Ben is a chartered accountant who spent eight years inside a mid-tier firm advising small-business owners on property structures before going independent. He owns one investment property in Melton (a learning experience) and one in Footscray (a better one), and lives in a 1920s weatherboard in Williamstown that he bought before the bridge was a problem.
He writes the investor column with a chip on his shoulder. He’s tired of buyer’s-agent reels promising 8% yield in Wyndham, tired of “growth corridor” being marketing language for “thirty-minute drive to the nearest train station,” and tired of seeing first-time investors over-leverage into off-the-plan towers in Docklands. He covers the data the spruikers leave out: holding costs, body-corp escalation, vacancy rates by postcode, the actual rental yields once you net out management and maintenance.
Ben is not a doomer. He thinks parts of outer Melbourne are great long-term plays. He just refuses to mistake hope for analysis.
Articles by Ben Fairweather draw on Domain/CoreLogic data, ABS releases, and his own portfolio. He does not accept payment or commissions from buyer’s agents, developers, or property platforms.