The client

This young family had recently sold their apartment and were looking for something bigger to buy. While they wanted the find the right property, they also wanted to move quickly given their recent sale.

The engagement

They initially engaged me to represent them at an auction on a different townhouse. Upon reading the strata report, I advise them to seriously reconsider given the amount of systemic waterproofing issues the complex was facing. It didn’t seem like a good financial investment at all. They agreed and we moved on.

A week later they had inspected a fantastic townhouse they really liked. It was for sale via private treaty and so I was engaged to help them negotiate the best possible price and secure the property.

The property

This property is like living in the city, but also amongst the oasis of the bush. It spans over three levels allowing for open plan living with multiple outdoor areas.

Importantly, the complex is a 1980’s solid red brick build which is a low maintenance block. The strata levies reflect the ongoing work required, but there are no major costly items e.g. significant waterproofing projects, lift replacements.

The negotiation

The strata report took a couple of days to come through, however, this was also highly advantageous to us. It was set up so that for each buyer who purchased the report the cost would go down. Therefore, we could see that no other buyer had purchased the report at the time we were putting in our offer. Technically a buyer could have got a report from elsewhere, but was unlikely.

I’d started planting the seed with the agent as to where we were on price and gauging the vendor’s motivations for selling. I’d researched comparable sales, and knew where good market value sat. The property had an existing tenant and the settlement date was set for the week after the tenancy ended. This is powerful information in a negotiation as no owner wants to sit on an empty property collecting no rent while their property is for sale.

On a Friday afternoon (because 50% of real estate deals always happen on a Friday afternoon!) we submitted our offer with a view of closing the deal before the Saturday open for inspection. Our first offer was strategically place to elicit a counter offer - we knew the offer itself wouldn’t be accepted.

The outcome

The counter offer came in Saturday morning right where I thought it would. We took a second strike now having lowered the vendors expectations and about 15minutes before the open home was due to commence….

Offer accepted! The best part on top of that - my clients saved themselves five times what my fee was, compared to what they were prepared to pay for the property.

Learnings

Sometimes people don’t quite understand the value of a buyer’s agent in negotiating at the pointy end. But here is the value:

• Negotiating is not just about what you say, but also how you say it (and vice versa understanding how and what the agent is saying)

• Real estate is not just about price, it is about putting together a deal with many moving parts and having a professional deal maker will get you that outcome

• A Buyer’s Agent has a professional industry relationship with the Sales Agent and will have more honest and candid conversations about what might be going on in the background for the vendor than they would with a buyer they’ve not previously worked with

• Having a non emotional third party negotiating is critical, especially if buying an owner occupied property you really like