By Munro Donen, Director & Principal, Propertybuyer East propertybuyer.com.au
The basics of buying a property are reasonably simple. The challenge is getting the most favourable overall result from the buying process. For example, price is important but often the best outcomes relate to the contract’s conditions. By using contract conditions to your advantage, it’s possible to make your offer more attractive than others, particularly in a competitive market.
It’s true that sales agents work for the seller and buyers’ agents work for the buyer, but they also have a common goal in that both want to get a deal done for their clients.
A great buyers’ agent has a different way of thinking about the agent relationship. They try to collaborate and work with sales agents to achieve a win-win for all parties.
Having that perspective can make all the difference when getting a purchase over the line that benefits our clients/buyers.
I recently had a client who was buying and selling at the same time. I decided to collaborate with the sales agent to make the process smoother. In this instance, our client was expecting to sell their property for $5 million, but the market had softened a little, and that figure was a bit too optimistic. The sales agent had received an offer that was just short of their expectations.
It was a stalemate, and they needed my help.
Whilst they might have needed to take a haircut on the sale price of their home, they were selling and buying in the same market conditions and the net result would be the same.
I conducted sales research and the evidence in the areas they were considering for their new home showed that we could get what they wanted for much less than what was being offered for their current home. They could achieve their desired net-positive result even if they accepted an offer below their expectations, confident in my advice that they would be able to secure a new home that meets their needs with money left over to enjoy a better lifestyle.
Another example occurred last week. Our client had been looking unsuccessfully for a home for a year on their own. I found an excellent pre-market opportunity for them with no sales agent involved at first. The vendor’s expectation was $4.2 million, but there wasn’t much value in that for our client as they were looking for a knockdown/rebuild opportunity.
The seller then appointed a sales agent and asked me to deal with that agent directly. I thought it was worth $3.6 million to $3.8 million… and she agreed. I held back from putting in an offer until after they had an open home where five contracts were put forward all well below the expected price. After two weeks on the market the feedback didn’t match the seller’s expectation. They needed to sell, so we came in with an offer of $3.5 million, we eventually secured this home for under $3.7 million, and our buyer was thrilled with the result.
Property buying and selling involves what is often one of the most expensive transactions in a person’s life. Mistakes can potentially cost tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars.
A buyers’ agent knows what to do, when to do it when making an offer, and most importantly how to do it.
While I am always working in the best interests of my client, there is absolutely no doubt that working with a sales agent to find solutions makes all the difference. My aim is for my clients to achieve their home-buying goals, and that means being open to discussing ways to reach great outcomes with other parties, including sales agent.
I find that sales agents respect my position as an experienced specialist who is working for the buyer. This means less nonsense when discussing the details of a purchase and getting the deal done!
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