With summer just around the corner, end of year celebrations and festivities are in full swing. While lots of people and businesses start to wind down, many closing up from mid December this year, I will be purchasing property right up until Dec 24th.

December is a buyer’s market - the time where you have the most leverage to negotiate on price.

Any property that is on the market now has a vendor who planned on selling in 2022. As the days draw to a close, these vendors will be conditioned down to meet the market.

Here’s my advice:

• Ensure you have pre-approval in place and ask your broker what dates they are unavailable

• Attend open homes or ask the agent for a private inspection if you have a conflict on the calendar (lots of people drop out in December just because they have better places to be)

• Ask your Solicitor / conveyancer when they are available until and if you find a property you like give them as much notice as possible that a contract is on the way for review (it is an incredibly busy time of year for settlements!)

• Ask the agent if the property has had any offers to date and ask what price the vendor would like to sell this year

• Complete your due diligence and strategic price research to understand what you would be willing to pay

• Ensure the settlement terms allow sufficient time for your Broker, Bank & Solicitor to complete everything on their end

• Negotiate ruthlessly

• Pop that champagne and start celebrating

Always remember though, just because it may be ‘cheap’, this doesn’t mean it is a great investment

If you are considering to buy in 2023 then ensure you start lining up your elf’s now:

• Have an informal conversation with your broker about your intention to borrow / restructure next year so they can give you some preliminary advice

• Start your research on how the type of property & the area you are considering performed through 2022

• Schedule a call below if you’d like to just have a chat about the 2022 property market and my thoughts for 2023.