The Property Whisperer

The dominant narrative surrounding retail property in Australia at present is one of ‘doom and gloom’ due to the impending arrival of internet giant Amazon. While there is no doubt that the retail environment is challenging, and competition is rising, Sentinel is not a subscriber to the widespread panicked views of approaching retail armageddon. Retailing, like many […]

The past quarter has seen Sentinel continue to grow its investments in the regional office sector and also finalise further strategic retail property sales. Sentinel is both a buyer and a seller in the current market as we investigate all opportunities to maximise returns for our investors. Our latest office investment is a premium-grade commercial […]

The start of 2017 has seen Sentinel complete the sale of the Hunter Supa Centre retail homemaker centre at Rutherford in NSW for $42.25 million, a property we acquired in May 2013 for $18.5 million. The Sentinel Rutherford Homemaker Trust produced a total Internal Rate of Return of approximately 47.05%.  Investors received $2.62 for every $1 […]

Sentinel has kicked off the year by continuing its expansion in the regional office sector, settling the purchase of two new properties at Port Macquarie on the Mid North Coast of NSW and at 200 Creek Street in Brisbane. These latest acquisitions mean we have now secured four properties for the new pooled Sentinel Regional […]

One thing that the events of 2016 have clearly highlighted is that the so-called experts pushing the mainstream narrative are not always right. The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, after being written off and dismissed by just about everyone, has proved this once and for all. The experts can be, […]

It has been another big year for Sentinel as we continue to grow our presence in our chosen asset classes and expand into new markets and locations not yet identified by others, in particular in the regional office sector. We also continue to take money ‘off the table’ when opportunities arise for strategic divestment. Sentinel’s […]

The interest rate guessing games continue but Sentinel will be staying the course. We took a strategic decision three years ago to stay with variable interest rates, when almost all the so-called experts were saying to lock into fixed rates. People ask what will we do when interest rates rise? They still do not understand. […]

The past quarter has seen Sentinel continue its strategic divestment of assets, capitalising on the growing weight of capital that is actively chasing properties in our chosen sectors. Neighbourhood shopping centres, in particular, are in strong demand and we have bought very well in this market in key regional locations. We identified this asset class […]

Sentinel’s approach to debt has gone against the grain of conventional industry thinking as we have not shied away from working with higher gearing levels in order to deliver higher returns directly to investors. Managing Director of Sentinel Property Group, Warren Ebert addressed the issue of high gearing at the recent Property Funds Association conference […]

Sentinel’s unique approach to capital raising is matched by our focus on pure property fundamentals, rather than financial engineering. Our returns are paid solely from rental income and are maximized through active hands-on management and value-adding by our team of property specialists. We have been unashamedly an opportunistic buyer of non-core assets, essentially buying what […]