You want someone who has done this before and will tell you straight. One-on-one property education and personal mentoring with Nicholas Lockhart, in real estate since 1997, for people building wealth through property and planning for retirement.

A boutique family business, led by Nicholas Lockhart. We are not a developer, a builder or a bank, so we don’t set the price of anything you invest in. You come first, not a property. We sit down, I listen and I ask, and you gain from what I’ve learned in the market since 1997. I have a knack for taking what’s complex and making it plain. I look at where you are and where you want to be, then lay out the different pathways that could get you there, in simple terms, side by side. The decision is yours, and you make it with the full picture in front of you. Then we add everything around it: the education, the mentoring, and a steady hand from your first lesson to the day you hold the keys.

Nicholas Lockhart, educator and mentor

The hand on your shoulder

My wife and I bought our first home in 1988, and I stepped into real estate professionally in 1997. In 2001 I had laser surgery on my eyes. An older nurse stood beside the bed, and I wondered why she was there. Then my eyes were clamped open under the machine, and she took my hand and kept me calm. Walking out, I knew she had been the most valuable part of the day. That is the role I want while you learn: not doing it for you, but beside you while you do it.

Founded 15 May 2002

The MRD story

Late in 2001 I left the organisation I was contracted to. I was being asked to do things I could not square with my conscience, so I walked away.

I looked for an organisation that treated real estate as an asset to comprehend first, to cash flow, and to fit to a person’s own situation. I couldn’t find one. So on 15 May 2002 I started MRD. Real estate can do a great deal for the right person, but it isn’t one size fits all. It’s horses for courses.

For a time I also took listings from developers, on a non-exclusive basis. Before long the calls came: “Have you sold anything? What have you sold?” That is not how I work. I dropped the listings, took the properties off the website, and put people and strategy first. Only once someone was comfortable with a plan did we look for the property that fitted it.

The model has evolved again. Today I teach, so people comprehend what they own and gain clarity: real estate first, and alongside it precious metals and digital assets.

Your in-house concierge, from contract to keys and beyond

Like ringing the concierge.

Book a holiday rental in a strange city, and everything after you arrive is up to you. Stay at a good hotel, and you ring the concierge. Once you decide to act, our in-house concierge gives you that hotel service, as part of your mentoring. We are not solicitors and don’t write contracts, but we help you comprehend the one in front of you, from our years of experience. We keep your broker, solicitor, builder and seller in step, so you are not caught in phone tag. If a finance extension is needed, we arrange it with your broker and solicitor and tell you it is done. Where only you can instruct your solicitor, we are on the phone beside you.

How we work

Set n Forget, for busy people.

Learn

Finance, tax, structure, strategy: real estate has many moving parts. We model them with you and make the complex simple, so every decision is an informed one.

Decide

Together we craft a workable strategy you are comfortable with, for now and for your long-term goals. The decision is yours.

Contract

Our concierge turns your contract into plain words before you sign, so you know what you are agreeing to. Legal advice comes from your solicitor.

Build

Where there is a build, the choice of builder is yours. Nicholas helps you plan the progress payments with your broker, builder and solicitor.

Settle

Broker, solicitor, builder, seller, quantity surveyor and building inspector are all kept in step, so you don’t chase anyone.

Hold

Depreciation schedule, rental manager, building inspector: we introduce people we know are good. If one retires or lets you down, we help you find a better one, at no charge.

Set n Forget doesn’t mean careless. We take away every bit of friction we can, so you meet the big moments, like going unconditional, with clarity, and so with confidence.

Where we stand

Beside your team, not instead of it

We are not your solicitor, broker, lender, builder or developer, and we don’t replace them, but we know how to navigate their world. When you need an accountant, a solicitor or a broker, we introduce people we know are good. You are their client, not ours, and you pay them. Legal opinions come from your solicitor, and finance from your broker and lender. Tax, structure, super and investment questions are yours to take to your accountant, or another professional who holds the appropriate licence. The pathways we lay out give you something clear to sit down and talk through with them. We help you comprehend what they tell you, and we keep everyone talking. We teach and model; we give no advice, and the decisions stay yours. No deal should have a loser. We squeeze nobody: you get good service at a fair price, and you pay a fair fee for good work.

From the Library

Asset rich, cash poor: why equity is not income →

Your first investment property, step by step →

What MRD stands for

Mentoring

Guidance from people who have walked the path themselves. We teach you how real estate works and stay beside you, whether you’re taking your first step or looking at retirement.

Research

We research the market, then we research you: your goals, your borrowing capacity and your comfort with risk. Both shape what we teach you.

Development

We don’t teach you to be a developer. We teach how property development works, from a pair of duplexes up, so you can use it wisely. Then personal development, so a later decision doesn’t undo all you build.

Today, the same three letters stand for what I teach: Metals, Real estate and Digital assets. The Money library →

We are a boutique family business, so you deal directly with Nicholas, who has the lived experience, and our small in-house team. Nicholas mentors you and helps you comprehend. When you’re ready to act, our in-house concierge keeps your solicitor, builder and broker in step and tells you when each thing is done, from contract to keys and long after.

Where knowledge is lacking, fear fills the gap.

Nicholas Lockhart beside the lake, October 2026

I know that fear. In 2008 we bought an investment property we planned to renovate and make our home. When the global financial crisis hit, the lender withdrew the building funds, so we let it to tenants instead. Within two years it was worth less than we paid. My wife was worried. I wasn’t, because I comprehended what we owned and why we were holding it. We held on, renovated when we could, and we live in it today. It is worth far more than we paid.

What decides how you come through a crash is whether you comprehend what you own. That is what knowledge does.

Whether you’re taking your first step, well on your way, or living from what you’ve built, there is usually something you haven’t yet been shown. We model your options with your own numbers, and the decision stays yours. Before you take our word for anything, you can speak with people we’ve helped.

Nicholas Lockhart

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Clarity first. Confidence follows. The MRD way.

Doing this alone? A mentor to learn from, and a concierge to lean on.