The client

An Australian couple currently located overseas for work where looking to purchase a home that they could move into when they return to Sydney in the next couple of years. This was important to them in having certainty around school options for their children and to ensure a smooth transition with logistics when the time comes.

While they occasionally had trips to Sydney, they were mostly signing up to a position where they would buy sight unseen. This means having only seen photos and videos of the property.

They initially reached out and asked if I could attend an auction on their behalf. Unfortunately I was not available at the auction time but we kept in touch. They were unsuccessful on that property and then engaged me to find something for them.

What was most important to the client

• School zone location - with three children (both boys and girls), this was really important to ensure that school zone catchments would give them the options they wanted.

• Land size and shape - they wanted a minimum size block that provided practical and functional space (no L shaped or triangle blocks@).

• Floorplan that was designed with downstairs to be living, dining and a guest room; and upstairs to be a minimum four bedrooms.

• No pool as too much maintenance.

• Land value for land tax purposes as the property would be an investment in the short term (note: land value can vary significantly from one street to the next, or if a block is suitable for future duplex development).

• Minimal renovations or work required unless could be accounted for with lower purchase price.

The search

This was one of the most challenging scenarios I’ve had. Not because their brief was significantly challenging, but mostly because the type of property they wanted (large modern family home with solid floorplan) is rarely sold off market. Agents use properties as their own marketing and they want their face advertised on $3.5m - $4m homes styled with beautiful furniture so they almost always come to market.

No less than six hours into the search I found what on paper was ‘the perfect property’. It was even better than perfect as it also had water glimpses. It was scheduled to come to market the next day and the agent was not entertaining any delays. Once I saw it, it was great. It was better than I expected. Unfortunately, many other buyers also thought this. Fast forward four weeks to the auction (no appetite to sell pre auction), and it went off like fireworks. That’s the thing - auctions are unpredictable. It sold for $800,000 over the guide price and unfortunately not to us.

When waiting for an auction day to come around, I am always still searching and sourcing other properties. I identified a property that was currently in the final stages of being built and they were awaiting the issue of the Occupation Certificate. I went to inspect in the final stage of the construction to get a feel. It felt like potential - was the right size, as modern as you get, and had the exact floorplan my clients were after. From a risk perspective though, we were not in a position to exchange contracts until the Occupation Certificate was issued. Like all building works there are delays and the OC is reliant on council sign off so it was being pushed back.

Meanwhile, I got access to another great property pre-market. While not as glamorous (which was good because we needed the price to come down a bit), it was a fantastic home and the perfect location for school zones. The owner was also keen to proceed to auction and although we did try and buy it pre auction, the owner was adamant. With no OC on the property above, we went to the auction ready to bid. One reason I try and avoid auctions is because other people get emotional and pay silly money. This is exactly what happened again! We came out second but you have to know when to walk away. The couple who bought it set a suburb record at a time when the market was stabilised.

Back to our new build property, we were still waiting on the OC to issue. It finally came through a couple of weeks later and we were on!!! This property remained exclusively off market, not on agent newsletters, websites or anywhere to be found. We were the only buyers to step through!

The property

A brand new six bedroom family home on nearly 900sqm of land. This home had been built with the practicalities of family living in mind.

Downstairs was open plan living, a separate media room, a guest bedroom, double lock up garage and side access to the yard. Upstairs are five light and spacious bedrooms.

The back yard is private yet, large and designed for kids to be outside.

The outcome

It was November and the agent & owners plan was to list online at the end of January aiming for an April settlement. This aligned with the owners plans on moving into another property. I’d reinspected three times and the day the OC issued, we had out formal offer on the table.

We included in our offer for the current owner to rent back the property so they did not need to move again given they were scheduled to move in April to another property.

A tough price negotiation and we met a middle ground purchasing for significantly less than we had bid on the other two properties.

Learnings

Where possible always try and avoid auctions. You have very little control and people are emotionally spending the banks money (or the bank of mum and dad’s money!).

What the client said…