Rewarding Property Decisions with Jarrod McCabe of Wakelin Property Advisory

Two Properties, Two Perspectives: Why Renters and Investors Want Different Things

A renter and an investor walk into the same property – and see completely different things. One wants comfort, condition and convenience. The other wants scarcity, growth potential and the ability to add value over time. More often than not, those priorities point in different directions.

In this episode, Jarrod and Jordan put this to the test with two real North Fitzroy properties – a recently renovated townhouse and a Victorian terrace – each assessed through both lenses.

• Why the townhouse delivers everything a renter wants but hits a ceiling for investors
• What makes the terrace a renter's compromise but an investor's opportunity
• How scarcity value, value-add potential and owners' corporation constraints shape the investment case
• The distinction between the best yield today and the best asset long-term

Images of both properties are available on the Wakelin blog at wakelin.com.au

 

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

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Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

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Returning Home? What Expats Should Consider Before Buying Property

With Melbourne offering genuine value relative to other capitals and the family home sitting in an increasingly attractive tax position, it's no surprise that expat enquiry has been picking up. Uncertain times have a way of drawing people home.

But buying a family home from overseas – or immediately upon return – is a very different exercise from a standard purchase. The planning, the timing and the priorities all shift.

In this episode, Jarrod walks through the key considerations for expats looking to return to Melbourne and buy well.

• Why your old map of Melbourne may no longer apply after years away
• How to plan the timeline around accommodation, finance and schooling
• Getting the property brief right so you don't outgrow the home within a few years
• The options for buying remotely versus waiting until you're settled

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

What the 2026 budget's tax changes actually mean for property investors

The federal budget has delivered the most significant changes to property investment tax settings in a generation. Negative gearing for established property is being wound back. The capital gains tax discount is being replaced. And the spruikers are already circling with off-the-plan offers.

So what does this actually mean – and what should investors do?

In this episode, Jarrod and Jordan cut through the noise to give Wakelin's practical read on the changes, the risks and the opportunities that aren't getting enough attention.

• Why current investors in established property should hold their nerve
• The new-build incentive trap – and why the tax benefits won't transfer to your next buyer
• Carry-forward losses, lower leverage and the family home as overlooked opportunities
• Why Melbourne may be less affected than the rest of the country

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

AI property valuations: useful tool or false sense of certainty?

AI can now deliver median prices, sale histories and demographics in seconds. But when it comes to assessing the value of a specific property, the technology has real limitations – and buyers who treat AI-generated valuations as fact risk making decisions based on flawed data.

In this episode, Jarrod examines how AI valuation tools work, where they fall short, and what a physical inspection reveals that no algorithm can replicate.

• Why incorrect data and non-market transactions distort AI valuations
• The nuances AI can't yet assess – from floor plan flow to renovation quality
• How position within a block and structural integrity only reveal themselves in person
• A case study where a free valuation tool got it wrong by $100,000

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

Why the biggest investment mistakes have nothing to do with the property

The most costly mistakes in property investment rarely happen at auction. They happen weeks or months earlier, when the wrong objective takes hold and shapes every decision that follows – from the stock you look at to the price you're willing to pay.

In this episode, Jarrod unpacks the common traps that lead investors toward the wrong property, and explains why capital growth should always come first.

• Why chasing depreciation benefits pushes buyers toward assets that go backwards
• The tension between yield and growth – and why they often work at cross purposes
• How emotion and well-meaning advice from family and friends can compromise your selection
• The risk of trying to make one property serve as both investment and future lifestyle

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

Rates, conflict, cost of living: How to buy property when nothing feels certain

High interest rates, cost of living pressures and global instability have kept Melbourne's property market subdued – but a flat market is not the same as an easy one. Stock thins out, competition concentrates in unexpected pockets, and the gap between genuine value and simply cheap widens.

 

So how do you buy well in these conditions?

In this episode, Jarrod walks through the key considerations for purchasing property in an uncertain market – and shares a case study that proves why discipline and preparation still win out.

