John recognised that we had not sold a property before, and guided us through the process to make sure we understood the plan at each stage. He answered our questions patiently and with knowledge. We took a while to make our decision to sell, and John didn’t give up, where others did, and kept in contact with a smile. Thanks John - would definitely deal with you again! Priscilla & Allan
John Manning
John Manning has been in local bayside Real Estate for many years. It appeared to me as a seller that so many years in the industry may have led John to 'talk the talk' and that I might be led into a sale process provided with unrealistically high expectations, upgraded marketing and last minute advice to sell at any cost due to 'market conditions'. This approach as is used by so many Agents in the property game was never used by John and indeed, the same process was one full of transparency, factual information and appropriate communication. Johns easy going approach backed by infinite honesty was freshening, informative and open. The result was better than expected but it was the process and feedback that impressed me the most. The final price on a property will always sort itself out but it is mutual trust that gets you there in the end and faith in your Agent. Thank you John for an impressive and fresh campaign. I would certainly recommend you to other vendors thinking of selling. Satisfied Vendor, 1/4 Alfred Square St Kilda
John Manning
We have bought and sold property with John achieving excellent results each time. John is a highly skilled and honest real estate professional who gives 100% effort to his work. We have always enjoyed the partnership and would not hesitate to recommend John to others.
John Manning
Couldn't fault Julian and the team for the professional service during the sale of our apartment. He was always very professional and efficient in dealing with us and interested buyers. We were always kept up to date with the status of all buyers and open for inspections. We couldn't have been happier with the result. Would have no hesitation recommending Julian
Julian Cannata
Sam was referred to us and we could not of been happier with his service and guidance. As we were not located in the same state we never actually met Sam until Auction day and all correspondence was done via phone and email. He was always prompt and professional and never dropped the ball in what was a very successful campaign. We couldn't have asked for a better result and agent. I would highly recommend Sam and the team and Hocking Stuart.
Sam Inan
The open house and website reports were excellent and kept us informed on what what happening. We got the result we were expecting.
Julian Cannata
My wife and I recently sold our pretty little garden apartment with Costa Karabatsos at Hocking Stuart St Kilda and we are happy to recommend him to any prospective selling vendor. Disarmingly youthful ( but not a man child by any means ) Costa is all at once credible , good humored and knowledgeable . Costa instantly impressed us with his extensive local area feel, accurate quick maths (who does that?) and later his winning auctioneer skills, he seemed to possess an almost photographic memory resulting in detailed recall . At our appraisal , in tandem with Director and StKilda Real Estate Celebrity Statesman Mr John Manning ( see John’s review) in a kind of two-headed charming monster partnership , Costa seemed to file enough memories and remember enough details on demand for the both of the two men combined ( lol no disrespect intended) that basically put them miles ahead of their local counterparts . Showing the same “easy-going” and “ no pressure “ flexibility when negotiating their commissions and marketing packages that not only seemed un-“sales-like” (read as No Cringe ) but actually made my wife and I feel like VIPs despite our precious little listing being the most inexpensive in their glorious Red Book and helped us quickly realize that Costas confident presentation, open honest delivery style and a skill for concise communication (taking all the notes, the first with an answer ) knew we wanted our prospective buyers dealing with this guy. The approachable pair proved to have broad rapport and appeal right across the whole age demographic of our buying range , Costa understood our joy living here and how to communicate that to buyers. Our campaign performed well above average and had big numbers at our opens. All buyers came on the Auction day. Costa worked the bidders like a matador from his introduction, he controlled the pace and the subsequent bidding frenzy took us 16% above reserve and exceeded our expectations to champagne and high-five status!
Costa Karabatsos
John Manning was absolutely charming , knowledgeable and “low pressure” from the moment my wife and Inopened our door to Hocking Stuart for an appraisal on our East StKilda garden apartment. When you are considering a selling agency it’s nice to have The Director turn up to appraise your property. With a solid two decades of experience under his belt , and a non-pushy approach to winning our listing ( including an unprecedented flexibility when negotiating his commission and when tailoring our marketing strategy to our budget.) John was instantly a head above the competition by making us feel at ease and reflect an understanding what we love about the property, how it is placed on the market in the area and most importantly how to convey that in our campaign to reach our buyer range (and how to really bring genuine well qualified bidders on our auction day . ) When our property performed well above average during our campaign, we knew we were onto a winner with John . Always available to us , although our beautiful little place was probably one of the smallest in The Red Book ( and comparatively insignificant compared to the featured multi million dollar listings they handle with the same charm) but John, paired in classic “good-cop/good-cop” combination with personable and fresh faced auctioneer Costa Karabatsos -(Kudos to Costa too, see Costa’s review) made us feel like VIP clients. They remained contactable, continually giving us tons of progress reports after each open and answering all my calls and questions. John and Costa facilitated with finesse the runaway bidding war that took place on the most formidable of inclement Melbourne Autumn days . Bucketing down rain till the hammer with five groups competing to own ..which resulted in the best possible outcome - Thanks, John . .thanks for that fabled , triumphant “champagne and high five “ sale (16% above our auction reserve! ) Five Stars to John Manning at StKilda HS for exceeding all our expectations.
John Manning
Costa deserves 10/10 for his dedication and commitment to the sale of my property. Even when faced with some unusual challenges during the campaign he overcame the issues and kept focused on the end result, which was excellent. I highly recommend Costa. Tim
Costa Karabatsos
John was wonderful all the way through from first visit to our house to after the successful sale. We had many conversations which were always pleasant and while John maintained a professional manner we found him friendly and relatable. Communication was so important. It was a really nice experience selling our house.
John Manning
We enjoyed Costa's enthusiasm and organisation when selling our home. The communication was so friendly....we kind of miss him now. He seemed totally committed and was always at the other end of the phone when we had questions. We were happy with the result and can now go shopping for a new house. We wish him all the best in a very long career ahead that he seems to love.
Costa Karabatsos
We couldn’t have been happier with the service and the result we got for the sale of our apartment with Sam and Julian. We had a number of agents through to look at our property and we chose Sam and Julian based on a recommendation from a friend (who had an outstanding result with them for their 3 bedroom St Kilda east apartment) and because we were so impressed by their strategic and positive approach. Where other agents were bemoaning the changes to the laws around valuing properties and price estimates, Sam and Julian were talking strategically about how they work within the laws and deliver great results for their vendors. I appreciated their optimism and enthusiasm for their work. We never felt any pressure from Sam or Julian to sign with them but when we called to say we were ready to go, they made themselves immediately available to us and acted swiftly to help us get the campaign underway. Their support team including assistant, copy writer, photographers and conveyancer, were equally as on the ball. Every exchange was friendly and professional. Sam and Julian had a decisive strategy for our oversized one bedroom apartment and delivered a result for us that we were thrilled with and that was right within what they estimated we could get for the apartment. The apartment was bought by a couple in the demographic that they had advised would likely be interested too - which makes me feel like they really know the market. During the campaign Sam and Julian were attentive and thorough. They met with leads outside of advertised open times and kept us well informed and managed our expectations well. Even though our apartment was much more modest than some of the other properties they had listed, we felt they really cared about getting us the best possible result. And they negotiated well on the auction day to ensure that we did.
Julian Cannata
