What is your role at Peter Fisher Real Estate?

Michael: I'm a rural and residential sales specialist and I've been with Peter Fisher for 17 years, ever since I first started. I'm was a farmer by trade, a third-generation farmer, so that experience is very handy going on to see acreage blocks for people. Ashleigh has been with me for two years, because this job just gets bigger and bigger and longer hours.

Ashleigh: We think we can give extremely good service to our clients because basically you've got two people working for you instead of one. I’m also a qualified agent and I've got a stock and station licence too.

I imagine you would have seen quite a bit of change in the Orange real estate market over those years?

Michael: When I first got into real estate into 2002, the Cadia mines had had an impact on the town and then the next thing the global financial crisis hit and the market slowed down. Then the government changed all the rules and regulations with regards to Stamp Duty which actually got the market going again. So yes, I have seen some very lean times in town, and also some very good times.

What is the approach you take when dealing with clients?

Michael: I like to look after my clients really well and if I take you on, you are clients for life. I've got a lot of repeat clients — some I've sold up to four, five properties for over the years. So even after I've sold your property, we stay in touch and offer any advice we can down the track as far as doing renovations or whether they should sell again, whether they want to upsize or downsize… I'm always there on the phone — and Ashleigh as well — to give them advice to fit their situation.

Ashleigh: And Peter Fisher as a whole is a good source of information. So we send out a blog every two weeks, whether it be a property management or for sales it can be as broad as what is the value of de-cluttering your home to the value of your house or something informative about the property market happening in Orange we find a lot of people sign up to that - old or new clients anybody that wants to sign up, we like to keep our clients in the know.

What is the best advice you can give a homeowner looking to sell their property?

Michael: The big advice we give is how to prepare a property for sale, how to get the most out of your property. You've got to be careful you don't overdo things; don’t spend a dollar unless it is going to make you a dollar. That is where it is very handy to get myself or Ashleigh into to say, yes, spend some money on this area, but don’t spend some money on that.

What is the Orange real estate market looking like for the near future?

Michael: We are lucky here that Orange is a very dynamic and diverse economy. The rental market at the moment is very tight. Rents are starting to go up, which means returns go up, which means prices tend to increase, so that puts a good base in the market. Orange keeps getting voted as probably the number one rural centre and one of the safest areas to invest in — that is coming from a lot of different data and not just what we're saying.

Ashleigh: And there is a big mix of young professionals who are coming out to work at the hospital or other government departments. It is a good market to get into, because it is affordable, so we do see a fair bit of that.