Hinternoosa

Real Estate Agent - Kess Prior

How long have you been in Real Estate & what made you decide on a career in the industry?

This week I celebrated my twelfth year in the industry. I had been living and working overseas for approx. 15 years and came to visit a friend in Noosa. I fell in love with the area, particularly the hinterland as I grew up in regional areas and was missing the bright blue skies and being surrounded by nature. It was during that week I decided to pack up my overseas life and move to the Noosa Hinterland. I have always been interested in the property market no matter where I was living, so upon my return to Australia it felt like a natural move for me to enter the industry. Once here, I researched the most successful long term Hinterland Agency (Hinternoosa) and asked them to take a chance on me. I had been in sales before, but nothing could have prepared me for the hard slog that followed for the next couple of years. The market was a difficult place in 2010 and as I was coming in, many agents were leaving. It was absolutely the best life decision I have ever made.

What areas do you specialize in & what words of wisdom would you provide to buyers looking in these areas (commercial or residential)? Hinternoosa is a boutique agency based in the Noosa Hinterland and we sell predominantly small to large acreage properties in all price ranges within a 20km radius of our office. Personally, I love selling properties between 1 and 50 acres in the immediate area and I don’t mind if they are valued at $500k or $5m. It isn’t just the properties which makes the job so wonderful, but the relationships with the buyers and sellers that are created with each listing. It is a changing market yet again and the Covid boom is behind us so my advice to buyers would be to do your homework carefully, align yourselves with an experienced agent who will give expert assistance, and don’t get caught up in the hype of the media. There will always be buyers and sellers, no matter what is happening in the market.

What words of wisdom would you have for renters looking to lease in these areas (commercial or residential)? For residential tenants looking for a home I would tell them.

- Have your application completed with relevant attachments in full. It will prevent any delays in your application being completed.

- Ensure you can afford the property. Be financially prepared – for example: if you are the approved tenant you will need to pay a bond and 2 weeks rent.

We are receiving multiple applications for each property, so you need to be organised and prompt.

What changes if any, have you seen in the marketplace in relation to trends, so the type of buyers that are looking (families, investors, overseas buyers, retirees, downsizers), what they are looking for, change of developments in the areas if any, & changes in price? Our market has slowed down like the majority of markets around the country. However, we know that the Noosa Hinterland is less sensitive to interest rate increases due to the large proportion of our buyers and sellers not as heavily leveraged on borrowings. We have a big demand for small prestige acreage properties, buyers from all over the world have gotten wind of the fact that the Sunshine Coast is one of the nicest places in the country to live. We are surrounded by natural beauty, perfect beaches, and great weather to match. What's not to love? Our client base is made up of a mix of investors, retirees, overseas clients and families wishing to have a treechange. The great positive of Covid is that people have the ability to work from home which makes them able to easily relocate to areas such as the Noosa Hinterland.

What was your most memorable sale in recent times & why? Gosh, there are just so many it’s hard to say. I was blown away by the amount of “facetime” transactions we did during the Covid lockdown period. It always surprised me that buyers would commit to a multi-million-dollar transaction without ever stepping foot on the property. I felt such a mix of excitement yet absolute fear for these buyers, but in saying that, none of them have told me they regretted their decision to purchase the property.

What interesting property are you working on now? There are a number of unique properties I have listed but there is one that is particularly special in my opinion. 21 Carroo Lane, Ridgewood is such a diverse package. It consists of elevated 10 acres with gorgeous landscaped gardens, rainforest, a serious of billabongs with resident platypus, two amazing homes interconnected by timber decks. The sellers have spent many years creating a magical paradise that is really quite hard to beat. When entering the property it feels as if you’ve gone to a resort in a different part of the world, one which is very difficult to leave.

Get in touch - kess@hinternoosa.com.au or 0404 344 399

salessupport@hinternoosa.com.au or heather@hinternoosa.com.au

21 Carroo Lane, Ridgewood