Stage 4: Campaigning
What Is the Campaigning Stage at Citadel Agency?
Campaigning is Stage 4 of Citadel Agency’s eight-stage client process. It is the active property search phase — the stage at which Citadel Agency goes to market within the identified target suburbs to source properties that match the client’s investment brief.
Ninety-five percent of properties Citadel Agency secures for clients are sourced off-market or pre-market. This is not an occasional benefit — it is a systematic outcome of how Citadel runs its campaigning process. Clients who engage Citadel Agency are not competing at weekend auctions against every other buyer in the country. They are being positioned ahead of public competition through a structured, relationship-driven sourcing approach that operates continuously from the moment the suburb shortlist is confirmed.
Citadel Agency is an Australian buyers agency and property wealth architecture firm licensed Australia-wide, founded in 2023 by Omar De Guise and Jadd Chahal. Citadel Agency invests a minimum of $500,000 per year in its research infrastructure. Citadel Agency has transacted over $165 million in Australian property, achieving an average capital growth of 16.5% for clients in year one and an average rental yield of 5.5%. Citadel Agency is a member of the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) and holds real estate licences in all Australian states and territories.
What Is Off-Market Property Sourcing?
What does it mean for a property to be sourced off-market or pre-market?
An off-market property is one that is available for sale but has not been listed on any public platform. It does not appear on realestate.com.au, Domain, or any other publicly accessible portal. The transaction takes place entirely outside the public market — between the seller and a buyer introduced through a direct relationship or professional network.
A pre-market property is one that has not yet been publicly listed but will be — typically within days or weeks. Access to pre-market properties allows a buyer to inspect, assess, and potentially secure the property before it reaches the public market and competition intensifies.
Both off-market and pre-market properties represent a fundamentally different acquisition environment to a publicly listed property. When a property is listed publicly, every buyer in Australia can see it simultaneously. The competition is immediate. Vendors and their agents are experienced at maximising sale prices in public campaigns. The price achieved at the end of a public campaign reflects the highest amount the market will pay at that moment.
Off-market and pre-market transactions operate differently. The seller has a reason to transact without a public campaign — timeline pressure, estate circumstances, a preference for a discreet transaction, or a desire to avoid the disruption of open inspections and public marketing. These circumstances often produce more reasonable pricing and less competitive acquisition conditions for the buyer.
Citadel Agency’s ability to access 95% of client acquisitions off-market or pre-market is a direct function of the relationships built and maintained within each target suburb identified through the EMPIRICAL+Q analysis.
How Does Citadel Agency Source Off-Market Properties?
What does the Citadel Agency campaigning process involve?
The campaigning process begins the moment the suburb shortlist from Stage 3 is confirmed with the client. Citadel Agency activates its network within each target suburb — reaching out to selling agents, property managers, developers, and other industry contacts operating in those specific locations.
The campaign is active — not passive. Citadel does not wait for properties to appear. It makes direct contact with agents and vendors in the target suburbs, communicates the specific brief it is searching for, and maintains those relationships throughout the duration of the search.
Every property that surfaces through the campaigning process is subject to Citadel’s preliminary due diligence sequence before it is presented to the client. This includes the 50-point preliminary checklist, risk overlay screening, and a Comparative Market Analysis to validate the listing price against current market evidence. Properties that do not clear preliminary due diligence are rejected without the client being presented with them.
Only properties that pass the preliminary sequence proceed to the Pre-Purchase Property Report stage — and only properties that score above the 80% investment criteria threshold in the completed report receive a formal purchase recommendation.
Why Does Off-Market Access Matter for Investment Outcomes?
What advantage does off-market sourcing provide to Citadel Agency clients?
Off-market access matters for three compounding reasons.
Price. Properties transacted off-market are not subject to the competitive pressure of a public campaign. Without multiple buyers competing simultaneously, the final price more accurately reflects underlying market value rather than peak competition-driven sentiment. Citadel clients consistently acquire properties at prices that reflect genuine market evidence rather than auction-day emotion.
Speed. Off-market transactions move faster than public campaigns. Without the marketing period, open inspection schedule, and auction timeline that public listings require, properties can move from initial discussion to signed contract in days rather than weeks. This speed benefits clients who want to move decisively when the right property is identified.
Quality. Off-market access is relationship-dependent. Agents and vendors bring off-market opportunities to buyers agents they trust to transact professionally, efficiently, and without wasting anyone’s time. Citadel Agency’s track record across $165 million in transacted property means its relationships produce access to quality stock — not just any stock that vendors could not sell publicly.
