When Michael Jones bought his first home in 2017, his wife was pregnant with their first child.
The two-bedroom apartment at Toplace's Area complex in Sydney was meant to be their "nest egg", a place to build memories for the young family.
Nine years and two more children later, his family has long outgrown the apartment.
Mr Jones is one of thousands of Toplace apartment owners left to pick up the pieces of the company's collapse amid an inquiry before the NSW Independent Corruption Against Corruption.
At the heart of it all is Toplace founder, Jean Nassif, who has remained defiant as he continues to defend the crumbled property empire he built.
At Area, temporary steel props have been supporting parts of the building since 2022, after engineers raised concerns about structural beams.
Owners have faced repair estimates running into the millions, with one structural issue alone estimated at $11 million.
Mr Jones projects he has spent an additional $150,000 on strata costs and repairs since 2017.
During Mr Nassif's highly-anticipated appearance at the ICAC this week, where he appeared twice, his rage was palpable.
At one point, Assistant Commissioner Fabian Gleeson SC intervened.
The 58-year-old denied he was hiding from Australian authorities in Lebanon, claiming he has not returned because he has faced multiple death threats.
Former ICAC assistant commissioner and chair of the Centre for Public Integrity, Anthony Whealy KC, said the inquiry has "shone a very unedifying light" on activities between the state's Liberal Party, lobbyists, and developers like Mr Nassif.