If you’ve ever looked around your home and wondered when exactly your spare room became a graveyard for forgotten hobbies and ‘I’ll use it one day’ purchases, you’re not alone.

Turns out, swapping more house for more life is becoming one of the Gold Coast’s biggest property trends, and the women behind Elanora-based Instyle Agency know exactly why.

Opening the business in September 2025, Instyle Agency is a boutique buyers agency founded by co-owners Nerida Smith and Amanda Campbell. Between these two house-hunting heavyweights, they bring decades of experience across finance, sales, property investing and negotiations, along with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Gold Coast market.

The duo specialise in helping buyers navigate what can often feel like one of life’s biggest decisions. Whether you’re relocating, purchasing your first home, investing or embracing a simpler lifestyle through downsizing, they’re here to represent one person throughout the process. You.

Unlike selling agents, whose job is to achieve the best outcome for the vendor, buyers’ agents like Instyle work exclusively in the buyer’s corner. That means one or all of the following; sourcing properties, uncovering off-market opportunities, researching values, arranging inspections, negotiating the purchase, and managing the entire process from search to settlement.

Translation? You get the goods (keys, profit, and someone else doing the ‘heavy lifting’) minus the stress, frown lines, and the frantic dash to smooth out the ‘11’.

What makes Instyle Agency stand out, though, is that their passion for downsizing comes from actual lived experience. It’s perspective you can’t get from Google – only from people who’ve walked the walk and come out lighter, brighter, and no longer held hostage by four bathrooms.

Not long ago, Nerida and Amanda traded their sprawling five-bedroom, four-bathroom abode for a breezy three-bedroom home that better suited the way they actually wanted to live. Less maintenance. Lower mortgage. More weekends doing things they enjoy instead of waging war on an endless list of household chores.

That personal experience shapes the way they work with clients. They understand that buying or selling a home isn’t just a financial decision; it’s an emotional one too. Every client has different priorities, whether that’s finding a low-maintenance lock-and-leave lifestyle, moving closer to family, relocating interstate or finally finding the home you’ve always imagined.

Plus, they’ve been helping family, friends and clients purchase property for years, have formal real estate qualifications, are licensed in both Queensland and New South Wales, and own property across both states.

Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all service, Instyle Agency tailors every search to suit each buyer’s lifestyle, goals and budget. Their transparent flat-fee structure keeps costs predictable, while their local knowledge helps clients avoid costly mistakes and spot opportunities others might miss.

For anyone considering downsizing but haven’t the foggiest where to begin, they’ve also created a free downloadable Roadmap for Downsizers. It covers everything from preparing your current home for sale to avoiding common pitfalls and choosing a property that supports the lifestyle you actually want (not just the postcode).

Whether you’re dreaming of less mowing, fewer spare rooms to clean or simply a home that fits your current stage of your life better, Instyle Agency is proving that buying property doesn’t have to be overwhelming. All it takes is having the right people in your corner and guidance that’s grounded in real experience.

Because the best move isn’t always into a bigger house. Sometimes, it’s into a better lifestyle with the freedom to trade chores for weekends and square metres for quality of life.

Website: instyleagency.com.au
Instagram: Instyleagency_
Facebook: Instyle agency

Words by Bianca Trathen

STORY SPONSORED BY INSTYLE AGENCY

Christie Leet has built a career around creating more than just places to live. As Lead of Sherpa Group, he is focused on thoughtful developments that deliver long-term value while helping residents connect, flourish and feel part of a genuine community. We caught up with Christie to chat about the inspiration behind Sherpa, the future of Gold Coast living and what’s next for the group.

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
I moved to the Gold Coast in January 2018, after a long real estate and development career in the Whitsundays, and a beautiful trip to base camp at the end of 2017.

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
Its accessibility and diversity. I’m an outdoors person and it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth to recreate. It’s large enough to be able to have a substantial business and career, yet small enough to become part of the community.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
My highest value is in fact my professional career. The community is extremely positive about our Flourish model, and the difference in that model is simply: whilst we are creating world-class buildings and amenity as other developers are, we are taking the next step and working hard to integrate our buyers and residents in those buildings into an active and engaging community.

It occupies my thoughts most of the day. However, in addition, I value my growth both personally and physically, so I’m often training, swimming and exercising. Freedom and flexibility is a very high value to me. As I’ve got a boat in the Whitsundays and family in the Whitsundays, I like to be able to go on a plane when the weather is good.

What inspired you to establish Sherpa Property Group?
What brought me to the Sherpas and Sherpa Group was the trip to base camp, where the Sherpas and the Nepalese people, who are such beautiful, humble people, which I hope we are as well, carried the bags for us to arrive at base camp. We certainly couldn’t have arrived at base camp without their expertise and humble efforts. To me, we do the same for our buyers and residents in our buildings. It’s not our journey – we simply facilitate their journey and see it through to the best conclusion for all parties.

What makes Sherpa different from other property developers?
What makes us different to other developers is that we focus on value for our buyers as our key metric, not development profit. You’ll never find us trying to break some of our records or sell for the highest amount per square metre, but you’ll always find us looking for ways to build more effectively, so that we can pass those savings on to our customers as part of their Sherpa journey.

