Vivian Liang and her Northcote team find, negotiate and bid for home buyers.
Only you pay us. We take nothing from selling agents or developers.
We only ever act for buyers. In Victoria, an estate agent can’t act for the buyer and the seller on the same sale.
Start wherever you’re up to. Each has its own fee, in full below.
Not in any of the three: building and pest reports, conveyancing, and your loan.
Auction in the next week or two? Call (03) 5550 0417 so we can check we’re free that day. A form on a website can’t book us for an auction.
Every figure here includes GST. Fees aren’t set by law and can be negotiated, and yours are written into your buyers’ agency authority before we start.
For a defined brief, over a six-month term.
The engagement fee. It’s credited against the total, not added to it.
Then, within the six months
The balance, due when your purchase becomes unconditional.
$18,700 in all
Nothing else is owed. The $2,200 isn’t refunded, and either side can end the authority as it sets out.
One payment, due only when your purchase becomes unconditional. Nothing up front.
A fixed fee, quoted in writing once we know the property and the auction date.
Paid separately, to other people: building and pest reports, conveyancing and your loan. They’re separate providers, and you pay them directly.
Vivian set up Lantern Gully to do one job: buy homes for the people who’ll live in them. She does the negotiating and the bidding herself, and she’s the one who calls you after.
In Victoria, a buyer’s agent (or buyer’s advocate) has to be a licensed estate agent. You can check Vivian’s licence on the Consumer Affairs Victoria public register.
Reuben runs searches and goes to inspections, and writes up every home he sees for you.
Margot books inspections and keeps you posted. She doesn’t negotiate, and she won’t give you a view on price: that comes from Vivian or Reuben.
Northcote Thornbury Fairfield Alphington Clifton Hill Fitzroy North Brunswick East Brunswick Coburg Preston Reservoir
Somewhere else? Ask. If we don’t know an area well enough to judge what a home is worth, we’ll tell you.
Buying from interstate? We inspect for you, send video and a written note, and work with your conveyancer and lender wherever they are.
Not everyone on your side of the table works for us. Your conveyancer, lender and building inspector are separate: you engage them and pay them directly.
At our office, on the phone or on video. What you want, where, and by when. It costs nothing, and you don’t need to have decided anything.
You and VivianWe write your brief together. You sign a buyers’ agency authority setting out what we’ll do, the fee and the term. We check your identity then, through a secure link.
You and VivianOn the market and off it. Off-market is just another way of finding homes, not a cheaper kind of home. We inspect for you and send a written note on every one worth a look.
Vivian or Reuben, with Margot booking the timesBefore you commit, your conveyancer reviews the contract, your lender confirms your finance and a building inspector reports on the house. We work alongside them, and they report to you.
Your own advisers, paid by youYou set your limit, in writing. We negotiate or bid for you, and we don’t go a dollar past it.
Vivian, with you on the phoneOnce your purchase is unconditional, our fee (or its balance) is due. Your conveyancer takes it through to settlement, and we stay on the phone until you have the keys.
You, your conveyancer and VivianA price under the asking price, a bargain off the market, or an auction win. Nobody can honestly promise those. What we can promise is that we’re only ever on your side of the table.
Two homes we’ve bought for clients, shown with their permission. They aren’t for sale.
Bought for clients
Bought for clients
We don’t publish what anyone paid, or what they were prepared to pay. That stays on their side of the table.
Most of our buying is in the suburbs listed above. Outside them, ask. If we don’t know an area well enough to judge value, we’ll say so rather than take you on.
$18,700 to find and buy a home, $5,940 to negotiate one you’ve found, or a fixed quote to bid at an auction, all including GST. Reports, conveyancing and your loan are paid separately, to those providers. The full terms are above.
If no home is bought, the $2,200 engagement fee isn’t refunded and nothing else is owed. Either of us can end the authority as it sets out. If you find a home yourself during the term, the authority says what’s payable, and we go through that with you before you sign.
Call us first on (03) 5550 0417 to check we’re free that day: this website can’t book us. Before an auction we need a signed authority and your identity checked, and your conveyancer should have looked at the contract.
You set your limit in writing and we don’t bid past it. Nobody can promise an auction win, so we don’t.
No. Only you pay us. We take nothing from selling agents or developers, and nothing for introducing you to a conveyancer, lender or inspector.
No. Off-market is a way of finding homes that aren’t publicly advertised. We still judge each one on its value, its condition and how well it fits your brief, the same as any other.
The law requires us to check your identity when you sign the buyers’ agency authority, so we do it then, through a secure link. Please don’t send ID through this website: the enquiry form never asks for it.
From interstate, yes: we inspect for you, send video and written notes, and work with your conveyancer and lender wherever they are. If you might count as a foreign person, check the foreign investment rules first: foreign persons are generally restricted from buying established homes.
Level 1, 312 High Street
Northcote VIC 3070
Upstairs, above the shops on High Street.
Get directionsMon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm
Auction soon? Call, don’t email, so we can check we’re free on the day.