After months and months of searching, you have finally found the property you have been dreaming of. Don’t miss out on the sale by making a beginner’s error.
Buying
Get good legal advice
The importance of getting solid legal advice when buying property cannot be overstated. A good conveyancer or solicitor can alert you to serious problems with the property that could cause the sale to fall through, including:
- Illegal building additions or renovations which could be removed by council or costly to update
- Complications with the existing title deeds and legal ownership of the property
- Potential issues with strata management clauses and fees
State authority rights to the property pertaining to zoning and/or future developments to the area that could seriously affect the property’s value.
Your legal representative will also review the contract of sale and mortgage agreement to ensure these legally binding documents protect your interests.
Make your property inspections count
If you are serious about a property for sale, you will need to organise a professional building inspection to check for structural defects, pest infestations, damp, asbestos and issues with the plumbing or wiring. But before you get to this stage, you will undertake your own property inspection. And while your emotional response to the home is important, you need to think carefully about its potential problems. There are key ways to spot a lemon, such as:
- Search high and low for damp and mould. Look out for fresh patches of paint that could be hiding the problem and check skirting boards and ceilings.
- Look for structural issues like sagging ceilings, uneven door or window frames and buckling in walls.
- Test all the taps and see how long it takes for the hot water to come through, and check out the hot water heater.
- Ask yourself: is this an energy efficient home? We all know how costly bills can be.
Tips for buying property in Byron
Whether you are a first home buyer, or an experienced buyer, purchasing property in Byron Bay can be a very different experience from anywhere else in Australia.
In a tightly held market with high demand and low supply, Byron sellers are rarely willing to sign a contract of sale subject to conditions.
When making an offer on a property in Byron, sellers will usually always insist on contracts being exchanged unconditionally, so be ready with your Pest and Building inspectors, finance approval, and any other due diligence that you need to conduct in order to be in a strong position to move to exchange contracts hastily.
Important points to remember when financing
Don’t count on pre-approval in being finance ready, ensure you are unconditionally approved (subject to bank valuation). This is a common trap for people and can give them a false sense of security when making an offer. Banks are taking longer and longer these days to process loans, so in order for you to be competitive, you must be organised and efficient!
Consider a buyer agent
Buying real estate can be a game of negotiation and bravado.
If you’re not comfortable making sale offers, bidding at auction or negotiating settlement terms, it could be a good idea to hire a buyer agent.
SE Property offer a buyer agent service to help you navigate those tricky negotiations.
Along with finding property, Toni-Anne is an expert at evaluating properties for sale and negotiating purchase terms for clients, as well as having strong relationships in the Byron Bay market with a number of high profile agents, Toni-Anne has access to a number of Off-market properties that you would otherwise not know about if relying only on advertised property.
Call Toni-Anne about using SE Property as your buyer agent service.
Know all the costs involved with buying?
Don’t underestimate council rates and strata fees. Find out what these are before you proceed.