Each time Angie Roberts and her family visited relatives in Tasmania, the reasons for returning to Sydney became fewer. On the last flight back, there were no reasons left. Having negotiated the sale of some 250 properties in Sydney’s competitive Eastern Suburbs, the mother of two felt that her skillset held her in an enviable position to secure the family home in Hobart.

“I believed my industry experience would hold me in good stead, yet soon found there was little assistance offered to buyers when looking to relocate to Hobart,” explains Angie. “I’d be on flights constantly, getting down for open homes and inspections. Despite our best efforts, we were behind potential buyers on the ground. Although we did secure our home, associated challenges were the catalyst for the business, My Hobart Home.”

The Roberts family moved to Hobart in late 2018, feeling that family life in the heart of Sydney had lost balance. Angie felt pulled between a successful career demanding six days a week and being there for her children. With both sets of grandparents residing in Hobart and self-employed husband, Thomas, working online, the timing felt right.

“One of the benefits of moving to Hobart is that the mortgage is not as big as Sydney so I didn’t have to find work straight away. I was able to volunteer at the school and settle the family in during our first year here,” smiles Angie. “I knew I wanted to move into something related to property, but with plenty of real estate agents here, I felt I could better use my property and negotiation experience for the benefit of the buyer as a buyer’s agent.”

Angie Roberts with husband Thomas and daughters Lily and Edel. Photo credit: Alice Hansen.

Founded by Angie in 2019, My Hobart Home are specialist Hobart buyers agents, providing assistance to investors and those who are moving to Tasmania. Buyer’s agents are a relatively new concept in Tasmania, though are common place in larger cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Essentially, Angie is a buyer’s professional ‘eyes on the ground,’ tapping into networks and insights of the local market to secure a purchase.

Not only does Angie have a wealth of interstate industry experience, but grew up with an intimate knowledge of southern Tasmania’s property landscape. Her family are multi-generational Hobart property developers with more than 40 properties developed and sold across Hobart. This positions Angie to understand the needs of a buyer outside of Tasmania from personal experience, coupled with a sound knowledge of the local industry landscape.

Angie tailors packages to suit each buyer’s needs. Some might require logistical assistance only where as others request more comprehensive support. She can narrow down Hobart suburbs to fit their criteria, tap into off-market properties or upcoming listings, do inspections on behalf of the buyer, research comparable sales and handle negotiations on their behalf for a stress-free purchase. Right down to the benefit of traffic noise and assessment of the neighbourhood come standard, impossible insights for an online purchase.

“We are seeing a lot of owner occupies showing interest in moving to Tasmania,” explains Angie. “People who grew up in Tasmania, like myself, who always had the intention of coming back are now activating what might have been their five-year plan earlier due to the current uncertainty with Covid-19 or wanting to raise young families here. People are also looking for a little more affordability and space – a location where they might be able to have chickens in the backyard and grow some of their own food.”

Angie and Thomas’ children are now six and three, the family thriving in their Tasmanian lifestyle. They spend lots of time exploring the foothills of kunanyi / Mount Wellington and Thomas enjoys being one of the many father’s helping out with school pick up at the primary school just five minutes’ walk from home. As an insider’s tip, Angie recommends connecting with social media groups such as Facebook’s That’s It I’m Moving to Tassie, where a strong community works together to ensure a smooth transition to Tasmanian life.

“It’s the little things that make life here so simple and calm,” concludes Angie. “In Sydney, even at four years old we’d have to be considering high school options, so as not to miss out. The social pressures of needing to manage a young family, the long commutes, this has all been replaced with active kids who are loving their orienteering, bush walking, and mountain biking right on the door step. We can instil in our children that love of nature at such a young age. It’s exactly the upbringing we imagined for them.”

Find out more about My Hobart Home.

Are you interested in making a move? Make it Tasmania.

For information on starting a business in Tasmania look through our stories or visit Business Tasmania.