Goal:
A property within our budget that has good rental (cash neutral after tax returns) with good capital growth. I felt I knew a fair bit and “wasn’t too bad at spotting a property” but I was concerned I may buy a dud or overpriced property and not renting and getting the right market timing.
Solution:
I realised that I am way short of professional – market timing doesn’t mean much – getting the right property in the right place means everything. Negotiation skills make the difference between getting the right property and not. They have connections which makes a big difference as well.
For many years, I waited for the right time and the right property – I now realise I just lacked the insight and skills. I nearly employed property buyer 10 years ago, but didn’t. I would have been so much further ahead if I did. We now have the property I wanted 10 years ago.
They are very professional – very understanding – very willing to meet you where you are at and take/help you through the process. They know their stuff and if you are not in the business then don’t kid yourself that you know where and when to buy etc.
Kevin Mason my agent was very professional, he did everything he could to make sure we were successful from finance to solicitors to explaining the nature of property buying and that there are always opportunities you just need to know how to find them. I felt his expertise in negotiation which snagged us the property at a great price in an awesome location. Typically, I would have missed even getting to make an offer on such a property, the under-contract sign appears while you are still thinking about it or the offers just keep going higher till you feel it is too high then afterwards you realise you should had offered higher to get the property. Kevin was great the fees are a small price to pay as a good investment will grow way more that the fee you pay. The negotiation alone can easily pay for the fee quite likely more than the fee.
“They know their stuff and if you are not in the business then don’t kid yourself that you know where and when to buy.”
David G., Customer Service Team Leader
Buyers' Agent Comment:
I had worked with David & Sue initially the year before putting together a suitable property and strategy but due to a change in David’s work, he decided to place things on hold and David re: organised finance pre: approval a year later. The budget had changed considerably due to the new tougher lending guidelines for investors, so we had a tight budget to work with and although I knew it was not going to be easy my experience told me if we were patient I would be successful in locating the ideal property and I worked efficiently and tirelessly day and night looking to find the best possible property for David and Sue and looking for that one property to stand out from the crowd.
Finally, I found a unique property in a very central location close to a new transport interchange that is under construction, close to a major Regional CBD, close to beautiful beaches, transport at the front door and a location that is set to become a thriving hub which also came with an existing tenant. The property had some unique features with pleasant North facing district views, and I knew this was a rare buy at the price point in this location that has so much future potential and we had to move efficiently to secure ahead of the building competition and other potential buyers. The property was in fact as much as $100,000 below new comparable properties and we purchased it around $20,000 below market value. I knew the vendors were motivated and were selling to fund a renovation they were doing, so we worked quickly to present a thorough report on the property, after being one of the first to view and David allowed me to work quickly and efficiently in placing an offer below market value and dangling the carrot to the vendors noting that my clients were in a position to exchange contracts ASAP, did not need to sell & had the 10% deposit at the ready. We were surprised when our offer was accepted, however the agent wanted to continue to show buyers and run another open for inspection rather than advertising as “under offer” or “under contract” as she had several buyers who had booked to view.
Knowing time was of the essence, we efficiently completed all due diligence including full market appraisal report, deciphered the strata search and I made personal contact with the strata company to close out a few questions we had from the strata search report plus had a local very efficient solicitor also work behind the scenes to complete all contract due diligence and provided the selling agent & vendors solicitor with a signed contract along with co-ordinating payment of the 10% deposit and for a motivated vendor this is hard to knock back. One vendor had flown to Melbourne and was unable to sign the contract for a few days so there was a tense period where I kept the pressure on the selling agent and the solicitor kept in communique with the vendors solicitor so everyone was in constant daily contact so all parties were well aware that my clients David & Sue were in a position to proceed unconditionally. I also highlighted to the selling agent that there were a few unknowns in the strata search report and this may put off other buyers if they were not willing to do their homework.
All in all, I am delighted we were successful with securing this property which placed my clients in the winning position. If a few days had gone by or David had procrastinated, the opportunity would have gone by as I found out after exchange that the agent indicated she had other buyers willing to proceed and we would have been in a Dutch Auction scenario and then competing against multiple buyers and hence the price may have increased considerably.
Kevin Mason
