Looking for a new home is no mean feat. From trawling through seemingly endless online listings to negotiating and bidding to finally moving in, there’s a heck of a lot that needs to be done – a process made all the more stressful when you’re doing it from overseas.
The only thing harder than finding a new home? Finding one as an expat in a different country.
That’s where Milk Chocolate comes in. We work with Aussie expats the world over to help them locate, buy, build and move into their dream Australian home, making the process smooth and stress-free from start to finish. In fact, 75% of our clients are Australian expats, so we know very well how to work with this demographic’s unique needs.
If you’re thinking of moving back to Australia – solo, alongside your partner or with a family in tow – Milk Chocolate can help you find the perfect place to move into. Here’s how.
Who is Milk Chocolate?
Milk Chocolate is an Australian proptech company that works across all parts of the property lifecycle. We take care of researching, finding, purchasing, managing and building properties around Australia, and we work with clients from across the country and the world.
Our traditional property pillars are supported by a robust tech team that works in areas including data science, machine learning, software engineering and UX design. This half of the business helps support our property work by building smart tools to optimise and streamline everything we do.
How can Milk Chocolate help me find a new home?
Securing homes for Aussie expat families is a core part of our business – whether it’s a family of one, two, four or 10. We know a family home isn’t just a straightforward property transaction; it’s your new place to live, work and nest. It’s a highly emotional purchase, so the Milk Chocolate team holds your hand every step of the way – from figuring out where to live to moving in.
You also get the expertise of in-house licensed real estate agents who are masters of negotiation, location selection and asset selection, along with our in-house economists, valuers, designers, builders, property managers and project managers. Plus, you’ll get access to a fixed fee structure and more than 20 million data points. All up, that’s a very strong team batting on your behalf when it comes to finding your dream home.
What does the process look like?
It really depends on your needs. You may have a clear idea of exactly where you want to live and only need help finding a property, or you might be starting entirely from scratch – with the entirety of Australia as your oyster.
Generally, though, you can expect the process to look a little like this:
Onboarding to figure out your precise needs
Suburb due diligence to provide location and other recommendations
Live tracking so you can stay across our property reviews in real time
Property selection, including identifying the right home and completing multiple pre-purchase inspections
Property recommendations, be they maintenance or design-related
Negotiation and purchase
Exchange to settlement
Pre-settlement inspection
Making the home move-in ready, including utility connection, top-to-toe cleaning and garden maintenance
Handover, including our Home Handover pack
Something we get asked about a lot is how our overseas clients can properly vet each property to make sure it’s up to scratch. Well, that’s where we shine.
While you’re certainly welcome to physically attend home inspections here in Australia, it’s not a requirement. Interestingly, only 3% of our purchases have actually been viewed by our clients. The rest? We either help them ‘attend’ open homes via video call, or we put together a comprehensive virtual inspection pack that gives them a thorough look around prospective homes.
How do Milk Chocolate’s fees work?
Most buyer’s agents earn a commission every time they purchase a property for a client. But we reckon there’s a better way.
Our buyer's agents don’t work on commission. They’re paid a salary, ensuring we’re not transaction-focused and instead are ethically motivated with our clients’ interests at heart. We also refuse to take rebates, kickbacks or commissions from any real estate agents or service providers.
Milk Chocolate believes in total transparency, so we charge a fixed fee for our services. This allows us to remove the unknowns for our clients and provides certainty of purchasing costs before we’ve even picked up the tools.
What if I want to build a home from scratch?
We know construction like the back of our hand. Our construction vertical works across everything from straightforward cosmetic renovations to complete home builds and even subdivisions.
First, we work with you to find the perfect parcel of land in the best location. Then, our design team collaborates closely with you to figure out exactly what kind of home you want. Next, it’s build time and your dream home comes to life.
What if I’m not ready to move home just yet, but want to invest in Australian property?
Milk Chocolate can help with that too. While we’re certainly pros at purchasing family homes, we’re just as good when it comes to investment properties.
A number of our clients choose to buy a property back home, with the intention of returning to Australia after a few more years. In this instance, we look for properties that boast lots of investment potential, especially when it comes to delivering a solid rental yield for the period you’re still away.
Our construction team can also enhance the property to increase its liveability and value, plus we provide property management services that cover every part of the tenanting process.
And if you want to expand your property portfolio beyond your future family home and into other investments, we can definitely assist. We’ll find you the ideal investment property to suit your budget and financial goals, be they around capital growth or ongoing rental yield.
Ready to get started? If you’re looking to purchase a family home or investment property, reach out to the Milk Chocolate team today at enquiry@milkchoc.com.au.
Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site are for informational purposes only. Milk Chocolate makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, recency, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.
