🎙️In this episode, Dave and Cate answer a listener question from Nikhil, who has bought five properties (four through buyer’s agents) and wants to start buying interstate himself. With Mike away, the pair don’t talk anyone out of going it alone. They set out what it actually takes to buy well somewhere you don’t live.

🏡 Cate explains why unfamiliar areas are so hard to read from a screen: you don’t know the good streets from the bad, and you haven’t built the agent relationships that surface properties early. Her advice is to commit to one market, follow a handful of suburbs every week, and attend as many opens and auctions as you can to calibrate value. She’s upfront that she personally prefers not to buy where she doesn’t intimately know the area, and that this reflects her own risk profile.

The rules also change at every state border. Cate covers how cooling off periods and disclosure documents differ, and why a chat with a local conveyancer before making an offer is one of the cheapest safeguards going. Then there’s the story beneath the suburb: gentrification, school catchments, employment base and rental demand, and where to research it using ABS census data, Cotality, PropTrack, council planning registers and local community groups.

📊 Next comes the cost of flying in and staying. With three or four trips at a thousand dollars or more each before you’ve even bought, how should that be weighed against a buyer’s agent fee? Cate shares ways to batch inspections and use video, and Dave asks about the risks of working with an interstate buyer’s agent, including the lure of off-market deals.

Cate closes with a four step framework: pick one market, build a small local team, do your legal and data homework early, and time your trips deliberately. Can a first-time interstate DIY buyer match a seasoned professional? Perhaps not straight away, but the skills carry over to the next purchase.

From tackling differing state and territory legislation to managing suburb research, to travel costs, the message is clear: assignments like this require dedication and many, many hours.

Related episodes:

Ep. 7             How to assess and select property like an A-grade Buyer’s Agent

Ep. 14           How to choose a location for investment – what to look for and what to avoid

Ep. 75           How to spot an up and coming suburb – understanding demographics and statistics

Ep. 102        How to determine property market values by using comparable sales

Ep. 132        Purchasing laws in each state – Part 1

Ep. 133        Purchasing laws in each state – Part 2

Ep. 296        Nailing Your Investment Purchase – Cash Flow vs. Capital Growth & How to Pick the Right Location

Upcoming episode: #381: Unpacking the PIPA Annual Investor Sentiment Survey 2026