 

• Why asset selection matters more than ever when bargains are tempting
• The difference between a property that's good value and one that's cheap for a reason
• How to assess value when sales evidence is thin and sentiment varies by sector
• A two-bedroom apartment quoted at $750–825K that ultimately sold above $900K

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

Group Sale: Selling an apartment block to a developer

As older apartment buildings across Melbourne's middle ring continue to age, we're seeing more cases where the underlying land value has started to exceed the value of the building itself. That's creating opportunities – but also complexity – for owners considering a group sale to a developer.

It's a very different process from selling a single property, with far more moving parts and far more potential for things to go wrong.

In this episode, Jarrod walks through the key considerations owners need to work through before embarking on the process.

• How to determine whether the land value genuinely justifies a developer sale
• Why owner motivations – from investors to long-term occupiers – shape the entire process
• The unanimity requirement in Victoria and how one holdout can stop everything
• Setting a minimum price and getting independent advice to hold the group together

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

Melbourne Activity Centres: a SWOT analysis for the property market

The Victorian Government wants to build 300,000 new homes by 2051 around 60 train and tram activity centres across Melbourne. It's a bold plan to tackle housing affordability by focusing development in established locations rather than pushing Melbourne's boundaries further outward.

But will it work – and what does it mean for property investors?

In this episode, Jarrod applies a SWOT analysis to the Activity Centres program to cut through the politics and assess what it really means on the ground.

• Why leveraging existing infrastructure makes sense – and where the logic breaks down
• The land scarcity problem and why density alone isn't the answer
• How the wrong product mix could leave new housing stock sitting empty
• The real threat to existing owners' equity and neighbourhood character

Learn more about Melbourne's activity centres in The Wakelin Melbourne Property Report 2026.

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

 

Wakelin Property Report: Jarrod drills into the six questions shaping 2026 investment decisions

The first instalment of the 2026 Wakelin Melbourne Property Report showed where we are: investor activity is back, interstate capital has moved first, and a February rate rise has put that renewed confidence on notice.​

Part two is about how to think from here.

In this episode, Jarrod steps away from the month‑to‑month noise and works through six tensions that will shape Melbourne’s housing investment market in 2026:

• Confidence vs memory of the last rate cycle – what it takes for buyers to believe a recovery is real
• Headline stability vs rule‑change risk – how much uncertainty around future settings investors are willing to live with to access value
• Renting longer vs buying earlier – how the rent‑versus‑buy equation is shifting at today’s price and rate levels
• Houses vs older low‑rise apartments – where the value actually sits when land does the heavy lifting
• What the Metro Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel and activity centres quietly change over the next few years.
• Portals and print vs AI and socials – how discovery is changing who sees opportunities first.

To view and download The Wakelin Melbourne Property Report 2026 visit wakelin.com.au

We enjoy providing you with free insights into the Melbourne property market and property investment more broadly. Thank you for listening. 

If you like what you hear, subscribe, like, rate or follow us and tell your friends and family.

Investing in property makes sense.  Investing in the right property takes knowledge.

To learn more visit www.wakelin.com.au  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Email

Wakelin Melbourne Property Report 2026: Will confidence hold or fold?

Melbourne's property market has started 2026 at a defining inflection point.

The momentum has been undeniable. Wakelin's proprietary data reveals a 87% surge in investor enquiries through 2025, with interstate buyers leading the charge.

But we now face a new test. The February rate rise has challenged that sentiment just as it was consolidating.

So, where does that leave the market in 2026?

In the Wakelin Melbourne Property Report, we look past the daily headlines to answer the six defining questions that should shape your investment decisions this year and beyond:

• Will Confidence Consolidate or Waver? The push and pull between strong fundamentals and fragile interest rate sentiment.
• How is Policy Shaping Investor Sentiment? Have the tax and regulatory shocks finally been absorbed? And what’s next on the horizon?
• Rent vs. Buy: Will the Math Shift the Market? Rental pressure meets new pathways to ownership.
• Can Apartments Finally Catch Up? Why the search for value might finally favour period units.
• Will Infrastructure Shift Demand? How new transport links like the Metro Tunnel are rewriting the map of ‘accessible’ Melbourne.
• How Are AI and Socials Reshaping Property Discovery? The emerging tools changing how the next generation finds value.