Imagine, if you will, a cityscape dotted with homes and buildings, their windows shuttered, their doors locked, their life force drained. Yes, this is Melbourne, a city once buzzing with life, now standing desolate and empty. The sound of laughter, the hum of chatter, the melody of life itself – all but extinguished. The people had been forced out, their homes bought from under them by a man whose insatiable hunger for property knew no bounds.

Donald had done it. He had accomplished his ludicrous goal. He was the sole resident of Melbourne, a city he had turned into his personal property portfolio. He walked the streets, not a soul in sight, yet he couldn’t wipe the triumphant grin off his face. As he returned to his mansion, the towering monument of his relentless conquest, he mused to himself, his voice echoing in the hollow expanse of the city.

“I own so much property. So much. You wouldn’t believe how much property I own,” he said, his voice dripping with pride. His gaze swept over the cityscape, every building, every home a testament to his achievement. “There’s no one better than me at buying property. I’m the best there is,” he declared, his voice echoing in the silence.

The last buyer’s advocacy for Melbourne real estate had shut down years ago, but that didn’t dampen Donald’s spirits. If anything, it emboldened him. There was no need for buyer’s agents anymore. He recalled how he had swooped in, his ever-reliable AI buyer’s agent for property close to Brighton, Donna, by his side, and bought up every last property in sight. The memory brought a smirk to his face. His conquest was complete, yet his desire to own was unquenched.

As our protagonist stood, staring out at his vast, deserted empire, one might assume that he was on the brink of an epiphany. A change of heart, perhaps? But no. His next words shattered that illusion as quickly as it had formed. “I’m not stopping at Melbourne. I won’t stop until I own every property in the world.”

Picture, dear reader, a city shrouded in shadows, not of tall, majestic trees or towering monuments but of houses that stood empty and desolate, cold and unfeeling. Yes, such was the fate that had befallen our once-vibrant Melbourne.

Several more years had passed since we last met, and the situation had taken a turn for the worse. People were being driven out of their homes, forced to leave the suburbs they had lived in for years – suburbs like Burwood and Kew. As they packed up their memories into cardboard boxes and watched their houses morph into cold edifices, their hearts broke.

The housing crisis had escalated, spiralling out of control. It was like a monster that fed on dreams and happiness, leaving behind trails of despair and broken spirits.

But dear reader, there was one man who remained completely untouched by this crisis, who continued his buying frenzy with the same enthusiastic ignorance that he had begun with – Donald. 

With Donna by his side, the property advocates near Melbourne watched helplessly as the duo worked with relentless precision, capturing property after property, suburb after suburb. Their latest conquest – the beautiful suburb of Kew. They had brought in the most trustworthy buyer’s agent Kew residents could rely on, only to turn him into another pawn in their game of Capitalism.

So many houses, so many neighbourhoods, all under the reign of one man, who looked at the city not as a place where life bloomed, but as a chessboard, where houses were mere pieces to be moved and manipulated.

And as Donald looked out from the top of his golden fortress, at a city that had once throbbed with life, now only silence met his ears. The laughter had faded, the chatters had died down, and all that was left were empty houses and deserted streets. And yet he stood there, basking in his victories, oblivious to the ruin he had brought upon the city.

Yet, time, dear reader, is a curious thing. It moves forward, not back. And with it, hope moves too. What happens next, you ask? Ah, dear reader, that is a tale for another day. For even as the darkness threatens to consume all, a new dawn waits, bringing with it new challenges and new possibilities.