Since arriving on the Gold Coast, Sherpa has completed or progressed 11 projects worth a combined $300 million. What are you most proud of from that journey?
We’re extremely proud of every project that we’ve done. We’ve done land estates, our Freedom model – which is more housing, such as Freedom Rainbow – and our Perspective model, which is generally one apartment per floor, beachfront. We were one of the early adopters in this space. However, we’ve now moved into our Flourish model, and I’m extremely proud of my team, consultants and builders for being able to deliver and produce product of such high quality, with good communal rec and an outstanding process for our buyers.

What do you think Gold Coast apartment buyers are looking for now that they weren’t five or ten years ago?
I think people are just really starting to realize the value of communal rec, and that communal rec being activated. Whilst the Gold Coast is a big surf community with the beach at the front doorstep to our beachside and our communities, I do think, with the advent of AI and as our buildings mature over the next five to ten years going forward, people will [want more] time to recreate at home. And it is now our intent to provide world-class facilities that everyone is proud to recreate at home with.

How do you balance affordability with your commitment to thoughtful design, quality and long-term value?
With a lot of effort and intentionality, but it’s extremely hard. However, unless you try, you never get there. We have a development brief that we use on every project, that is modified, and our passion is to find ways that we can do things quicker, better and more cost-effectively. And [on] the Gold Coast, we find the Council to be extraordinary to deal with – clear in their expectations and prompt in their approval process – which helps us pass real value to our buyers, as we start construction the day that we settle the site, so we don’t have any unnecessary interest expense.

What makes the Gold Coast an exciting place to develop, and what responsibility comes with helping shape such a fast-growing city?
The Sherpa Foundation contributes back to the community, not only from the profits we make but part of every settlement we give a donation to a local group, as part of our Flourish model. We are in a three year partnership with Palm Beach Boardriders and love to sponsor local, grassroots community groups like Palm Beach Neighbourhood centre. We also have monthly contributions to Fred Hollows, Make-A-Wish and others.

What role should property developers play in strengthening the communities they build within?
Not all buildings create a sense of community, in fact many one per floors I don’t think create a sense of community at all, and that’s why we’ve moved to Flourish brand. For us, we’re maintaining the onsite caretaking and letting businesses, to ensure that the building is integrated with the people.

What’s next for you and Sherpa Property Group?
We have a really clear business plan for the next 11 years, and we have almost 800 apartments in the pipeline to build and develop over the next four years, so our path is really, certainly clear. In fact, our annual business planning day was simply called “locked and loaded.” We just have to deliver on the plan that we have in place currently.

How do you choose to spend your days off?
I like to exercise, I like the beach, I like to travel, primarily to my boat. And I’ve got lots of good friends to look and sit around with, so that I have something fun. And I wait for great ideas to pop up.

STORY SPONSORED BY SHERPA GROUP

From handcrafted furniture to thoughtfully curated interiors, Simone Kira has helped shape Kira & Kira into one of the Gold Coast’s most respected design destinations. Alongside her husband Grason, she’s built a business founded on timeless style, quality craftsmanship and a passion for supporting local artists and makers.

A Gold Coast local for 20 years, Simone believes the city’s design scene is evolving beyond the classic coastal aesthetic, embracing richer textures, warmer tones and homes filled with personality. We caught up with Simone to chat about the journey behind Kira & Kira, the future of Gold Coast interiors, her favourite local spots and why great design is never about following trends.

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
20 years.

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
I do love that even though the GC has grown so much in recent years it still has a sense of community.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a bit of an introvert extrovert. I do love my time in the business with my beautiful staff and clients. I love laughing, making people happy and making yummy food. My love language is definitely gift giving. But I also like time on my own with my dogs and hanging with my sons. They keep me grounded.

What inspired you to start Kira & Kira?
I love helping people to create spaces that evoke emotion. I have a very eclectic style. I love supporting local artists and helping people do what they love.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned as a business owner?
Being able to pivot when times get tricky. Owning your own business is not easy. We have experienced a lot of ups and downs over the past few years.

What’s one design trend you’re loving right now?
I’m not much about trends. I love timeless and eclectic. I do love chocolate tones in furniture and colour, which is hot right now.

If someone wanted to instantly elevate their home without spending a fortune, where would you tell them to start?
An Armadillo rug. It’s like layering a great piece of jewellery into your home.

How would you describe Gold Coast style when it comes to interiors?
For a long time the Gold Coast was very much coastal luxe. Lots of whites, beiges and neutral tones, with that relaxed beachside feel. But I think it’s changing.

With so many people moving here from Sydney and Melbourne, we’re seeing interiors become a little more contemporary, layered and sophisticated. There’s still that connection to our coastal lifestyle, but people are embracing richer colours, walnut timbers, warmer fabrics and more eclectic pieces that tell a story.

I think we’re moving away from the Palm Springs and Mediterranean influences that have been so popular and towards a more European feel. It’s becoming less about following trends and more about creating thoughtful, timeless spaces with personality and character.

What’s next for Kira & Kira?
We’re continuing to build on our local, community based presence in the furniture and interior design space. I think people are really craving genuine customer service and thoughtful, bespoke design rather than cookie-cutter solutions. So we’re going to continue doing that in all our upcoming projects.

We also have some exciting art events and collaborations in the works, so watch this space!

What are your Gold Coast favourites?

Café: Burleigh Baker and Lakeview
Restaurant: Lars and Little Itoshin
Bar: I don’t drink, so not much help here.
Beach: Tallebudgera and Miami

How do you choose to spend your days off?
At the gym, pottering at home or at North Stradbroke.