Tag: buyers agent

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I’m a real estate professional but my own move was a nightmare!

By Michelle May

People say that death, divorce and moving house are three of life’s most stressful events. Well, I can certainly vouch for the third one! 

Having worked as a buyers agent for more than 14 years, it’s safe to say that searching and securing properties for clients has become second nature. However, my recent experience moving house has highlighted just how complicated the process can be when you don’t have a professional by your side. 

Even with my experience, plenty of moments highlighted how confusing and stressful things get when buying and selling a home! On the upside, the experience was undoubtedly educational and here are a few things that I learned.

Buyers agent Michelle May found her own home-buying experience a nightmare!

You can’t do it all. 

I am proud to say that my clients always experience a calm, organised and strategic approach when I help them buy their dream home. I’d love to say that’s how I handled my own move – unfortunately, it wasn’t! As a mother of two and a business owner, juggling everything on top of going to open homes, preparing to sell my house, and still buying properties for clients was tricky. 

Naturally, you get pulled in so many different directions on your property hunt that having someone independent by your side to save time and keep your search on track is crucial. Having an impartial ally also plays to the next point:  

It’s impossible to remove your emotions from the equation

Should you follow your heart or your head when buying a property? In reality, you need a good mix of both, but there’s a good chance that your emotional side has a louder voice than the logical! 

As much as we’d like to admit that we can be objective and assess a property for its investment potential, it is very hard to check your emotions at the door, especially factoring in your family members’ feelings. 

Again, finding someone independent and not afraid to tell you a few home truths is vital. If you don’t have access to a property professional’s expertise and strategic mind, find someone you trust. Make it their job to provide that analytical balance and ensure that the extra storage and picket fence don’t blind your decisions. 

Don’t let a time crunch control your decisions

There were points in the moving process where I felt like I had to make quick decisions and rush things along. That feeling was compounded by a to-do list as long as my arm. Spending such a long time in one house meant a lot to organise. 

However, putting extra time pressure on yourself is a sure way to make mistakes. Whether you’ve already sold and are looking for somewhere new to buy or have made an offer and need to sell to get your finances, rushing the process will only lead to bad decisions. 

Yes, there will be pressure to get things pushed through but try not to dance to someone else’s tune – unless you absolutely have to!

You don’t have to buy straight away but renting has its challenges

Many homeowners subscribe to the belief that paying rent is a waste of money. Why pay someone else’s mortgage off when you could be paying your own? However, six to 12 months of rent now can make you hundreds of thousands of dollars later. Effectively, you’ve bought yourself the time to make a smarter property purchase. 

However, be aware that the rental market in Sydney is crazy right now. I’ve been at open homes for houses that charge a premium, and there are still upwards of 30 groups waiting to go through. 

Subpar properties with bad layouts and damp problems are being snapped up. I’ve even seen plenty of great applications knocked back because others have offered well above the asking price.

There are phenomenal properties out there if you know where to look. Working with a well connected professional will help you find a temporary home that allows you to slow down, breathe and make a smarter investment in your next home.

-Michelle May is host of Buy Your Side podcast and Principal of Michelle May Buyers Agents.

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Life as a buyer’s agent: negotiation, relationships and a great bullshit radar!

In Australia’s hot property market, more people than ever are using a buyer’s agent. Tina Clark from Rose and Jones is one such agent, helping people find and purchase their dream home at the best price. 

Tina Clark

“I have always been pretty property obsessed and have bought, renovated and sold quite a few properties over the years,” she says. “I moved back to Australia from Hong Kong in 2012 and quite a few offshore friends were asking me to check out properties for them and bid at auctions. I did that on the side for quite a few years but over time, I just became more and more interested in the industry and finally I moved to working in it full-time in 2019.

Rose and Jones offered Tina a role, she got her real estate licence and she hasn’t looked back.

“Buying a home or an investment property is usually the biggest purchase people make. There are many nuances to the process and today, more than ever, I believe people need a seasoned negotiator to help them with the process. I put a huge amount of time into sourcing the properties for my clients, however I believe the execution is very often the major reason to entrust your search to a professional.   In this crazy market, we try to avoid auctions at all costs, but if we do go to auction, it’s amazing to see the difference a confident, experienced bidder can make to the overall result.”

Tina says buyers’ agents save people time and very often, a great deal of money.   “We also put a lot of effort into assessing recent sales in the area and working out where the price should sit for any given property.”

As well as founding the stylish storage brand Sagitine, Tina also worked as an institutional equity trader for over 20 years, mainly in New York and Hong Kong. “I traded for many large hedge and mutual funds globally and negotiated every single day at work. It gave me extensive experience in the art of negotiation and even better, a very sharp bullshit radar! I feel extremely confident in assessing situations and making quick decisions if necessary.”

Relationships are also key to her role and she makes a big effort to know the sales agents in the area. “We are privy to properties coming to market, often months before the public knows about them, ensuring our clients always get the first look.”

So, is the property bubble slowing down or at risk of bursting any time soon? “We are still seeing very robust prices and in some cases, just crazy prices,” Tina says.   “However it is becoming slightly harder to get mortgages approved as APRA recently tightened up their requirements. While the Reserve Bank has publicly stated they won’t increase interest rates until 2024, I think we would need to watch that carefully. As Australia reopens to the world post Covid, we could see the rest of the economy running as strongly as the property market and see a rate rise sooner rather than later.   

“In general, I feel like we are seeing prices find a level and behave in a more steady fashion at the moment. Stock is still incredibly tight, making our role even more necessary for home buyers.”

