My Worst Day as a Buyer's Agent - Blood, Burglary and a Lesson I Will Never Forget

How It Started

He was not a difficult client. He was an enthusiastic one.

He had done his homework. Watched the podcasts. Read the articles. Built a clear view of the market. And by the time he came to us, he had already decided where he wanted to buy. Melbourne metropolitan area. That was the brief. He was clear, committed, and excited.

We respected the conviction. But we pushed back.

Based on his budget, his borrowing capacity, and what he was actually trying to achieve over a five to ten year horizon, Queensland made significantly more sense. The data was there. The population growth was there. The supply and demand imbalance was there. The cash flow fundamentals were stronger. We walked him through it carefully — location by location, number by number.

He listened. He considered it. And then he came back to Melbourne.

So we worked with what we had. Within three weeks of him signing up with us, we had found the best available property within his brief — a house in Hoppers Crossing, Melbourne's west, with a tenant already in place. We negotiated hard on the price, settled, and moved forward.

Everything looked fine.

Then the call came.

The Call Nobody Wants to Receive

There had been a violent incident at the property.

The tenant had been attacked. A burglary gone wrong. Police had attended and taped off the house. The tenant was in hospital.

The property manager was too shaken to go inside and document the damage. The client needed a full record of what had happened in order to make an insurance claim. Without documentation, there was no claim. Without a claim, the client was facing tens of thousands of dollars in repair costs and months of lost rental income out of pocket.

Someone had to go in.

Nobody was willing.

So I volunteered.

What I Found Inside

I told myself it would be straightforward.

I ducked under the crime scene tape and pushed the broken front door open.

The house had been completely vandalized. Furniture smashed. Doors broken off hinges. Every room showed signs of a violent struggle. I kept my phone recording and kept moving.

Then I reached the master bedroom at the back of the house.

There was a mattress on the floor.

There was blood all over it.

I took the photos and video the client needed. Then I stopped recording. I walked back out through every room, down the steps, and onto the pavement outside.

And I threw up.

I sat in my car for a long time before I could drive home.

How It Ended

Thankfully, the tenant survived.

The documentation I had taken was enough to support a full insurance claim. The payout covered the complete cost of repairs and the lost rental income during the period the property was uninhabitable.

With the insurance money, the client funded a full renovation. What had been the scene of a violent incident became a clean, well-presented investment property with a new tenant and a fresh start.

And the investment itself? Hoppers Crossing posted double digit growth in the period that followed.

I also want to say this clearly — the police confirmed that what happened was a personal conflict between individuals. Nothing to do with the suburb. Hoppers Crossing is a legitimate investment location and many investors have done very well there.

But I had already told my team: we are not going back to Melbourne West.

Not because of the suburb. Because of what that afternoon cost me personally. Some things you cannot un-see.

What This Taught Me About Property Investing

A single incident does not define an investment.

Property investing is not about eliminating every possible risk. It is about managing risk intelligently so that when something unexpected happens — and in a long enough investing career, something unexpected will always happen — you are protected and you can keep moving forward.

Here is what protected this client on the worst day:

These are the things we build into every single client engagement at Prime Pursuit. Before we present a single property, the due diligence is done. Before a client settles, they have the right people around them — a buyers agent, a mortgage broker, an accountant, a property manager — all aligned and working toward the same outcome.

How Prime Pursuit Was Built

The deeper lesson I took from that day goes beyond strategy.

It is about what we actually mean when we say we put our clients first.

We told that client to buy in Queensland. We laid out the case clearly and honestly. He made a different call. And from the moment he made that call, we committed to it entirely. We found the best possible option within his brief. We settled quickly. We stayed in his corner.

And when everything went wrong — when the call came that nobody wanted to receive and nobody wanted to go inside — we did not hesitate.

That is what showing up for a client actually looks like. Not just when things are going well. When things are hard. When it is the last thing you want to do.

I built Prime Pursuit Properties because I believed that property investment, done correctly and with the right team, can genuinely change people's financial situations. But I also know that the difference between a good outcome and a bad one is rarely just the property. It is the team around it. The advice before it. And the people who show up when things do not go to plan.

We will always be those people.

Do your due diligence before you buy. Get the right insurance in place. Work with a property manager who knows what they are doing. Build a team you actually trust — and then trust them.

Some lessons cost more than others. I will carry this one for a long time.