Matilda Downard has sold a four-bedroom family home at 10 Wickham Way in Australind for $750,000 after 23 days on market, helping vendors who had lived there for 35 years secure their retirement property.
Matilda Downard faced an unusual challenge when a fellow volunteer at the Bunbury Toy Library asked if she could help sell her parents’ home — Matilda was 38 weeks pregnant at the time.
“Their daughter asked me if I was still selling, and I said, yep, sure, I can do that,” Matilda recalls.
The vendors had lived at 10 Wickham Way for 35 years and needed to sell quickly to secure a retirement home they’d found through Matilda’s colleague Nicole Kelly. The timeline was tight, the emotional stakes high, and the logistics complicated.
The preparation sprint
Matilda organised a painter with one to two days’ notice, helped the vendors clear furniture through Marketplace, and arranged professional photography to get the property to her database as quickly as possible.
“We wanted to get it out to our database to build momentum and interest before we launched to the public market,” she explains.
That database includes buyer’s agents and interstate investors waiting for the next opportunity. The strategy worked — multiple offers came through, some from locals and others from further afield.
The buyer who wouldn’t be ignored
The successful buyer had been trying to purchase through other agents and kept being ignored. When Matilda gave everyone a fair opportunity and disclosed the multiple-offer situation, the buyer moved decisively with an above-asking offer.
“We’re all in this together,” Matilda says. “I always give everyone an opportunity to make an offer. She wasn’t mucking around.”
The buyer later left a glowing testimonial on Rate My Agent, noting how different Matilda’s approach had been.
Timing and emotion
The Christmas period added pressure. The vendors received some lower offers early on, and the need to secure their retirement property created urgency.
“It was very emotional for them,” Matilda says. “It was just very fortunate that we had that final buyer come through at the last minute with the great offer.”
The Australind market read
Matilda sees strong activity across Australind, particularly for properties under $700,000 where first-home buyers compete with interstate investors.
“Those properties go super, super quick,” she notes. “That competition has really driven the market at that price point.”
The Clifton Park location helped. With Clifton Park Primary School just 500 metres away and Australind Senior High School within easy reach, the property appealed to families seeking education access and lifestyle.
Community commitment
Matilda’s connection to the vendors came through volunteering at the Bunbury Toy Library since 2020. That community involvement extends to her business approach — last year she donated $500 per settlement to Heart Kids in honour of her four-year-old son who passed away from a heart condition in 2024.
For this sale, she’s donated $1,000 to the Clifton Park Primary School P&C for their Cake Stall fundraiser at the Sports Carnival.
“The property is located in the Clifton Park Primary School zone, so it felt right to support that community,” she says.
About the Agent
Matilda Downard (formerly Matilda Van Dycke) from Umbrella Realty is a results-driven real estate professional with over a decade of experience across residential and commercial sales in Western Australia. She holds a Diploma of Property (Agency Management) and a Triennial Certificate, the highest level of real estate licensing in WA. Previously REIWA #1 for unassisted sales in Kalgoorlie before relocating closer to family in Bunbury, Matilda brings practical knowledge from personal experience buying, selling, developing and building property, and is known for her proactive approach, strong communication and tech-savvy marketing. Visit Matilda’s website for more information or call Matilda on 0429960431.