I wish when I was house hunting for my First Home I had access to Property Reports rather than listening to one Realestate agent and ‘taking their word for it’. It may have saved me some money on the purchase but if nothing it would have given me confidence in submitting my offer.
I’ll take you back to August 2006 when I was 23 and after talking about buying my first home for so long I was finally ready to take the plunge and armed with a pre-approval I started house hunting with the help of my Mum and Brother in Law (the two opinions that mattered most)
I saw a few properties in my price range and looking back I realise how unprepared I really was. The prospect of being 23 and buying my First Home on my own was so exciting I forgot to take a moment to list the things I was looking for in a property and my not negotiables. The only thing I knew was I wanted floor boards, beautiful, stained, original floor boards.
So when I found a newly renovated home, in my price range and with a living room full of floor boards I was sold. In fact the Realestate agent didn’t have to do his sales pitch or show me extra things about the property I was sold hook line and sinker.
The issue I found was where to go from there. I knew the property was listed for $235 000.00, (yes back then you could get a house 14ks from the city, right near public transport for the low $200s) but how much did I offer?
Not knowing where to start I asked the Realestate agent what I should offer (insert cringe)!
That’s right, I asked the person who had a vested interest in selling the property to me. I asked the person working for the Vendors what I should offer his clients!
I should mention I don’t think the Agent did anything misleading, and in fact he told me what the previous contract, that fell through was and suggested I start around there. In fact when I offered my price he asked ‘are you sure?’ but that’s not the point. Fast forward 11 years I’ve learnt a few things and one of them is, to get a Property Report from an unbiased person and use the data in that to direct me on the offer.
See a Property report shows how long a property has really been on the market, not how long it’s been listed with that Agent. A property report has similar sales in the area and the amount. A Property Report lists the sales history of the property, and so much more!
I have no regrets looking back because it was all a learning for me, and buying my First Home on my own was one of my proudest moments (until the two kids came along of course) and so I wouldn’t change a thing, although any property I buy in the future, I will be armed with a Property Report and if nothing else it will give me confidence and peace of mind. This is also the reason I recommend all my clients ask me for Property Reports while they are house hunting.
If you’re starting to think about buying your First Home but have no idea where to start, what deposit you need or where to go from here make sure you preregister for my First Home Buyer’s Program set to launch the end of November 2017. It will take you through everything you need to know and more!