exactly the kind of problem I love solving.
Book a free 15-minute call with me and let’s talk through your brief. Book your call here.
