James Thompson

Most property advice is one size fits all.
Your situation isn’t.

I’m James. I’ve been a buyers agent for years, and the thing that got me building this was watching how much of the industry just tells people “buy this suburb, save the deposit, see what’s next.”

No sense of the client’s actual position. No plan for the three moves after this one. No connection to what they’re actually trying to build over the next twenty years.

The way I’ve always worked with clients is different. I’d study the economy, run scenarios against their specific position, and help them visualise how they get from here to their long-term goal. Not “buy this house”. It was “here’s how this house moves you from Stage 2 to Stage 3, and here’s what Stage 3 looks like when you get there.”

Problem was, that only scaled as far as I could physically sit across from someone. Advanced spreadsheets you can’t hand a client. Verbal walkthroughs they can’t revisit. Anyone who wasn’t already engaging me couldn’t get the strategic framework applied to their situation.

So I built StratMap to be the tool I wish every Australian property investor had access to. The same strategic framework, self-serve, so you can see where you are, where you’re heading, and the actual next best move to get there.

StratMap started as an internal tool.

Every buyers agent engagement I run at Rethink Residential looks pretty similar at the start. A couple in their 30s or 40s, both working, one PPOR, one investment property they bought a few years back, a baby on the way or already here. Their broker just told them they can borrow for one more IP. They don't know where to buy, whether to buy, or what the next 10 years actually looks like if they do.

For years I answered that question in spreadsheets and PowerPoint. The output was a static PDF a client received once and rarely opened again. Between engagements, they had no way to see where they stood, model a change, or stress-test a new area their mate had recommended.

So I built the tool. First as an Excel calculator. Then as a single-page HTML tracker I could hand to clients. Then, over 18 months, as the platform you see today. The same tool I use in paid buyers agent engagements is now open to every Australian for $75 the first year, $99 after.

Property investing is a journey, not a series of transactions.

Every Australian investor navigates their own journey. From your first home to your retirement portfolio. Each stage has its own strategy, tax position, risk profile, and moves. Buyers agents get paid handsomely because we hold the map that shows the whole journey. Most investors have never seen that map.

StratMap is my attempt to change that. The methodology is the same one I use in client strategy sessions. Four stages of a portfolio journey, three pillars (Map, Match, Model), one tracker that models the whole thing under real Australian tax. The framework is the map. StratMap is where you live inside it.

My belief: if we give every Australian the same rigor and modelling that licensed strategists use, the whole market gets better. Fewer people overpay. Fewer people buy the wrong property for their stage. Fewer people leave money on the table at tax time. Fewer people trust a promise-based sales pitch when they could stress-test it in the tool first.

Buyers agent for Australian property investors.

Rethink Residential is a boutique buyers agency operating under the BuyersNet umbrella. I represent buyers on Australian property acquisitions across all states and territories. Residential and commercial. First investment through complex multi-property portfolios.

My engagement model is different from most buyers agents. Every engagement starts with a full StratMap strategy session where we map the client's journey. What stage they are in. Where they are going. What the sequence of purchases looks like. What the tax implications are. Only after the map is drawn do we start sourcing specific properties.

That approach means my clients typically build stronger portfolios with fewer regrets. Each purchase serves a documented purpose in a documented sequence. Nothing is left to chance.