🎙️With Dave away this week, Mike and Cate take the mic as a duo to challenge one of the most common assumptions in property: that a softer market makes life easier for everyone on the buying side. Prompted by the market challenges Cate is facing with some of her clients, the pair look beyond the bargain headlines to explain why a bear market is actually harder work across the board.

The conversation builds on the recent PIPA Investor Sentiment Survey, where only 44.1% of investors felt the next twelve months is a good time to buy, down from just under 60% last year, and just 7.6% felt it’s a good time to sell. When both sides of a transaction hesitate, deals become harder to put together, not easier.

Cate starts close to home, explaining why buyer’s agent enquiry tends to dry up once FOMO fades, and why the clients who do engage often arrive with discount expectations the market won’t deliver. A softer market punishes poor asset selection, so knowing which segments are holding up matters more than ever. Then there are the low-ballers: is an offer 25% under value the start of a negotiation, or simply an insult that closes the door?

🏡 The pair also unpack the pressure on vendors who are forced to sell, the anchoring that comes from watching a neighbour’s result, and the tough weekly conversations selling agents face as values slip mid-campaign. Cate explains why a committed, finance-ready buyer carries real weight with agents right now.

Upgraders and downsizers face the classic buy first or sell first dilemma, made trickier by tighter borrowing capacity. Why is a plan that only works at the optimistic number little more than a hope? And why do first home buyers, the group with the most breathing room, so often freeze when open inspections are quiet?

From buyer’s agents to first home buyers, this episode is a reminder that tough markets reward preparation, realistic expectations and a well-connected team, and that the best buying conditions in years rarely feel that way at the time.

And our gold nuggets……..

Cate Bakos’s gold nugget: Cate reveals how she approached a property purchase back in 2008 following the onslaught of the GFC. Caution was all around her, but she and her husband did something bold. In hindsight, they look back and note that they did effectively time the market. However, that visibility was lacking at the time, and they took an educated risk.

Mike Mortlock’s gold nugget: Now is a soft market, but Mike’s advice is simple for every kind of property buyer: “You just need to understand the numbers, understand the strategy and have good people around you.”

Related episodes:

Ep. 85          Off the market properties – everything you need to know

Ep. 159        Methods of sale and what do they say about the property and/or the state of the market?

Ep. 160        Top tips for purchasing in a cooling market

Ep. 268        Demystifying Auction Campaigns – Navigating Underquoting, How Agents Attract Buyers, Pricing Tactics and Assessing Buyer Interest

Ep. 374        The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Selling and Upgrading in a Downturn

Upcoming episode – #383: September 2026 Market Update