Thursday, August 1, 2013

Houses For Sale: Sydney House Hunters’ Guide To Finding Ideal Properties



A five-bedroom, three-car garage Eastern Suburbs family home for under two million. A three-bedroom, two-baths, 250 square-metre house with a pool. A newly renovated house in the North Shore region with spectacular views. The real estate market offers diverse properties that will correspond to your accommodation requirements and budget. The thing about buying property though — even with such variety — is actually finding the ideal one. If house hunting is taking up much of your weekends and leaving you disappointed, you may need access to more real estate sources.

To start with, you may need to go beyond advertised properties. Some of the more desirable houses for sale Sydney has to offer may not be listed in your local paper or marketed on online platforms. A majority of properties that may meet your exacting requirements could be offered through silent sales, which is when sellers decide not to publicly announce or market their properties. These types of sales, which reportedly make up about 60 percent of property sales in the region, may be done through a buyer’s agent.

When choosing silent sales, your exclusive agent will send out your property brief (from the type of property you want to the location you seek) to real estate firms and when a match is found, you get the listings, usually through your email. This approach to house hunting is both efficient and effective because you only do inspections of the properties that meet your brief.

You can choose to sign up with real estate services that do email alerts for properties that correspond to your brief or you could hire a buyer’s agent. A buyer’s agent will have other sources to tap into, aside from silent sales, in finding your ideal house. There are private auctions to consider as well as private sales by sellers. Private auctions might not only present you with your preferred properties but also help you save money. This, of course, requires choosing a buyer’s agent who has the solid expertise and resources in handling private auctions. Meanwhile, private sales by sellers might reveal houses in highly desirable suburbs, allowing you the opportunity to make an offer on a property that could become a very lucrative investment.

Even when you are ready and capable of buying a house today, the current property choices available to you could lead to house hunting that is both time-consuming and disappointing. But it does not have to be that way. Go beyond advertised listings. Get access to more houses for sale. And find your dream home today by visiting this website.

Top Five Essential Things To Know About Buyer’s Agents


Do you need a buyer’s agent? Should you invest time and money in hiring one? How do you determine the suitability of a real estate agent that exclusively serves your best interests in property transactions? When you are about ready to finally buy a house, you may come across the term “buyer’s agent.” And quite often you may hear that this real estate professional’s significance in every property purchase is not something you should very lightly disregard.

To help answer some of the questions you may have and finally settle your views about the need for buyer's agents, here are the five essential things you should know.

1. Buyer’s agents have access to multiple property resources. This means you get more variety and more choices when it comes to houses or units that are for sale. When you hire a buyer’s agent, you are not limited by properties advertised and marketed on newspapers and real estate websites. You have the opportunity to explore properties that are up for auction. You can also find out about silent sales, which offer properties from the owners or estate agents that are not announced to the public. With more sources for properties in the market, you are likely to find the ideal house you are looking for in as little time (and less money spent) as possible.

2. A buyer’s agent will have solid experience that can prevent you from getting the wrong information about certain houses or units and save you from making an offer on overpriced properties. Buying a house is one of the most significant investments you can make so you want to make sure that you are getting your money’s worth. And relying on the industry knowledge and experience of your buyer’s agent allows you to achieve just that.

3. A buyer’s agent has negotiating skills that will give you leverage once you make that offer on a house or unit. By having a skillful professional represent you during negotiations and by taking out the element of an emotional purchase, you might secure a property at a price that is agreeable to you.

4. Your buyer’s agent should be a member of an industry association. This will ensure that your agent performs and adheres to a professional standard. In Australia, there is the Property Buyer’s Agents Association of Australia and the Real Estate Institute of NSW.

5. The buyer’s agent should have a good track record in buying properties, particularly in locations you want. Ideally, your buyer’s agent will have facilitated at least 10 recent property purchases in areas you are considering. You can verify this by looking up credible client testimonials. The website of the buyer’s agent should also be able to provide information on recent purchases it has made on behalf of clients.

Buyer Advocates Disclose Smart Property Auction Tips And Tactics


An auction is considered one of the quick ways of closing a deal for a property purchase. In certain areas, property auctions are done on a monthly basis and potential buyers troop to the event in the hopes of getting the best deal for some of the most attractive properties in the market. The thing about these events is a lot of people come and they’re at a loss when it comes to the actual market value of the properties up for bid. At times, the first bid is just way off so there’s not a lot of “give” to the prices and many who actually came to buy get played.

It’s because of such dynamics that buyer advocates of PK Property have decided to disclose savvy tips and tactics for bidding at property auctions. They know how the game is played by the organisers of the event, the auctioneer, and seasoned bidders, and it puts real buyers at a disadvantage, so with these tips and their assistance, buyers can protect their budget and actually walk away with a good deal.

The first tip is to recognise that the process can be an emotional one. So many bidders come and use their heart instead of their head that they actually become reckless in bidding, making them easily the ones that get played. They bid beyond the fair market value and completely forget the original goal of securing the best deal.

Second is to be somewhat inconspicuous – stay at the back part of the room so you can observe the action or the bidding atmosphere. This tactic will allow you to see when the bidders are reaching their limit and determine the most ideal time for you to rise out of nowhere and place a strategic bid – meaning you still remain within your budget, although it’s a higher amount than earlier placed bids.

The third tip is to give the auctioneer respect, but remember that it’s your money and when you’re up bidding, you’re in a position with the amounts that you’re comfortable with, the denominations that you’re comfortable with. A lot of times the auctioneer starts off with a really steep amount but you’ve got to take your chance with the amount you have even if it’s lower than the initial price presented. There are many layers to an auction and not too many people know that the last bidder – the one with the highest bid – does not always walk away with the property. In some instances, there are certain conditions presented after the auction that the last bidder may not be agreeable to leaving the property with no takers. You may just find the same property up for auction again and the start off price can be significantly lower and more within your reach.

The last tip is this: patience is a virtue. Just take your time, not every opportunity outside your budget is lost once the auction is over. The real estate market is not as simple as that. There are so many terms and conditions that are not presented during a property auction and not all top bidders are instant takers, so if you really have one property in mind that’s still in the market even after being auctioned off, get your team ready for some powerful negotiating. PK Property negotiators and buyer’s agents are highly experienced and that property may be yours at a much lower price than you initially expected.