How 7 Morey Street, Wonthaggi Went from Two Years on the Market to Seven Offers – With Only One Enquiry from realestate.com.au

The Challenge: When Portal Marketing Isn't Enough

"When a property sits unsold for that long, it creates a perception problem," explains Leo Edwards, Principal of Inverloch @realty. "Buyers start to wonder what's wrong with it. Agents become hesitant to show it. The property gets lost in the noise of new listings."

But there was a deeper problem at play: the traditional marketing approach had reached its natural ceiling.

List the property on realestate.com.au. Take some photos. Host Saturday open homes. Wait for enquiries to trickle in. Repeat.

This is the standard playbook for 95% of Australian real estate agents. And for 7 Morey Street, this approach had delivered exactly what it delivers for thousands of properties every year: minimal engagement, few enquiries, and no sale.



The property didn't need another agent following the same tired formula. It needed a fundamentally different strategy.

The Digital-First Difference

Rather than following the same playbook that had already failed, Inverloch @realty deployed a comprehensive digital marketing strategy designed to reach buyers where they actually spend their time: online.

The campaign utilised targeted social media advertising, strategic content marketing, and data-driven audience targeting to put the property directly in front of qualified buyers actively searching in the Bass Coast region. Instead of relying on passive portal traffic, the strategy actively pursued potential purchasers through multiple digital touchpoints.



"We don't just list properties and hope for the best," Edwards notes. "We engineer campaigns that create genuine engagement and drive qualified enquiries from buyers who are ready to act."

The Results: When Digital Marketing Outperforms Portals 87 to 1

The numbers tell a story that should concern every property owner working with a traditional high street agent:

Total campaign performance:

• 76,922 social media views – putting the property in front of tens of thousands of potential buyers
• 5,150 website visits – demonstrating genuine interest and active engagement
• 88 enquiries generated through the campaign
• 14 inspections with serious, qualified buyers
• 3 competing buyers in active negotiation
• 7 formal online offers submitted

The statistic that changes everything:

Of those 88 enquiries, exactly one came from realestate.com.au. One.

The remaining 87 enquiries – 98.9% of all interest – came from Inverloch @realty's digital marketing channels: targeted social media campaigns, strategic content marketing, and audience-specific advertising.

Let that sink in. If this property had relied solely on portal exposure – the primary strategy used by most agents – it would have generated one enquiry. Not 88. Not 14 inspections. Not seven offers. One phone call.

"This is the reality that most agents don't want vendors to see," Edwards notes. "Portal listings are important, but they're passive. They rely on buyers who are already looking. Our digital-first approach actively finds buyers, engages them where they spend their time, and brings them to the property. The results speak for themselves."

Beyond the Numbers

"The data is impressive, but what really matters is the outcome," says Edwards. "We had vendors who'd lost faith in the market and buyers who found exactly what they were looking for. That's what a successful campaign looks like."

The property proceeded to sale with multiple offers on the table – a far cry from the two years of silence it had endured previously. The new owners are excited to begin their Wonthaggi journey, and the vendors can finally move forward with their plans.

The sellers' relief was palpable: "Fabulous service by Leo, Leo gets results. I will recommend him to my friends."



After two years of disappointment with previous agents, that simple endorsement speaks volumes about the difference the right approach can make.

What Made the Difference?

The uncomfortable truth for property owners: most agents are charging premium commissions to execute a marketing strategy that generates minimal results.

Traditional real estate marketing follows a predictable, low-effort pattern:

• List the property on realestate.com.au and Domain
• Schedule weekend open homes
• Wait for the phone to ring
• Hope someone happens to be searching for exactly your property

This passive approach might have worked in 2010. In 2025, with buyer behaviour fundamentally changed, it's a recipe for disappointment.

The 7 Morey Street campaign proved a different model:

Instead of waiting for buyers to find the listing, Inverloch @realty's digital-first methodology actively pursued qualified purchasers:

• Targeted social media campaigns reached buyers based on their actual search behaviour, demographics, and online activity – putting the property directly in front of people actively looking in the Bass Coast region

• Strategic content marketing positioned the property in front of buyers during their research phase, long before they started searching portals

• Data-driven audience targeting identified and engaged with buyer profiles most likely to be interested in this specific property type and location

• Multi-platform exposure ensured the property appeared wherever potential buyers were spending their attention online

"When 87 of 88 enquiries come from our own marketing channels, that's not luck – that's validation of a fundamentally different approach," Edwards explains. "We're not relying on portals to do our job for us. We're engineering campaigns that create genuine engagement and actively recruit buyers."

The result: a property that couldn't sell in two years with three agents generated seven formal offers with a strategic digital marketing campaign.

A Lesson for Struggling Listings

The sale of 7 Morey Street offers a clear, data-backed lesson for property owners facing similar challenges: if your property isn't selling, the problem likely isn't the property, the price, or the market – it's the marketing strategy.

Ask your agent this question:

"What percentage of enquiries on your last campaign came from your own marketing versus property portals?"

If they can't answer that question with specific data, or if the honest answer is "mostly from portals," you're working with an agent who's outsourcing their marketing responsibility to realestate.com.au.

Here's the reality: modern buyers conduct extensive online research before ever visiting a property. They scroll social media, browse content, and engage with properties long before they start searching portals. A strategy that doesn't account for these behaviours – that simply lists a property and waits – is fighting with one hand tied behind its back.

For 7 Morey Street, the numbers were undeniable:

• Portal-based marketing: 1 enquiry
• Strategic digital marketing: 87 enquiries

If this property had been marketed using only the traditional portal-dependent approach, it would still be sitting unsold today.



For the owners, patience eventually led them to a different solution. After two years and three agents following the same playbook, the right strategy – executed with precision and backed by data – made all the difference.

About Inverloch @realty

Inverloch @realty is a digital-first real estate agency serving the Bass Coast region, including Inverloch, Cape Paterson, Wonthaggi, and Venus Bay. Led by award-winning agent Leo Edwards (RateMyAgent Agent of the Year 2024 & 2025), the agency specialises in data-driven marketing strategies that actively recruit buyers rather than passively waiting for portal traffic.

The question for property owners: Do you want an agent who relies on portals to do their job, or an agent who engineers campaigns that generate 87 times more engagement?

If your property isn't selling, it's time for a different conversation – and a different approach.

Contact: Leo Edwards
Phone: 0472 523 445
Email: leo@atrealty.com.au