Property for purpose: how one local business is giving South Australian women a fresh start

Growing up, Kerryn Brownson spent plenty of time seeing other people's homes.

“My childhood was spent visiting open inspections and moving ten times in a decade, so I've always had an interest in architecture, design and property,” she says.

So after building a successful roller skating business, it made sense that she would look to develop her own property portfolio.

“I was interested in investing for myself, and usually when I do something, I do it well,” she says.

When she started seeing advertisements for buyer's agent courses, she decided to get a real estate licence.

Then it was a natural progression to open her own buyer's agency.

She founded 28^th St Agency in 2023 and has purchased more than $50 million worth of property on behalf of clients since then.

Kerryn works with both investors and owner-occupiers, collaborating with agents to find properties across the country before they go on the market and evaluating dozens of metrics to ensure they will increase in value.

Then she and her team conduct in-person inspections before submitting an offer.

Because 28^th Street is a certified B Corp, Kerryn doesn't take any referral fees from developers, mortgage brokers or banks.

“A lot of buyer's agents will recommend a broker and get 20% of the commission,” she explains.

“But I'm purely relationship-based, so I only recommend the people I think are the best of the best.”

Those relationships give her access to properties before they go on the market, but her favourite part of the process is negotiation.

“It's what I do the best, and I'm very, very good at it,” she says.

Kerryn recently secured a $20,000 discount for a buyer, but that's not the aspect of her business she's most proud of.

“I've always believed in profit for purpose where a business finds a way to give back,” she says.

In addition to donating a portion of every deal to Catherine House to support women experiencing homelessness, 28^th Street donates 5% of employees' time to the Empower Her program.

As a 52-year-old woman, Kerryn is all too aware that women over 50 are among the demographics most at risk of homelessness.

“I see so many women coming from abusive or narcissistic relationships,” she says.

“They don't have any finances, and they're just left out there with no support.”

So she started a program to provide a free buyer's agent service to women looking to own their own home.

She has already helped two participants buy their first home this year, and recently opened applications for another.

Her real estate expertise is an important part of the service, but Kerryn is also empowering them to reclaim control of their own lives.

“Sometimes people just need someone to lean on,” she says.

“Some of these women have suffered long-term emotional abuse.

They've been put down and told they're stupid until they find it really hard to make decisions.

They might not have family support, but having me on their side means they've felt confident enough to say yes.

I'm empowering them to stand up and fight for themselves, basically.”

After spending more than a year working with some of these clients, “it was just the most rewarding thing when we finally got a house together.

They tell me that I haven't just given them a home, I've given them safety and security.

One woman said she could finally breathe again, which is so satisfying to hear – that's why I do it.”

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1/134a The Parade, Norwood
W: www.28thStreetAgency.com.au
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