Ever since orthodontist Dr Raj Gaddam arrived in Australia in 2011, he planned to live in Hobart. Partly because he fell in love with the city, and largely because he fell in love with a girl named Sari at a Hobart cafe. In 2020, they got the opportunity to make the move, buying a practice from a retiring orthodontist.
They moved in the middle of a housing crisis, finding a rental through a chance encounter. ‘Believe it or not, we found a rental because the guy installing our HICAPS machine had a sister who had a rental property,’ Sari recalls. ‘When we moved in, we just fell in love with the view and the quiet. We loved it despite the fact the owners lived across the street.’
They had a friendly relationship with the owners, nonetheless, and made it clear that any time they felt like selling, the Gaddams were willing buyers. But they weren’t going to push it, as they had the practice purchase to sort out.
‘Then a few weeks after we'd settled on the practice building, the owners knocked on the door and said, “Actually, we want to sell”. And we looked at each other and said, “But we've just bought another building. This is really bad timing”.’
A long road back to orthodontics
To make that timing all the more frustrating, Dr Gaddam had just spent several years re-doing a qualification for a specialty he was already eminently qualified in.
Originally training in India as a specialist orthodontist, he had run a Swiss-funded cleft palate clinic and lectured in orthodontics at university. In 2011, under sponsorship by the Tasmanian Government to work as a general dentist, Dr Gaddam moved to Australia, met Sari and fell in love. After they married, they began discussing how he could get back to doing what he loved.
‘When you come to Australia, there aren't pathways for specialists to be recognised,’ Sari explains. ‘In 2016, we started talking about how we could make this happen.’
They decided he had two choices – go back to university and re-qualify or join the army. At the end of 2017, he sat for interviews for his doctorate, and at the same time, went down the path of enlisting. As it turned out, he was accepted as a captain in the army on the same day he was offered a place for his clinical doctorate through the University of Queensland. The problem: both the army job and doctorate were in Brisbane – 2,380 kilometres away from Hobart.
The opportunity to return home
University posed a whole new set of challenges for Dr Gaddam. Not so much in terms of orthodontic skills, which he had under control. There were other skills that he wanted to master regarding more cutting-edge techniques, patient interactions and the modern equipment that he didn't necessarily get to use in India. It was also a good opportunity to expand his knowledge.
Despite that, Hobart remained home in their minds. ‘It's a great place to live and a really great community,’ Sari explains. In his second year of university, Dr Gaddam was approached by a local orthodontist, Dr Tim Wigmore, who wanted to retire and sell his practice. ‘It just seemed like a perfect opportunity to come back,’ says Sari.
A trusted banking partner
When they were looking for finance to buy the practice, they spoke with a number of lenders, including BOQ Specialist’s Ursula Coetzee. They ended up seeking finance from another bank, but a short time later they had the opportunity to buy the building the practice was in and immediately thought of Ursula.
‘We remembered how helpful and very approachable Ursula had been,’ says Sari. ‘We are people who make personal connections, and we like to proceed with those. Once we know people, we like to stick with them.’
Nowadays, Sari works as practice manager in Dr Gaddam’s practice when she’s not looking after their two children. ‘It's been a huge year,’ she laughs. ‘But a very rewarding year. It feels great to know that we've started out on the rest of our lives – our home, our business, and our family. And everything's on track.’
A place to call their own
For BOQ Specialist, residential property transactions like the Gaddams' are smooth sailing for the bank. ‘Because we already had the commercial relationship with Raj, and had financed the purchase of his commercial property, we really knew the inner workings of his orthodontic practice,’ explains Ursula. ‘So, when it came to getting a residential loan approved, that made it a lot easier.’
While it may have been a year of big change, one upside for the Gaddams is their big purchase didn’t require a moving van. ‘The property itself was the one they were already renting,’ says Ursula. ‘So once settlement came across, they didn't have to move anything.’
One banking relationship, multiple milestones
From practice ownership to purchasing a family home, see how specialist banking can help support your personal and professional goals.
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