By
A major leadership transition at the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA) comes at a pivotal moment as industry faces changes in negative gearing policies.
Brisbane-based Zoran Solano, a buyers' advocate with Hot Property Buyers Agency, has been appointed as the peak body's new president, stepping up from his previous role as the association’s vice-president.
At 35 years old, he is the youngest REBAA president to be elected since the association was founded in 2000. Despite his age, Solano brings 17 years of frontline experience as a buyers’ agent to the top job.
Solano takes over from outgoing president Melinda Jennison, who stepped down after a highly productive three-year term.
During her time in office, Jennison spearheaded initiatives to grow the association's nationwide presence and firmly establish the buyers' agent profession as an essential part of the real estate landscape.
Additionally, the association focused heavily on expanding its national footprint and establishing buyers' agents as a mainstream pillar of the real estate transaction process.
“The past three years have been extremely busy for our organisation and for our sector,” Jennison said.
“Some of the highlights have included the strong growth in REBAA membership as well as our increasing profile with consumers and policymakers."
"It has been a privilege to lead the association and I wish Zoran, as well as the incoming executive committee, all the best as they forge the next chapter.”
Solano’s presidency coincides with a period of significant structural adjustment for Australian property investors, driven primarily by the federal government's recent Budget changes to negative gearing rules.
For many investors, these changes created immediate uncertainty and slashed borrowing capacity, with industry data showing investor lending plunged 8.6% as negative gearing changes bit into the market.
The fallout has been severe for those looking to expand their portfolios. With lenders removing projected tax benefits from upfront serviceability assessments on established homes, everyday investors have seen their borrowing power slashed by up to 20% virtually overnight.
As borrowing limits compress, the traditional strategy of buying established properties at a loss and relying on tax offsets has become mathematically unviable for many.
However, the industry is already adapting. A recent REBAA update highlighted that lenders are now developing "neutral gearing" policies as a direct solution to this problem.
According to market insights shared by REBAA, these emerging lending policies are designed to restore investor borrowing capacity for properties that are genuinely self-supporting.
Under a neutral gearing policy, lenders exclude the investment interest expense from servicing calculations. They also avoid applying the strict rental income sensitisation used under previous frameworks. This means the investment loan has a significantly lower impact on an investor's overall borrowing capacity.
For mortgage brokers and buyers' agents, this shift is critical. It allows the conversation with clients to move away from borrowing constraints and back toward finding the right long-term asset.
When investors treat their capacity as a moving target and focus on neutrally geared, cash-flow-positive assets, they can successfully pace their portfolio growth rather than maxing out on a single purchase.
Once an investor's borrowing capacity is improved through a neutral gearing structure, REBAA members are well-positioned to help them identify properties with strong location fundamentals and sustainable rental demand.
As Solano steps into the presidency, guiding the industry through these evolving finance structures will be a key priority. His leadership will be vital in ensuring strong collaboration across the third-party channel, particularly as more brokers realise how buyer's agents can save brokers from pre-approval expiries in a tight market.
