Miriam Sandkuhler is the CEO and founder of Property Mavens. She is an Accredited Property Investment Advisor, Licensed Estate Agent, Media Commentator, Franchisor and the bestselling Author of Property Prosperity.
With her financial services background and personal experience as a property investor (she bought her first investment property at 23!), Miriam established Property Mavens in 2012 to help others make more profitable decisions.
Property Mavens is a Melbourne-based Property Advocacy agency, servicing investors, home buyers and sellers, by giving them smart, independent and unbiased advice on all their property decisions, whether buying or selling property.
Miriam is committed to protecting her clients during all property transactions and is a leading advocate and regular media commentator on buyers and sellers rights.
Over two decades, Miriam has successfully worked with hundreds of clients from interstate, overseas and in Victoria, gaining a unique breadth of insight and knowledge along the way. During that time, she increasingly noticed how the industry was failing to ‘put people before property’, so she decided to do something about it. She also noticed that many ambitious selling agents are contemplating leaving the industry, as competition gets tougher and commissions get smaller. In 2019, after observing how the real estate industry is on the brink of disruption and with a strong desire to lead the next wave of change, while contributing to the industry’s transformation, Miriam launched the Property Mavens Advocacy franchise model.
Miriam has been nominated as finalist for REB Women in Real Estate Finalist 2019 – Thought Leader of the Year , Australian Small Business Champion Finalist 2019, YIP magazine Finalist 2018 Buyers Agent – Property Investors Awards, REB Finalist 2017 – Thought Leader of the Year, REIV Finalist 2014 and 2013 – Buyer’s Agent of the Year and YIP magazine 2014 – National Buyer’s Agent of the Year ( Runner Up).
Miriam is a also a regular real estate and investment media commentator and has published articles in Australian Property Investor, Property Observer, Smart Property Investment and Your Investment Property magazines, as well as having appeared on Sky Business News, The Business, Your Money, The 7.30 Report, Channel 7 News and radio 3AW, ABC Drive, Real Estate Talk with Kevin Turner and in metro daily newspapers.
Nominee’s three achievements
~Business Game Changer Special Promotion~
1 Community Contribution
- Every time a client engages our services, we donate by purchasing a bed from Backpack Beds™ by Swags for Homeless.
- As CEO of my business, I have been blogging and contributing to the media since 2013 on matters of underquoting, homelessness, investing, foreign investment and affordable housing.
- In mid 2015, I met with the elected government and in particular the Hon. Martin Foley at Parliament House to discuss several topics, including matters regarding 10,000 vacant DOH houses, homelessness and the high levels of vacant property in Victoria, underquoting and the effects of such in the community. My proposal to government to reinstate 10,000 DOC homes was to try to solve some of these problems. Allowing stakeholder tenants to invest (such as single parents) and thus use their money to reinstate the properties in exchange for the tenant having a proportion equity share in the property. They would then occupy and maintain it better than someone with no financially vested interest. It would also create employment in the building sector due to the need for trades to implement the property repairs/reinstatement.
- I commenced a petition in 2014 to stop underquoting and after three years of highlighting the issue, in May 2017, the Victorian Government implemented changes to the Real Estate Act to finally address the issue of underquoting. While not perfect, it was a step in the right direction and has made a substantial change and more transparency as to how real estate agents in Victoria price and promote property.
2 THE INDUSTRY / FRANCHISING
As an Industry Thought Leader, what motivates me is injustice! I can’t stand seeing people ripped off or misled when it comes to buying or selling an asset (property) worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, hence why I established Property Mavens, to support and protect consumers.
In late 2017, I created a business model for all agents in real estate who want to transition into Property Advocacy. I am the first women to franchise a Buyers & Vendor Advocacy agency and one of few women to franchise a business at all. My mission is to inspire and support other real estate agents to succeed in their own Property Mavens business, so they can powerfully create the income and lifestyle they desire.
This model also enables women working in a male dominated industry the ability to own their own business( which is uncommon) and provides them with the flexibility, unlimited earning potential and community that they may not currently have access to where they work.
3 BEST SELLING BOOK
I wrote a bestselling book called Property Prosperity in 2013, which continues to sell and be promoted across the media when I am interviewed. I wrote it to protect buyers and education them about the smoke and mirror tricks that agents use to sell property. I wrote it to empower them to not buy blindly and to ask questions and understand the difference between biased free advice and unbiased professional fee for service advice.
My book has since been modified to a short course called Integrating Property Advice , which is hosted online by Property Mavens Academy.
