The role of a buyer’s advocate is to work for you – the buyer. At The Advocates we do all the work while you relax.
With our extensive experience in the Melbourne real estate industry we endeavour to eliminate the hassles and extensive time wasting associated with property searching and negotiating. Our overall objective is to assist you, the purchaser, to secure the ideal property for the lowest price, in the shortest amount of time and with minimum fuss.
Your time is limited, the demands on it are growing and we are all conscious of the financial stakes and stress involved in buying a home or investment property. The Advocates provides intending purchasers with the opportunity to employ the services of a professional buyer’s advocate who is well briefed on all aspects of real estate transactions and who will pursue your interests. Given that selling agents are employed by the vendor, they work for the vendor and do not look after your interests.
Some of the reasons suggested by our clients for employing a buyer’s advocate are:
Our policy is simple – we do the work for you.
All communication between the client and The Advocates remains in the strictest confidence. For the many purchasers who wish to remain anonymous, an overwhelming advantage of employing a buyer’s advocate is that you protect your identity by being able to relate only to the buyer’s advocate rather than to an array of selling agents.
Deciding to engage Tony and Steve for my investment property search was the best thing I could have done. After a year of looking on my own and experiencing uncertainty, I was very happy to find this professional, tenacious and diligent team to select and transact my property purchase and guide me through to completion. Most importantly, I have my weekends back thanks to The Advocates. I will use them again if I can buy another investment. read more
If you’re time poor, not property savvy, don’t understand return on yields on investing in the property market or just don’t know where to start, we would highly recommend Tony and Steve Rindfleisch from The Advocates. They are your go-to advisors. For a small investment to use their professional services, your return and outcome is huge. We have used them a number of times and they are worth their weight in gold. read more
We were keen to buy an investment property but didn’t know where to start – with busy jobs and three small kids, finding the time to house-hunt was near impossible. Handing that job over to Tony and Steve was fantastic. They helped us with everything from start to finish. First, identifying exactly what we wanted, then commencing the search in the areas we had initially identified but also widening the search beyond those areas, which was ultimately a great move. read more
We are certain that is was your knowledge and industry contacts that enabled us to buy the property before it came on the market – one of the many advantages of using a buyer’s advocate. We would highly recommend your services to any prospective buyer. read more
My experience with you has been one to remember, being a first home buyer not really knowing what to look for, how to do research, learning things such as flood zones and all the warning signs that come with buying a house has been fabulous. This experience has taught me a lot and given me great confidence in my now home. read more
We are busy running a small business and we had a challenge of being able to focus on property. It was hard in a volatile market to understand values and prices in various suburbs. All the advice we received was concise and accurate about what properties were and were not in our brief. We are thrilled with the outcome and enjoyed working with you guys. read more
The upshot was that Michael engaged an auctioneer / sales company with intimate knowledge of the area, vetted the proposal the agent made re advertising, sales process and all the other things we are not good at, attended the auction for us, negotiated a final price post-auction, recommended a conveyancer as well as someone to sell unwanted furniture and chattels, advised us on presentation, and did it all without costing us any more commission than if we had appointed a sales agent ourselves. read more
Michael’s understated personable manner, real estate experience and credentials provided reassurance; while his tough negotiation skills with agents ensured that we always received the best deal. Michael’s property inspection and preparation advice ensured the time, money and effort put into the preparation of my sister’s home for sale was focused on maximum return. read more
You predicted what the reserve price would be – and you were right – even though it was more than the advertised price. We were concerned about how the auction would work out. Being such a large investment we wanted to have an expert who had done it before and knew the tricks that could happen and the psychology behind it. read more
I recently purchased a very nice property, found for me by The Advocates. I was extremely impressed by their professional approach and with the service I received. Their knowledge of the property market and their understanding of my exact requirements meant that I never visited a house I didn’t like. The fact that they are such nice guys was great, but their skills meant I saved $88,000 on what I was prepared to spend. read more
The Advocates were outstanding! The level of service and attention to detail was first class. Tony and Steve really took the time to listen to our needs and as a result were able to present high-class properties that we were interested in to us from day one. In the end, it was their persistence that found us our new home and we will be forever grateful. read more
I have no hesitation in recommending Tony and Steve to both prospective buyers and sellers. They are extremely professional in their dealings but combine that with a personal touch which is very appealing at what is often a stressful time. read more
Further, he kept us fully informed at each step along the way whilst we remained in Queensland, making the whole exercise stress-free; and we got near enough to our asking price in a falling and somewhat uncertain market, an excellent outcome. We have now had Michael work for us as both a buyer’s and seller’s agent, and have no hesitation in recommending him in either capacity. We will certainly use him again should we ever decide to purchase in Melbourne or nearby. read more
My wife and I recently engaged Tony and Steve from The Advocates to help us with our first investment property purchase. Being new to the world of property investment, it was crucial for us that we were able to minimise the risk of making a poor purchasing decision. read more