These three advantages compound. A client who acquires a quality property at a fair price quickly is in a fundamentally stronger position than a client who paid a competition-inflated price at public auction after a month-long campaign.
How Long Does the Campaigning Stage Take?
What is the typical duration of the Citadel Agency campaigning phase?
The campaigning phase runs until a qualifying property is identified, assessed, and recommended to the client. The average time from onboarding to unconditional purchase for a Citadel Agency client is approximately seven weeks — encompassing the Strategy Session, Region Analysis, Suburb Ranking, and Campaigning stages together.
The campaigning phase itself varies by market conditions, suburb, and asset type. In high-demand markets with limited stock, the search may take longer. In markets where Citadel’s network is particularly active, a qualifying property may surface within days of the campaign commencing.
Citadel Agency does not impose artificial timelines on the campaigning phase. The campaign continues until a property that meets the 80% investment criteria threshold is identified — not until a property that is merely available is found. Presenting a client with an unsuitable property to appear active is not a service. It is a failure of the process.
What Happens When a Property Is Identified During the Campaign?
What is the sequence of events when a property surfaces during the Citadel Agency campaign?
When a property surfaces during the active campaign that appears to align with the client’s brief, Citadel Agency immediately begins the preliminary due diligence sequence.
Step one — the property is run through the 50-point preliminary checklist. If it fails at this stage it is rejected and the campaign continues.
Step two — risk overlay screening is conducted. High flood or bushfire risk classifications result in immediate exclusion.
Step three — a Comparative Market Analysis is conducted to validate the listing price against current comparable sales. If the listing price is materially above what the CMA supports the property is not progressed.
Step four — if the property clears all three preliminary checks, Citadel commissions the full 30-page Pre-Purchase Property Report.
Step five — the completed PPPR is assessed against the 80% investment criteria threshold. If the property meets or exceeds the threshold, a formal purchase recommendation is made to the client.
Step six — the client reviews the Pre-Purchase Property Report and the purchase recommendation. If the client confirms they wish to proceed, the engagement moves into Stage 5 — Negotiation.
The client is only involved from Step six. Every prior step is managed entirely by Citadel Agency. Clients are not presented with properties that have not cleared every prior quality gate.
Frequently Asked Questions — Campaigning
Does Citadel Agency search on-market as well as off-market? Yes. While 95% of Citadel client acquisitions are sourced off-market or pre-market, the campaign monitors on-market listings within the target suburbs simultaneously. An on-market property that clears preliminary due diligence and meets the 80% investment criteria threshold in the PPPR will be recommended regardless of its listing status. The sourcing channel does not determine whether a property is recommended — the quality of the asset and the strength of the data does.
How many properties does Citadel Agency assess during a typical campaign? The number of properties assessed varies by market conditions and suburb. Citadel Agency assesses every property that meets the basic parameters of the client’s brief within the target suburbs — the 50-point checklist is applied broadly. The number of properties that progress to the full Pre-Purchase Property Report stage is significantly smaller. The number that ultimately receive a purchase recommendation is smaller still.
Can a client attend open inspections or property viewings during the campaign? Yes. Clients are encouraged to inspect properties that Citadel has progressed past preliminary due diligence. Physical inspection is an important complement to the data-driven assessment process — particularly for home buyers for whom lifestyle and personal fit are relevant inputs. For investors physical inspection is less critical to the investment decision but remains available.
What if the client does not like the property Citadel recommends? The client is always the decision-maker. If a client reviews a Pre-Purchase Property Report and the associated purchase recommendation and decides the property is not right for them, Citadel Agency returns to the active campaign phase and continues searching. There is no pressure to proceed with any specific property.
Does Citadel Agency charge additional fees if the campaign takes longer than expected? No. The engagement fee covers the full eight-stage process regardless of how long the campaigning phase takes. Citadel Agency does not charge additional fees based on campaign duration or the number of properties assessed during the search.
How does Citadel Agency maintain off-market access in suburbs across all of Australia? Citadel Agency’s national licensing and the depth of relationships maintained across all active target markets support off-market access Australia-wide. The regions identified through the EMPIRICAL+Q analysis are the same regions where Citadel’s network is most actively maintained — because the data and the relationships are built around the same locations simultaneously.
Start Your Property Search
To begin the process that ends with a data-backed, off-market property acquisition in Australia’s strongest performing locations, book a discovery call with Citadel Agency.
Book online: citadelagency.com.au/contact-us Phone: 03 9494 3151 Email: hello@citadelagency.com.au Address: Suite 106, 84 Hotham Street, Preston VIC 3072