The Elephant In The Room Property Podcast | Inside Australian Real Estate

Multi-generational living is becoming a more common response to the uncomfortable realities facing ageing parents and their adult children.
With traditional aged-care pathways increasingly expensive, emotionally fraught, and often poorly understood, families are weighing up alternatives — staying at home, moving into residential care, or reshaping the family home through shared living arrangements and granny flats.
In this episode, we look under the hood of multi-generational living to explore what’s actually involved. From legal ownership and estate outcomes to pension eligibility, Centrelink rules, and family dynamics, we unpack the decisions families are making — and the risks they often don’t see until they’re already committed.
Our guest, Adriana Care, is Managing Partner at Coutts Legal and works at the coalface with families navigating these choices under pressure. She’s seeing a clear shift among the so-called sandwich generation toward property-based solutions for ageing parents — raising complex questions around money, fairness, control, and what can go wrong when good intentions meet poor planning.
This episode isn’t about whether multi-generational living is right or wrong. It’s about understanding the legal, financial, and practical realities behind these decisions before they become permanent.
Episode Highlights
01:18 — Meet Adriana Care of Coutts Legal
02:08 — Is Aged Care Failing Modern Families?
03:47 — The Legal and Financial Risks Families Miss
05:25 — Why Families Choose Multi-Generational Living
15:31 — Retirement Living vs Staying at Home
20:50 — How Retirement Village Contracts Really Work
25:40 — What to Know Before Making a Family Move
28:10 — Inside Retirement Village Agreements
28:55 — Disclosure Documents Explained
29:40 — Rules and Regulations That Catch Families Out
30:52 — How Family Dynamics Shape Care Decisions
32:21 — Financial Elder Abuse: Legal Warning Signs
35:29 — Binding Financial Agreements Explained
37:46 — Pensions, Gifting, and Centrelink Rules
40:21 — Why Downsizing Isn’t Always the Answer
44:02 — Granny Flat Arrangements: Legal Traps
49:42 — A Real Case That Shows What Can Go Wrong

About the Guest
Adriana Care is the Managing Partner at Coutts Legal, where she specialises in aged care and elder law. She works closely with families navigating some of the most complex and emotionally charged decisions around ageing, care, and family living arrangements.
Adriana advises clients on the legal and financial realities of home care, residential aged care, granny flats, and multi-generational living, with particular expertise in Centrelink rules, pension eligibility, and intergenerational asset arrangements. Working at the coalface, she sees first-hand how well-intentioned plans can unravel without clear structures, proper advice, and early conversations — especially for the sandwich generation balancing parents, children, and property decisions at the same time.

Connect with Adriana
LinkedIn
Coutts Lawyers (Instagram)

Resources
Visit our website: https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au

What if our homes did more than just provide shelter? What if they could actually contribute to the health of the planet and the people living within them? In this episode, we sit down with Caroline Pidcock, a visionary architect and champion of regenerative design, to explore why Australia’s current approach to housing is falling short—and how we can change it.
Caroline shares her deep expertise on the "Circular Economy" and why we must transition from merely being "less bad" to being "positively good" for our environment. We dive into the hidden health risks of poorly designed homes, the reality of building for extreme weather, and why the "bigger is better" mindset in Australian property is a trap.
What we explore in this conversation:
Regenerative vs. Sustainable: Why doing "zero harm" isn't enough anymore.
The Circular Economy: How to treat buildings as material banks for the future.
Health and Architecture: The impact of light, air quality, and materials on your daily well-being.
Building Standards: A look at why Australian regulations are trailing behind global leaders.
Retrofitting for Resilience: Practical ways to improve existing homes for a changing climate.

Whether you are a homeowner, an investor, or simply curious about the future of our cities, this conversation will challenge you to think differently about the spaces we inhabit. Hit play to learn how we can build a future that thrives!
Episode Highlights
00:00 — Welcome: Rethinking How We Build
01:13 — Caroline Pidcock: Beyond Sustainability
04:18 — Fixing the Flaws in Modern Design
07:06 — Regenerative Design in Action
17:17 — Policy Shifts for a Livable Future
20:47 — Growth vs. the Environment
23:23 — Hard Lessons from Failed Developments
26:08 — How Our Cities are Evolving
27:47 — The Reality of Melbourne’s Planning
31:43 — Regional Living & Staying Connected
33:08 — Leading the Charge for Urban Change
35:49 — Simple Tools for Sustainable Living
37:20 — The Hidden Hurdles of Rezoning
40:54 — How Density Affects Our Communities
48:23 — Final Thoughts: A Legacy for the Future
About the Guest
Caroline Pidcock is a renowned Australian architect and advocate who has dedicated her career to sustainable and regenerative design. With decades of experience across residential and commercial projects, she is a past President of the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC).
Caroline is a leading voice in the "Living Building Challenge" and is deeply committed to the principles of the circular economy. Her work focuses on creating spaces that are not only carbon-neutral but also enhance the biological and social systems they inhabit. Recognized for her leadership in climate action within the property industry, she continues to influence policy and practice to ensure a resilient and healthy built environment for future generations.
Connect with Caroline
Caroline Pidcock’s LinkedIn

