Buying your first home and real estate agents
Estate agents are effectively salespeople acting for the buyer, and the agent’s objective is to sell a property to you for the highest possible price.
Follow these tips and tricks to make sure you stay on top of everything related to buying your property:
Keep your cards close to your chest
The one thing the estate agent wants to know is how much you like a property. It can give them extra bargaining power at negotiation time. So it can be a good idea to down play how much you like the property, especially if you’ve got your heart set on it. Act cool and keep your excitement to yourself.
Do your research
Find out how much other properties in the area have sold for recently. Go to auctions and learn as much as you can about local property market trends. This is essential for two reasons: firstly, you’ll know what a reasonable market price is for the property you like, and secondly, you won’t waste money by going in ‘too high’.
Give yourself room to move
When you make an offer, pitch it below the price you’re actually prepared to pay. Very few properties sell for the price initially offered, but many sell for a price just above the first offer.
Don’t take rival buyers for granted
Sometimes an agent will say there’s a higher offer on the table than the one you’ve just made. Unfortunately they’re not obliged to disclose the higher offer and you will need to decide whether to make a counter offer.
Estate agents are obliged to submit all offers to the seller, so make sure that you submit your offer in writing. This formalises your offer however be aware that the vendor can still accept a higher offer from someone else. The offer and acceptance is only complete once contracts have been exchanged.
