Lease covenant risk
The headline rent means nothing if the tenant cannot sustain it. Private company tenants with no disclosed financials represent a category of risk that selling agents are not incentivised to surface.
Asset Management · Commercial Sales · Leasing · NSW
Independent conviction.
Before the capital moves.
Strategic commercial property intelligence for investors who understand that the quality of the advice determines the quality of the outcome — not the volume of the listings.
Keith Garrash Licensee in Charge · Director
Steve Mueller Director · Investment Services
"The most expensive mistakes in commercial property are made in the absence of independent counsel — not in markets."
Advisory Philosophy
Most advice is shaped
by the transaction.
This one isn't.
Commercial property markets are not short of information. They are short of independent analysis. The structural problem is that almost every professional involved in a commercial transaction earns more when the deal closes at a higher price — which means the advice you receive is filtered through an incentive that is never fully disclosed.
A fixed-fee advisory mandate removes this distortion entirely. The fee is agreed before the work begins and does not change based on whether a transaction occurs or at what price. The advice you receive is therefore the advice the situation deserves — not the advice that generates a commission.
This is not a subtle distinction. It is the foundation on which every recommendation is built.
I
Risk before return
Every acquisition analysis begins with what can go wrong — not with what the optimistic scenario produces. Protecting downside is the precondition for compounding upside.
II
Mandate integrity over transaction volume
The advice to walk away from an acquisition is as valuable as the advice to proceed. A mandate that cannot produce the former is not independent counsel.
III
Information asymmetry as the primary edge
The investor with better information consistently outperforms the one with better intentions. Market depth, relationship-led deal flow, and analytical rigour are the sources of that edge.
IV
Discretion as a structural advantage
Navigating acquisitions without exposing position — and sourcing opportunities before they are publicly marketed — requires relationships that take years to build and cannot be manufactured at the moment of need.
What most buyers miss
The hidden risks in
commercial acquisitions.
Sophisticated investors lose capital not from poor markets, but from avoidable information gaps — risks that were present and discoverable but that no one with a conflicting interest raised.
Above-market passing rent
An asset priced on a rent that is above what the market supports faces certain income reduction at renewal. The gap between passing yield and market yield is one of the most systematically mispriced variables in regional commercial markets.
Make-good liability
Lease clauses requiring tenants to restore premises at expiry are commercially unenforceable in many cases. A landlord who acquires assuming make-good compliance may inherit fitout costs never priced into the acquisition.
Unpermitted use
Many tenancies operate in uses that lack the necessary development approval. This risk transfers to the buyer at settlement — and enforcement post-acquisition can create forced lease termination and extended vacancy.
Functional obsolescence
An industrial building with sub-6m clear heights, inadequate power, or poor hardstand may support a narrower tenant market than the location suggests. Operational assessments reveal this before exchange, not after.
Deferred capital expenditure
A building's recent presentation says nothing about its capital expenditure pipeline. HVAC, roof, and services obligations in the first two to three years of ownership are the most common source of unpriced return dilution.
Advisory Services
The full advisory
lifecycle.
Client advisory · Wollongong
01 · Core Service
Asset & Portfolio Management
Active management of commercial assets across the full holding period — lease optimisation, rent review management, tenant strategy, capital expenditure sequencing, and portfolio rationalisation. Protecting income position and compounding capital value over time.
02 · Core Service
Commercial Sales
Off-market and on-market commercial sales across the Illawarra and broader NSW. Buyer profiling, timing intelligence, asset preparation, and process design — maximising sale value with independent counsel on both sides of the transaction.
03 · Core Service
Leasing
Strategic leasing advisory for landlords and tenants — site selection, lease negotiation, tenant covenant assessment, make-good obligations, and renewal strategy. Sitting on the right side of the table before any terms are agreed.
Experience Across Asset Classes
Occupiers, owners and
advisors served.
Keith has supported retail occupiers, property owners, and advisory firms across lease negotiation, acquisition, and property decisions across the Illawarra and Southern Highlands.
Rockmans
Millers
Crossroads
Katies
Nutrition Station
Australia Post
ING Real Estate
Lend Lease
Colliers
Le Wrap
Bon Bons Bakery
Past client associations — not endorsements or current mandates.