Property investing has rarely looked more seductive—or more dangerous. In this episode, Veronica and Chris unpack the growing gap between how property portfolios are being sold and how risk is quietly stacking up beneath the surface. As regulators tighten lending rules and banks pull back, the question isn’t whether the rules are changing—it’s whether investors are paying attention.
The conversation dives deep into aggressive lending practices now under scrutiny: trust lending, SMSF borrowing, equity extraction, and the promise of “instant equity” through optimistic bank valuations. Veronica and Chris challenge the idea that buying multiple properties fast is a strategy, exposing how many portfolios are built on valuation certificates rather than fundamentals—and what happens when interest rates rise, rents soften, or lending conditions tighten.
They also examine the uncomfortable incentives driving this behaviour: buyer’s agents rewarded for volume, brokers pushed to maximise borrowing capacity, and everyday Australians—often in their late 40s and 50s—being sold complex structures they don’t fully understand. From regional markets distorted by borderless buying to SMSFs loaded with illiquid property, the risks are not theoretical—they’re already unfolding.
This episode is a warning shot. If your strategy relies on constant refinancing, rising valuations, or ever-looser lending, this conversation will force you to rethink it. Because when the cycle turns, the consequences won’t be shared evenly—and paper equity won’t save you.
Episode Highlights
00:00 — Introduction to Property Investing Risks
01:11 — Regulatory Crackdown on Risky Lending
01:46 — The Role of Buyer's Agents and Brokers
03:19 — Trust Lending and Self-Managed Super Funds
12:19 — Instant Equity and Market Manipulation
18:40 — The Pitfalls of Following Bad Advice
24:28 — Questionable Advice from Buyer's Agents
25:32 — Judging Awards and Industry Practices
26:16 — Vulnerable Investors and Risky Promises
27:13 — APRA's Role and Investor Lending Trends
29:31 — Superannuation and Property Investments
35:32 — Private Lending and Market Risks
42:53 — Cross Collateralization and Loan Structuring
48:54 — Conclusion and Final Warnings
About the Host
Chris Bates is a mortgage broker and co-founder of Alcove, working with clients across Australia to help them navigate complex property and lending decisions. Known for his data-driven approach, Chris specialises in long-term strategy, lending structures, and helping buyers avoid costly financial mistakes.
Veronica Morgan is a buyer’s agent and property strategist with nearly two decades of experience advising owner-occupiers and investors. With a background in research, data analysis, and on-the-ground buying, Veronica is widely respected for cutting through market noise and focusing on fundamentals, risk, and long-term outcomes.
Together, they bring a practical, evidence-based lens to Australia’s property market — challenging assumptions and unpacking what actually matters.
Resources
Visit our website: https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au
If you have any questions or would like to be featured on our show, contact us at:
The Elephant in the Room Property Podcast - [email protected]
Looking for a Sydney Buyers

Australian property prices are often treated as a national scoreboard—up means success, down means failure.
But what if that assumption is wrong? In this episode, we interrogate one of the most polarising ideas in housing today: that Australia’s obsession with ever-rising property prices is doing more harm than good.
Joining Veronica and Chris is Adam Schwab, founder of Luxury Escapes and a sharp, outspoken commentator on economics, inflation, and corporate behaviour. Coming from outside the property industry, Adam brings a contrarian lens to housing—questioning whether property has become an unproductive asset, how easy credit and government incentives have distorted prices, and why policies like 5% deposit schemes may be helping vendors more than buyers.
The conversation digs deep into rental yields versus capital growth, the role of the RBA in inflating asset prices, and why high house prices don’t actually benefit most owner-occupiers. Adam challenges the idea that owning property equals success, arguing that Australia’s fixation on housing is crowding out productive investment, innovation, and long-term economic resilience.
This is a robust, sometimes uncomfortable discussion about incentives, risk, and who really wins when property prices keep climbing. If you care about affordability, fairness, and the future of Australia’s economy — not just short-term price movements—this episode will force you to rethink what “good” housing policy actually looks like.
Episode Highlights
00:00 — Introduction to the Episode and Guest
00:56 — Adam Schwab's Contrarian Views on Property
01:37 — Debating Property Prices and Investment
02:49 — Renting vs. Buying: A Financial Analysis
05:43 — The Impact of High Property Prices on Society
19:02 — Monetary Policy and Housing Market
26:50 — Reverse Mortgages and Their Implications
27:32 — The 40-50 Year Loan Debate
28:31 — Government Policies and Housing Market
29:09 — Economic Logic vs. Political Motives
29:33 — Risks of New Property Incentives
31:22 — Banking System and Housing Bubble
33:41 — Immigration and Housing Affordability
35:28 — Leveraging and Property Investment
42:20 — Comparing Property to Other Investments
47:53 — Global Talent and Property Prices
49:51 — Concluding Thoughts on Property Market
About the Guest
Adam Schwab is the co-founder of Luxury Escapes, one of Australia’s most successful global travel businesses, which he helped scale into a billion-dollar brand. Beyond entrepreneurship, Adam has built a parallel career as a respected financial journalist and commentator, known for his sharp critiques of corporate behaviour, economic policy, and market incentives.
He is also the co-host of The Contrarians podcast, where he regularly challenges mainstream narratives on markets, inflation, and government intervention. Unafraid to question sacred cows — including Australian property — Adam brings an outsider’s perspective grounded in economic fundamentals rather than industry orthodoxy.
In this episode, Adam applies that contrarian mindset to housing, offering candid insights into why Australia’s property system rewards asset inflation over productivity, how easy credit fuels bubbles, and why policy settings may be entrenching inequality rather than solving it.
Connect with Adam
Adam’s LinkedIn

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