Picture this. You’re in the market for a new home. You’ve been searching realestate.com.au and you have been chatting to Real Estate Agents for the past three months, but nothing has met your ‘dream home’ criteria. Then one day you find it – the perfect home, the perfect location – you call the Agent immediately, organise a viewing and put in an offer… all within the first few days of the property being on the market.
You already make a post on social media calling it your new home! You start imagining waking up in your new bedroom, watching the kids play in their new backyard. And then you get the call. You were too late! There were already three other offers on the house and you lost out. You start asking yourself: what you could have done better? What was wrong with your offer? Why do I keep missing out? And your search continues….
This is the reality that many people in the current property market are facing. It’s a seller’s market; there isn’t enough supply to meet the demand. So how can you increase your chances of securing that dream home?
Assemble your team
When selling a home, there are three key people you need to make up the winning team:
- A mortgage broker or bank manager – depending on whether you’ve already shopped around for the best loan or not, you’ll need to have a bank manager or mortgage broker on your team. Make sure you’ve sat down with them and gone through your finances and budgets and you both have a realistic idea of what you’re looking for (and what you can afford).
- A Lawyer, Solicitor or Conveyancer – with every home sale, you need advice from a professional. This is where your Conveyancer or Solicitor comes in handy. They can review your contracts (when you put in that offer), communicate with your broker or bank manager and the seller’s legal team. They take the hassle out of the purchasing process, getting everything organised for a successful settlement. Having your legal team in place before starting your search or putting in an offer means you can act quickly when you find your dream home, and beat other buyers to the finish line.
- Real Estate Agent – You might be thinking “don’t I just need an agent when I’m selling?” but having an agent on your side who knows your situation, that you have the right team behind you and knows that you’re serious about buying means that they’ll be able to pass this information on to the seller (or the seller’s agent); information like
- having a pre-approval in place, or
- having your legal team already assembled.
This in turn improves the seller’s confidence in you as a buyer and can help to make your contract more favourable.
Have your finances in place
One of the most crucial steps in any contract negotiating is making sure that you have a firm grasp on your finances or even better have a pre-approval in place. Speak to your bank manager or mortgage broker to get this process started prior to putting in an offer. This also gives you a strong base that will make you confident the house is within your price range.
A vendor will look more favourably on an offer that is going to cause them less headaches. Being able to show you have your finance sorted will go a long way to helping your chances of landing that dream property.
Stay Persistent!
It’s easy to feel let down when your dreams are dashed, but remember there are always new homes entering the property market. If one property doesn’t work out, perhaps there’s an even better one just right around the corner. Don’t lose hope, work on the tips above to make sure you’re ready to move fast with the best foot forward, when that ‘dream home’ comes up for sale.
Work with Greenhalgh Pickard for your contract reviews
At Greenhalgh Pickard, our property and conveyancing team have been working hard to deliver a quick turnaround on contract reviews for both buyers and sellers. A contract review provides the added peace of mind that your interests are being protected.
If buying a new home or investment property is your top priority for 2021, the professional and friendly team at Greenhalgh Pickard are here to help for all of your property and conveyancing needs. Contact the team today.