Buying Tips

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Your home is one of the most important and expensive purchases you will ever make. The following hints and tips will help you plan for, find, and enjoy the home of your dreams

Location, Location, Location!

There are many factors that come into play when considering the purchase of a new home. Establishing where you want to live is definitely one of the most important aspects of the entire process. Our handy Suburb Profile link through to the REIWA website will enable you to view the Perth Suburbs in more detail. Information such as the median house price, growth rates, and census information may help you with your ultimate decision.

Inner city and Coastal suburbs are often the highest performing, predominantly offering stronger returns, but they may not always be within your budget or as family friendly as neighbouring suburbs, that provide more access to local amenities such as schools, shopping centres, and local parks.
Be sure to take the time required to choose a suburb that best suits you and your family’s needs. Narrowing down the areas in which you are looking will make finding the right home much easier.

It is also at this stage, that talking to us may help as we can provide you with some additional and possibly lesser known facts and insights into your chosen area.

Deciding Factors

When looking at the dwelling itself, you then need to decide on a number of key factors including;

  • Number of Bedrooms – Do you frequently have guests from interstate?
  • The number of Bathrooms – Will the size of your family be increasing in the future?
  • Car Parking & Access – Will you be looking to purchase a trailer or boat at some stage?
  • Size & Shape of Land – Are you wanting to add a pool or garage?

In addition to these factors, you may also have a long list of cosmetic requirements, but it is important to keep in mind that your dream house may not be out there in your exact form, and you may need to compromise on some items until you can make it exactly the way you wish. Does it have the potential to do so? that may be more important in the long run that it being perfect right now.

In addition, don’t rule out the possibility of renovations. However, make sure you sit down and calculate the costs to ensure the numbers work for your budget.

Stay Alert! 

Our Property Alert feature can help make searching easier, by allowing you to leave the details of what you are looking for in order to receive an instant email as soon as the suitable property becomes available. Click here to enter your details

Key points when making an offer

Who exactly is buying the property? What names are going on the offer document and ultimately the Certificate of Title?
Have you spoken with a broker and received pre-approval for your finance?
Do you know how long the broker/bank require to obtain your finance approval? 
Is the building sound? If you have any doubts, remember to speak to your agent about having a building and pest inspection as a condition of your offer
Do all the building additions and improvements have the required Council approvals and permits?
Have you thought about how you would like to own the property? I.e. As Joint Tenants or as Tenants in Common? If you are unsure of the answer to this question, make sure you seek professional advice from your accountant or solicitor, or speak to your settlement or us first
Be sure you understand what is, and what isn’t being included by the seller within the sale of the property
Do you have a settlement agent?

Buying at Auctions

If you are looking at a property that is currently on the market to be sold via the Auction process, be sure to get a feel for Auctions by attending as many as you can prior to the big day.

Know your limits and set your price range, and stick to it, so you don’t get emotionally involved during the bidding and end up going beyond your limit. It often helps to have a friend with you who can make sure this doesn’t happen.

As you will need to have your finance unconditional on the day of the Auction, make sure you already have your finance arranged, and that you are able to pay the deposit at the premises at the drop of the hammer.

Bid Strongly, and don’t be afraid to bid aggressively for the property. If you show people you want the property by strong, confident bids, you may put them off early in the Auction process.

Also stay in tune and expect the unexpected. Bidding may start low, but if there is good interest in the property, the price can jump up quite quickly.

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