The proof
Residential buyers buy buildings. Commercial investors buy income streams, so I grade the income before the building, price the lease instead of the listing, and never take the selling agent's word for value. Client-side commercial buyers agents are rare. That's the point.
A commercial buyers agent should be paid by the buyer and graded on the numbers, so that's the whole model: no developer kickbacks, no sell-side commissions, every deal scored on income quality before the building. The settled purchases are on the results page, and the fees are published: see exactly what I charge.
The system
Two grades, one verdict. The building is graded A to C on the physical asset: age, construction, clear height, power, location. The income is graded 1 to 3 on the lease, because that's what you're actually buying.
B2, A3 and C1 are value-add plays only, and only at a price that pays for the risk. Everything else, we walk.
The selling agent grades every property A1. I grade maybe one in ten that way, and I show the workings, criterion by criterion, before you offer a dollar.
If the grade doesn't say buy, the price doesn't matter.
The income grade
The method
Property clock position by asset class, precinct supply, tenant demand depth, infrastructure. Office, retail and industrial move on different cycles; buying the right asset in the wrong phase still loses.
Building A–C against the published grading criteria. Income 1–3 against the six lease tests. Only buy-zone deals proceed to pricing; most don't.
Term and reversion valuation for anything under- or over-rented. Cap-rate comps from settled sales, not agent guides. A 10-year cash flow with NPV, IRR and vacancy scenarios. The offer is anchored to these numbers, never to the guide.
The three value levers
Because they work for the other side. Every appraisal I run quantifies all three.
Same rent, stronger tenant, compressed cap rate. The signature on the lease can be worth more than the building works.
Example: $100K rent re-rated from a 6% to a 4% cap adds $833K of value.
Buy under-rented, reset to market at expiry. Term and reversion pricing means you pay for today's lease and keep tomorrow's upside.
Example: $100/m² passing vs $150/m² market on 510m² is a $425K capital gain at reset.
Mezzanines and NLA expansion, valued per square metre. The cheapest floor space you'll ever buy is the air inside your own building.
Example: a 50m² mezzanine at $3,250/m² adds $162K of value.
What you get
The fee
$5,000 engagement, then 2% of the purchase price on settlement. Both figures include GST, so the 2% is what leaves your account rather than a base someone adds ten per cent to. Commercial searches vary wildly in length; the structure reflects it.
The Deal Grade and full pricing stack are free on your strategy call. Bring a listing and leave with the grade, the appraisal logic and the ten-year numbers, before you commit to anything.
The proof
Free · two minutes
Most residential investors assume commercial starts at $5M and ends in vacancy horror stories. The Commercial Ready Check tests what actually matters: usable equity, lending position, income needs and risk comfort, then tells you straight whether commercial fits your next move.
Take the Ready CheckFAQ
A strategy call is 30 minutes. The Deal Grade, the appraisal logic and the ten-year numbers are free either way. If it's a walk, I'll tell you before the sell side charges you for finding out.
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