One of Tina’s recent favourite searches was in Palm Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. “Driving there each week and viewing such beautiful homes was a real pleasure. I did buy an apartment in Freshwater this year that was particularly satisfying. My client was an expat living in Europe and he wanted to be able to walk to the beach with his son when he eventually moved home. I found him an apartment that was three minutes to Queenscliff beach on one side and six minutes walk to Freshwater beach on the other side. The building is being upgraded over the next few years and I feel like I have made his property dreams come true and also found him a very solid asset in a quality location.”

Buyers’ agents offer a range of services. “We can do a full search for clients where we take care of every single step from the initial sourcing of the property, to the final negotiations or auction, then all of the relevant steps from exchange through to settlement,” Tina explains. “If a client has already chosen a property and would like some help with the evaluation and negotiation, we can do that too. Sometimes people just pay me to bid at auction for them, taking away the pressure on the day.”

Tina has bought properties for her clients ranging in price from $800,000 to $12 million and everything in between. She covers most of metropolitan Sydney and traditional weekender areas like the Central Coast and the Southern Highlands.

-Tina Clark is a buyer’s agent for Rose & Jones in Sydney. Follow her on Instagram.

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Buying the wrong house: 5 steps to avoid an expensive mistake

By Michelle May

Buying a house is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. It is daunting, and when it comes to a house which you intend to make your home, emotions can get involved very quickly. This often sees potential buyers jumping in feet first, based on an emotional attachment to a property without really considering if the home has everything they really need or really want. Going in with a game plan is the best way to make sure you avoid the trap of buying a property which really just isn’t right for you.  Here are my tips to help you along your journey. 

Buyers agent Michelle May
  1. Don’t be swayed by the bank’s pre-approval offer.

First things first, know your expenses, be brutally honest with yourself and stick to your budget. A good broker will be able to talk you through factoring in ALL your expenses (that includes those late night Uber Eats and daily coffees you may have been forgetting about!) and any interest rate changes on a potential loan to see what is actually doable for you. It is very easy to get excited when your mortgage broker gives you a figure for pre-approval which is above what you were expecting, but beware that there can often be a very big difference in what the bank thinks you can afford and what you know your personal budget will allow for. I don’t need to remind you that owning a home is a big long term financial responsibility. 

  1. Know what your non-negotiables in a home are.

We have all heard of the phrase “it has to tick all the boxes” but before setting off to purchase a home, it is crucial to know what those boxes are for you, and also what those deal breakers might be. Take it from someone with over 20 years of property buying experience; no matter what budget you may have, there is no such thing as a perfect home and some compromises will have to be made along the line. 

I would start with the things you cannot change, such as location. You cannot change being on a really busy road but those scatter cushions you fell in love with at the open home – you can buy those! Side note: do not fall for the styling in a home, this is not a pair of shoes you’re buying. Look beyond this.

Internal light is another one of those deal breakers. In a house there may be options to improve the internal light but in an apartment you are pretty much stuck with what is there. 

Realism and practicality are key, you need to look at what you envision your life being in the next five-to-10 years and what the property may need to do for you in that time i.e. will you have children or perhaps even be empty nesters? If you have a never-ending list of requirements being prepared for whatever life throws at you, I would advise that you take your mind back to practicality and realism.  

You must organise a building and pest inspection, or review a strata report if you’re buying an apartment, to look at the property. They will be able to uncover any underlying issues that could be costly for you in the short or long term. Then you can assess if the home stacks up or if you should put it in the ‘no’ pile. 

  1. You aren’t just buying a home; you are buying into the neighbourhood. 

OK, so you have mapped out a couple of suburbs you are keen on, now you really have to take the time to get to know your potential neighbourhood. After all, when you walk out the door and go and grab that coffee, it might be nice to see likeminded people, and feel like you’ve found your tribe both for you and your family. Other more practical questions would be – have you thought about how long the commute will take to work? What are the local schools like? 

For specifics, are there some particular pockets of the neighbourhood you would prefer to purchase in? Mark them out on a map, keep an eye on this when listings arise and make sure your buyer’s agent (if you have one) knows this would be your ideal spot. They should also be able to think outside the box and suggest other suburbs, with a similar lifestyle but perhap a more affordable price point. 

  1. Desperation could lead to disaster.

In today’s market, many listed homes in the most sought-after locations in Sydney are going to auction in the hopes of securing the best price for the sellers. Auctions can be really competitive; you need to go in with a game plan and stick to it. There’s no room for impulse decisions in property. The last thing you want to do is go to an auction and either spend more than you should have or purchase a home just because of the fear of missing out on securing one. The best game plan for an auction is to stick to your finances and needs and wants list. A buyers agent can also help you wrangle at an auction; they ready the play, take the emotions out of it for you and can bid on your behalf. 

  1. “I bought it but now I hate it” – financial downsides to selling shortly after purchase.

Even after careful and rational consideration, mistakes happen. But before you put the ‘For Sale’ sign out the front, really consider the financial implications of selling when you have not owned the property for long. Think about the fees and charges for deciding to offload your home, not least stamp duty. Whilst there are concessions for first home buyers, did you know in NSW stamp duty on a $650,000 home is in the vicinity of $24,000? We aren’t talking small change here. 

Other financial aspects to consider are the agent fees or commissions involved in the sale of the home, the cost of relocating again and any legal/bank fees that would become payable. The general consensus is if you decide to sell within the first five years of your purchase, you would have been better off renting to begin with. Sure, sometimes the desire to move is so strong that whether or not you come out ahead financially is not at the forefront of your priority list, but it is important to understand what the implications will be on your bank balance if you choose to re-list not too long after purchase.

Considering all of the above, if you add up all the costs, could this money be put to better use in a renovation towards your current home instead? 

It goes without saying that knowledge is power and the more research you do and the more time you take to take to really understand what you are looking for in a home, the better position you will be in. 

–Michelle May is a buyers agent and co-host of Sydney Property Insider.

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