Someone this week described trying to buy a home in the current Perth market as like being in the Hunger Games. Having just had 92 groups of buyers through one of our properties and multiple buyers miss out, I could get where she was coming from.
So with so few properties, so many buyers and the majority of homes attracting multiple offers, how do you win the game?
Here are my top tips:
- You’ve got to be in it to win it
Obvious, right? But are you one of those buyers who won’t put an offer in if someone else does? Or that assume a home will sell for more than you can afford because of the numbers of people at the home open?
Know what they say about assumptions?
If you make an offer for a property, which with Docusign these days takes all of 5 minutes, what’s the worst thing that could happen? You buy a house that you love for a price you were prepared to pay – woohoo! Or, it sells to someone else for a price you wouldn’t have paid. You’re still alive and you move onto the next one a little wiser knowing that one wasn’t meant to be.
- Have your weapons at the ready
By this I specifically mean your financial ducks in a row. No seller or their agent wants to deal with a buyer that hasn’t yet spoken to the bank (or ideally a broker) about what they can borrow. And if you need to sell? You need to read my blog about trying to buy subject to sale: nutshell – you won’t get a look in – sell first.
- Play your own game
Forget about what everyone else is doing. Focus on what the property is worth to you and what you can afford. If there’s more than one offer remember you only get one shot. Make sure it’s your genuine best one. That said, make your offer an odd number – i.e. don’t land on a $10,000 or $5,000 – an extra grand or even few hundred dollars might be what nudges you ahead of another buyer and gets you over the line.
- Don’t try and be too clever
Put yourself in the sellers shoes. Sellers simply want the easiest route to a result. The more organised you are, the easier you are to deal with, the more attractive you look as a buyer. Conversely, load your offer up with conditions, or worse yet write your own, and watch the seller (and selling agent) run a mile. Cover your butt by all means but don’t try and give the seller a browneye.
5. Do your own research
And ditch those Automated Valuation Reports. They’re useless in the Perth inner city markets. I’ve lost count of the number of times buyers have lost out on a property because they relied on them. Nothing beats getting to know what’s around, selling and sold, yourself.
6. You don’t die if you lose.
You live to find another great home. Trust that the universe has something better in store for you – there will always be something else.
If you’ve made multiple offers on properties but keep losing out, maybe it’s time to change tactics. Perhaps your expectations are too high. Perhaps the market has moved and homes are worth more than you think. There’s myriad reasons why things might not be working out for you.
And my last piece of advice?
7. Politely ignore the well meaning input of friends and family
If you’re struggling to buy something, chat to a reputable local agent (or settlement agent) that can give you some straight forward advice about where things might be going wrong for you.
And may the odds be ever in your favour.
Natalie Hoye is the Founder and Licensee of Red Fox Property Group – a boutique agency doing things differently in the suburbs surrounding Beaufort Street. We call it ‘real estate achemy’: a genuine blend of science and intuition, marketing and magic, head and heart. The Red Fox Way. And we’d love to chat with you about your local real estate needs. Call us now on 0405 812 273.
