buyers advocate geelong

Geelong – a booming regional city

We are among the most established and experienced property advocates servicing Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, the Surf Coast, and surrounding regions.

Using reliable market intelligence, local expertise, and data-driven insights, we help our clients identify emerging opportunities, growth areas, and high-performing property markets.

Today, Greater Geelong is home to almost 260,000 residents and remains Victoria’s largest regional city. Its strong population growth, lifestyle appeal, proximity to Melbourne, and ongoing infrastructure investment continue to drive demand across the region.

Geelong has become one of Australia’s most sought-after regional destinations, attracting significant migration from Melbourne and interstate buyers seeking lifestyle, affordability, and connectivity. The region also remains highly attractive to first-home buyers. We regularly assist clients in understanding and accessing available grants, stamp duty concessions, and first-home buyer programs, helping them navigate the market with confidence while maximising their purchasing power.

The region’s long-term growth is underpinned by major planning initiatives, including the Northern and Western Geelong Growth Areas project—the largest urban growth project in regional Victoria—which is expected to accommodate more than 110,000 future residents. Combined with Armstrong Creek and other strategic development areas, Geelong’s growth precincts have the capacity to welcome up to 175,000 additional residents over coming decades.

The Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast continue to experience strong demand, with ongoing residential growth and infrastructure investment in key locations such as Ocean Grove, Point Lonsdale, St Leonards, Torquay, Mount Duneed, and Fyansford. These thriving coastal communities offer an attractive combination of lifestyle, amenity, and long-term growth potential.

As population growth continues and infrastructure expands, Geelong and its surrounding regions remain among Victoria’s most compelling property markets for owner-occupiers, first-home buyers, and investors alike. Whether you’re purchasing your first home, upgrading your lifestyle, or building a property portfolio, our expertise helps you make informed decisions and secure the right property with confidence.

Why Geelong is a hot spot

Just an hours’ drive from Melbourne, Geelong is the headquarters for agencies like NDIS, TAC, Worksafe and for retailer Cotton On. It’s also home to the Geelong Football Club and GMHBA Stadium.

Geelong is connected to the Bellarine Peninsula (food and wine) and Surf Coast (start of the Great Ocean Road). It’s also 30 minutes to the famous You Yangs Regional Park.

The Geelong region has:

  • a thriving city foreshore precinct
  • a busy industrial, retail and food scene
  • exceptional private and public schools
  • new and refurbished hospitals
  • close proximity to beautiful beaches
  • world class golf courses
  • minimal traffic congestion
  • art and culture
  • abundance of public and private investment
buyers advocate geelong

The market at a glance

  • Indications show the majority of suburbs and towns throughout Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast regions will double in value over the next 8-10 years.
  • Geelong suburbs like Manifold Heights have experienced incredible growth of 9.3% pa over a 10-year period, with seven other suburbs doubling their median price within the same time frame.
  • From Torquay to Lorne and Barwon Heads to Portarlington demand is high for houses, lifestyle properties and investment properties.
  • Townships such as Barwon Heads had a median price ten years ago of $600,000. As of 31st August, 2022, the Barwon Heads median price was quoted at $1,600,000.
  • You can purchase a three bedroom home in most suburbs of Geelong for under $850,000.
  • Buyers can take advantage of the federal government’s regional first home buyer guarantee scheme – commencing 1st October, 2022. This program is capped at properties up to $800,000 in the Geelong area, and up to $650,000 elsewhere in regional Victoria.

Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast are bucking the trend in the property arena and witnessing strong growth in almost all areas.

Jaq & Jon

We are two busy young professionals who attempted to buy our first home during a pandemic and the subsequent property boom. We are so glad we had Michael and Tony to help us. They took the time to truly understand our needs and give us clarity around what to look for. Throughout the search, they…
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The Millers

It was late in November 2018 and we had decided to relocate to Sale. We place a deposit on the Sale house with the transaction subject to the sale of our Eltham home. The seller also had a condition that we sell our Eltham house by the end of December 2018.  Never having been involved…
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B & D

Hi Michael and Lisa…Over the years we’ve bought and sold 4 houses with the help of The Advocates. Michael’s expertise in gauging the property market has been invaluable, giving us confidence that we were neither overpaying nor underquoting on all our properties. He’s negotiated on our behalf in auctions and private sales with positive results. His…
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Stuart Hickman

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.
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Victoria

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.
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Martin Fry

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.
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N & A

“Michael Ramsay from The Advocates was brought to my attention from a neighbour in Barwon Heads. She mentioned that Michael was the principal and if I needed any help with searching and or securing a house in Barwon Heads I should make contact with him. Following an initial obligation and fee free meeting we decided…
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Evan

After an extended property search, my partner and I found a lovely house in Flemington that ticked all of the boxes. The quoted range was within our budget, but we felt strongly that if it went to auction there was a high chance we would be outbid. Our best chance was to convince the vendor…
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J & D McDonald

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.
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Lisa Dowd

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.
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S Joyner

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.
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Ryan clan

The Ryan clan are thrilled with the service you have provided to us. It is the bottom line that counts. By that very benchmark, our children are delighted with their townhouse while we are positively beaming over the acquisition of their duplex. The outcomes did not happen accidentally. We are mindful of the great effort…
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Emma

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.
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Jim and Di McDonald

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.
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Lisa and Colin McInnes-Smith

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.
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The Soller Family, Randwick NSW

Being Sydney based and looking to buy a house in Melbourne was never going to be easy at the best of times.  In the middle of the Covid restrictions it would have been impossible without the help of Michael.  Throughout the process, during a very heated market, Michael’s advice and counsel was thoughtful and balanced.…
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Maddison Thompson

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.
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buy property geelong
K, Bellarine Peninsula

Michael Ramsay helped me last year to find and buy a holiday house on the Bellarine peninsula. I did not know the local market at all.  Michael at all times was courteous and helpful.  He listened to what I wanted and located suitable properties, which saved me a good deal of time and work.  He…
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J & S, Regional Victoria

Michael had a way to access properties for sale which were not open for inspection or were about to be put on the market. This meant we could see the properties without other buyers around.   As I had to travel from the country, he arranged for us to see 4-5 with in a short time, and…
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Emily & Matt

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.
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Tony Stewart

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.
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A & A, Brunswick

Incredibly happy with our experience with The Advocates! We engaged Michael to assist us with buying a property on the Bellarine Peninsula during the Melbourne lockdown so we had the added challenge of being unable to view the property ourselves in person. Michael went above and beyond in giving us full confidence in our purchase; answering all…
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Katrina Jordan

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.
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Lyn

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.
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Bo & Rachel

I can highly recommend engaging The Advocates to help purchase your property.  I always felt very safe in Michael’s hands, as he communicated so well and provided thorough detail on the houses I was interested in. He really understood what was important for our family and he cared about securing us the right home to…
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Andre and Michelle

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.
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David and Jenny Happell

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.
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Gary

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.
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Ed & Anna, Prahran

We have two young children and we are moving down from Melbourne to Geelong for lifestyle reasons. Michael was great – easy to work with and got us what we wanted. Worth his weight in gold when bidding at auction and getting an idea for property value. Would highly recommend him as a buyers agent…
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