I have found him to be always diligent, careful, thorough and a shrewd assessor of the property market. His service is reliable, on time and reasonably priced. I have referred him to friends and family members who have also fully appreciated his service and advice. read more
We are delighted with the outcome achieved through the services of The Advocates. We found Steve & Tony to be excellent communicators, particularly good listeners and professional in their dealings. Based on our experience, we are happy to recommend their services to anyone considering buying or selling property. read more
Buying the perfect investment property can be a daunting task. Especially when you are a young couple who have average knowledge about the market and process involved. With the help of Tony from The Advocates, he has saved us a great deal of time, confusion, frustration and not to mention stress. read more
We were ecstatic, but our purchase has proved to be far better than we expected. Only 15 months later, in June 2015, the two-bedroom apartment above ours sold for $590,000 – $175,000 more than the price we paid the previous year. read more
By the time we contacted Michael we had very limited time to find a house and we were starting to become desperate to buy and therefore had began to lower our expectations. It was Michael who reminded us of our criteria and persauded us not to compromise our standards. He talked us out of purchasing an inappropriate house and encouraged us to continue with the search and restored our belief that the type of house we were looking for did exist. read more
We were spinning in property circles before we engaged Tony – we had been searching for months, changing our strategy a few times along the way without success. As soon as we engaged Tony, we were back on the right track. He helped us clarify our strategy and refocus on what was important to us. read more
I could not be happier with the service and advice I received from The Advocates over the last 7 years or so. The whole process really nailed home the worth of using an advocate in the process. read more
We would say that in our circumstance, a buyer’s agent was essential. Michael was patient, good-humoured, understanding and knowledgeable. We are greatly indebted to him and his company. read more
Tony and Steve were invaluable in helping me to find the perfect property. We faced many unexpected challenges, but Tony and Steve remained optimistic, diligent and professional. I’m very happy with the result and highly recommend The Advocates. read more
We’d been in the market for a few months and we kept losing out. We saw this house and we instantly fell in love and we knew we didn’t want to be outbid again. So we brought in Tony and he did the rest. We got it for less than the maximum we were willing to pay. It took all the pressure off us and let us get the house we wanted. read more
Your service was very professional and well presented on the day of the auction. The main reason we went down this path was that we had been looking for houses for over six months, auction after auction. After looking at 10 properties and deciding on two we thought why not give ourselves the best chance possible, thus why we contacted you, the professional. We were new to the auction game so figured you would have all the tricks to secure the property for us. read more
This was quite possibly the best financial decision we ever made! When we first began our search as first home buyers, we thought we knew it all. It was a long 8 months of searching, attending the wrong auctions, speaking to numerous Real Estate Agents that provided no assistance at all to us. To be perfectly honest we were naïve and needed help with this massive milestone we were wanting to achieve. read more
Tony and Steve were amazing throughout the search for my humble one-bedroom apartment. My search was a little different to most. I wanted a home within a 5km radius of the city, a one-bedder where there was space to be creative and plenty of natural light. “We looked at a few but North Melbourne was the winner in the end. read more
As a first home buyer and knowing very little about the property market, it was so important to have someone I could trust to guide me through this process. Steve and Tony were great at understanding my requirements, while also ensuring that any properties they suggested would represent strong investment in the long term. I am very happy with the outcome and would not hesitate to recommend the team at The Advocates. read more
This is the second property that I have successfully purchased with the assistance of The Advocates. Tony, Michael and the team know the market well and are well equipped (and connected) to match properties to buyer requirements. They are prompt and honest in their communications and did not waste my time with properties that did not meet my criteria. read more
We engaged The Advocates to seek a property in Melbourne to meet our needs. We live outside of Melbourne, so we needed to entrust Steve fully with this task. All steps of the process were extremely professional. We found Steve reliable and he had a great understanding and knowledge of the Melbourne real estate market. He only suggested properties that met our brief and was honest in his assessments of them. The Advocates found us a great property in good time. read more
After many weekends looking for our first investment property with no result, David and I sought assistance from The Advocates. Wow! This turned out to be the best decision we could have made. The team at ‘The Advocates’ are so down to earth and have an impeccable work ethic. Our first meeting with Steve and Tony was very informative and we could see that they both genuinely cared about us as their clients. read more
When we finally found the property we wanted, and became quite emotional, Michael became the voice of reason, and successfully negotiated a sale on our behalf without spending a significant amount of money that we had allowed him. read more
My wife and I recently purchased our first investment property using the services of The Advocates. Our experience was a completely positive one and I would recommend them to anyone of any age or any budget without reservation. read more
I would like to thank you enormously for your huge efforts and assistance in making this happen for me. This has been quite an experience for me (and probably for you too) and I am well aware that I would never have succeeded in this if I had not had you in my corner. read more