Summit helps Sydney homeowners living overseas navigate their renovations with confidence. With someone representing your interests on the ground, you can keep your project moving, stay informed and make the decisions that matter — wherever you are.
Founded by Nicole Darragh CPA, former bank Chief Operating OfficerCOO, who spent 26 years living overseas.
Free and no-obligation. Arranged around your time zone.
Life overseas comes with its own commitments. A renovation back in Sydney adds another set of demands — meetings, decisions, follow-ups and questions that rarely arrive at a convenient time.
With Summit representing you on the ground, emerging issues reach you early, your budget stays visible, and important decisions come to you with the information you need to make them.
Your architect designs. Your builder builds. Summit represents you.
You stay in control of your renovation. Summit takes care of the coordination around you.
Whether you're exploring a renovation, preparing for construction or already building, Summit provides owner-side representation tailored to your project and circumstances.
Our flagship service
Your renovation, represented from beginning to end.
For overseas homeowners who want one trusted point of continuity from early planning through to handover.
Remain informed and involved in the important decisions, while Summit helps coordinate the wider project and represent your interests on the ground.
Full RepresentationPlanning through to handover
Fixed planning fee + monthly construction fee. Handover included.
Start with clarity. Move forward with confidence.
For homeowners who want to establish the right foundations before committing to construction.
Get clarity on your priorities, project team, budget framework and the decisions ahead — without navigating the planning process alone from overseas.
PlanningPre-construction representation
One fixed fee.
Already planning with Summit Blueprint? You can extend into construction representation later, subject to availability.
Stay connected, without being on site.
For homeowners who already have their architect and builder in place but want someone on their side during construction.
Stay informed about progress, important issues and decisions while Summit provides an owner-side perspective in Sydney.
Construction RepresentationConstruction through to handover
Onboarding fee + monthly construction fee. Handover included.
One trusted point of representation across your renovation journey, keeping your priorities central and your decisions informed.
Gain clarity on your budget framework, timing and key risks, with a recommended pathway before making larger commitments.
A clear brief, a realistic budget framework and the right professional team in place.
Approach construction with key design decisions resolved, approvals tracked and a clear view of what's ahead.
Stay informed about progress, emerging issues and important decisions, with someone representing your interests in Sydney.
Navigate the final stages, documentation and defects follow-up with support through to completion.
Every engagement is tailored to your project's stage and the level of representation you need.
A complimentary conversation, arranged around your time zone.
Choosing the right team is one of the most important decisions you'll make for your renovation. When you're living overseas, knowing who to appoint and who to trust can be especially challenging.
Summit helps you identify, evaluate and appoint the architects, designers, builders and specialist consultants suited to your project.
You appoint each professional directly. Summit brings your perspective to the selection process, helping you make informed decisions with confidence.
How it works →A full villa renovation in Phuket, managed entirely from Hong Kong. The experience that shaped how Summit worked.
Bang Tao Beach, Phuket, Thailand
Phuket Villa renovation managed from Hong Kong
After 26 years overseas — eight in London and 18 across Hong Kong and Singapore — we delayed renovating our Sydney home until we'd moved back. Not because we wanted to, but because we didn't have someone on the ground we trusted to represent us.
We spent 17 months in a serviced apartment, working full-time and managing the renovation ourselves, without an established network of industry contacts.
But I'd already experienced what a difference having someone on the ground could make.
When we renovated our villa in Phuket while living in Hong Kong, our first attempt, managed directly by the builder, went over budget and stalled. The second time, with someone on the ground representing our interests, the project came together. In Sydney, we simply didn't have that person.
I don't believe homeowners living overseas should have to choose between moving their renovation forward and enjoying their life abroad. You should have someone representing your interests, keeping you informed and helping you make the decisions that matter.
That belief became the foundation for The Summit Residential Co.
Before founding Summit, I spent 28 years with leading global banks across London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney, most recently as Chief Operating Officer. As a CPA, my career was built on governance, risk management, financial discipline and complex programme delivery.
Today, I bring that same structured approach to something much more personal — your home.
Summit is the business I wish had existed for us.
If you're considering renovating your Sydney home while living overseas, let's talk.
Of course. Many homeowners manage their own renovations successfully, particularly when they have the time, experience and local support to do so.
But a significant renovation can involve multiple professionals, competing priorities and important decisions — often across difficult time zones.
Summit takes much of that coordination off your hands, giving you someone in Sydney who understands your priorities, keeps you informed and helps you stay involved where it matters.
That depends on your project, your availability and how much involvement you want to have while living overseas.
Summit's value goes beyond coordinating professionals and attending meetings. It's also about the time you get back, the confidence of having someone on your side in Sydney and the clarity you gain when making significant decisions.
For homeowners managing a substantial renovation from overseas, that support can make a meaningful difference to the experience.
You do. Summit helps you stay in control without having to manage every detail yourself.
Important decisions come to you with clear options, their implications and our perspective, so you can make informed choices from wherever you are.
Summit doesn't commit you to anything without your approval or outside the authority you've agreed with us.
For you. Summit is appointed by you and represents your interests throughout the renovation.
Your architect and builder have their own responsibilities. Summit's role is to represent your perspective across the wider project, keeping your priorities visible and helping you stay informed about the decisions that matter.
We work alongside your appointed professionals without duplicating their responsibilities.
Summit receives no referral fees or commissions from builders, consultants or suppliers.
During construction, through site visits, written Owner Reports, photo and video walk-throughs, and calls scheduled around your time zone. During planning, you receive your planning documents, updated at each milestone. Reporting frequencies are agreed in your Engagement Scope and depend on your pathway.
You contract with and pay your builder, consultants and suppliers directly. Summit tracks expenditure against the agreed budget and coordinates the review of invoices and variations, with anything requiring professional certification referred to the appropriate consultant.
Summit's fees are agreed separately and paid by you alone.
Summit charges fixed fees for a defined scope of representation, not hourly rates or a percentage of construction cost. Every engagement starts with a complimentary call. If Summit is the right fit, a fixed-fee Project Diagnostic follows, with its fee agreed before any work begins. Your ongoing fees are then set out in a Proposal & Engagement Scope for your project.
Ideally before the renovation begins, so Summit can help shape the brief, support the selection of your project team and set a clear plan from the outset (Summit Signature or Summit Blueprint). If your design, approvals and builder are already in place, Summit Keystone provides representation through construction and handover.
Summit does not design, certify, run tenders or administer building contracts, and is not appointed as superintendent or contract administrator. Those roles stay with the appropriately appointed professionals. You appoint and contract with each party directly, and material decisions remain yours unless authority is delegated in writing.
No. Summit is your presence on the ground. Selections, approvals and decisions are coordinated across time zones, with in-person moments planned around your visits where they matter most.
Let's talk about your Sydney property, your renovation plans and what having someone on the ground could change for you.
I work with a limited number of clients at any one time, so every engagement is personal and confidential. Calls are arranged around your time zone.