How the Mandate Works
A structured advisory
relationship.
1
Initial brief & mandate agreement
Define investment objectives, risk parameters, target asset class, and holding period. The mandate fee is agreed upfront — fixed, disclosed, and not contingent on whether a transaction occurs. The brief determines what constitutes a suitable acquisition and, importantly, what doesn't.
2
Market search & deal flow
Active sourcing across listed and off-market opportunities. Relationship-led deal flow in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands, and broader NSW surfaces opportunities before they become competitive. Candidates are screened against the brief before consuming due diligence time or budget.
3
Feasibility & independent assessment
Each shortlisted property is assessed across planning, physical, financial, and market dimensions — before presentation, not during due diligence. Zoning compliance, lease structure, covenant strength, building condition, return profile, and exit liquidity.
4
Negotiation across all variables
Price is one variable. Settlement period, deposit structure, make-good provisions, and warranty packages all affect effective acquisition cost and risk. Independent negotiation across all variables — with no incentive to close at any particular price.
5
Post-settlement advisory
Lease strategy, rent review management, tenant positioning, and eventual divestment planning. The same mandate integrity applies across the holding period — not a transactional relationship, but an ongoing advisory one.
Market Coverage
NSW · Illawarra ·
Southern Highlands.
Deep transactional knowledge built over two decades of active advisory, not desktop research. The relationships, the precinct nuance, and the deal flow that only comes from sustained presence in a market.
Retail · Illawarra Coast
Industrial · IllawarraWollongong
CBD retail, office, established industrial precincts. Primary Illawarra commercial investment hub.
Shellharbour
Retail, light industrial, marina precinct. High-growth residential catchment driving tenant demand.
Kiama
Coastal strip retail, tourism-adjacent hospitality. Scarcity premium in established commercial corridors.
Southern Highlands
Bowral retail, Mittagong commercial, Moss Vale industrial. High-income catchment, structural supply constraints.
Broader NSW
Active advisory capability for investors targeting specific asset classes outside the Illawarra region.
Off-Market Access
Relationship-led deal flow across all precincts and asset classes — before public listing.
Advisory Research
The Commercial Acquisition
Risk Framework
A structured guide to the risks most investors discover after exchange — covering lease analysis, planning due diligence, covenant assessment, feasibility discipline, and the negotiation variables that affect acquisition cost but rarely appear in an information memorandum.
Prepared for sophisticated commercial property investors. Not a marketing document.
Keiga Property · Advisory Research
7 Hidden Risks in NSW Commercial Property Transactions
Lease covenant & tenant financial assessment
Passing rent vs market rent analysis
Planning & permitted use verification
Make-good & capital expenditure liability
Functional obsolescence assessment
Environmental & contamination risk
Exit liquidity & buyer pool analysis
Confidential · Not shared · No marketing list
Keith Garrash
Director &
Licensee In Charge.
I have spent over two decades navigating commercial property transactions across NSW — not as a selling agent, but as an advisor whose mandate has always run to the client, not the transaction.
I have seen what happens when buyers make decisions without independent counsel: the lease that looked secure wasn't, the rent that looked sustainable wasn't, the building that looked sound had a capital expenditure obligation that nobody disclosed. These are not rare occurrences. They are the predictable result of a market structure where almost everyone at the table is paid by the other side.
The fixed-fee advisory mandate I operate under isn't a pricing model. It is a statement about whose interest the advice serves.
The Mandate Principle
"The fee is disclosed upfront and does not change based on whether you transact or at what price. The advice you receive is the advice the situation deserves — whether that means proceeding, renegotiating, or walking away."
Information on this site is general in nature and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Seek independent professional advice before making property decisions.
20+
Years in NSW markets
3
Core services
NSW
Licensed & independent
Also at Keiga Property
Steve Mueller
Director · Investment Services
Confidential Enquiry
Your next acquisition
deserves independent
conviction.
A confidential conversation. No obligation. No pitch.
Just an honest assessment of whether independent advisory is right for your situation.
— or book directly —
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6 Chapman St, Fairy Meadow NSW 2519