I sell property up here for a living, so I am hardly neutral. I also live here. We have been in the same house in the Hills for more than two decades, and we raised our kids here.

So take the sales pitch out of it and here is what people actually ask me when they are thinking about moving up from Kelmscott, Seville Grove or further down the flat into Bedfordale or Roleystone.

Moving from a massive Hills block to a smaller property can feel like you’re giving something up. Closer neighbours and smaller rooms take time to get your head around. The secret? Don’t rush or overthink it. Just start looking without committing, and you’ll find the home that feels right.

I need to declare two things before you read this.

First, I own an investment property myself, and I am holding it.

Second, telling you to hold costs me a listing. I would rather say what I think.

Since the May budget, investors have been ringing me asking whether they should sell.

Here is what I tell them.

The obvious answer is $855,000. On one of my Roleystone sales, taking it ultimately left the sellers $36,000 worse off than the clean offer they already
had.

I get paid when your home sells, so you might expect me to tell you to take the biggest number and move on. This article argues the opposite, which is at least a sign I am not just protecting my commission.

Here is the situation I see more than any other when two buyers want the same home.

Mount Richon is long and narrow, running along the Darling Scarp, and the property changes considerably depending where you are in it. Newer homes and larger lifestyle blocks. Older homes closer to Armadale. Half-acre blocks. Properties of two or three acres. Valley outlooks, coastal views and some of the better sunsets in the Hills.

One median figure hides all of that.

Should you wait for spring? That rule mostly comes from east coast auctions. In the Perth Hills, January and May have been my two busiest months for written offers.

The online estimate said $600,000 to $650,000. Another agent said $700,000 was the ceiling. It sold for $835,000. Why one Mount Nasura home did not fit the data.

I should say up front that I market myself too. I write these articles, I post on social media, and I have a commercial interest in you thinking well of me. So take what follows as an argument you should test against me as much as anyone else. 

I was at a kitchen table for an appraisal not long ago when the owner asked me something I am hearing more and more. 

“How many social media followers do you have?” 

Another agent said spend $60,000 on the kitchen and bathrooms. I said do not touch it. Fifteen acres near Churchman Brook sold for $897,000. Here, the land is often the value.

An extra $100 a month on a $750,000 example loan saves $63,956 in interest. One $5,000 lump sum paid early saves $26,948. No course needed, just a calculator.

Changing your mind is not a legal reason to end a property contract in WA. There is no automatic cooling-off period. Your real options, and what walking away can cost.