You’ve found your dream home and you want to make it yours. Here are the six essential things to do before placing an offer on a property.
1. Will the vendor accept offers?
First off, it’s important to check if the vendor is even in a position to field and accept offers.
Some agents won’t take any offers until a contract is available and others aren’t permitted to sell the property (for legal reasons) any other way than by auction.
Find out this information straight away so you know where you stand from the offset.
2. Get your finances in order
You should be certain that you have pre-approval in place and a satisfactory deposit on hand.
Without finance approval, you can’t be certain that you qualify for a loan and the implication of entering into a contract and not being able to source the necessary finance is dire – ranging from merely losing the deposit to being sued for losses.
3. Sort out the contract
A qualified legal representative should be appointed to read over the contract to ensure that the property is what you understand it to be, and that no negative attributes apply to the contract or the title.
Property attributes may seem obvious to buyers, but legal representatives are able to dig deeper into things like zoning, strata fees, owner’s corporation issues, covenants, caveats and many other potentially tricky issues.
Discovering negative aspects about the property after the sale can be devastating, so this is a must.
Before making an offer on a property, make sure your finances are in place. Picture: Getty
4. What’s the settlement timeframe?
You should seek confirmation of your proposed deposit terms and settlement timeframe with the agent before making an offer.
Some vendors require specific terms. You can seek approval for varied terms just by asking prior to making an offer.
5. What’s the condition of the dwelling pre-sale?
The condition of the dwelling pre-sale is a vital consideration.
A building and pest inspection can often provide you as the buyer with comfort and peace of mind.
Often this task needs to be conducted before making an offer, particularly if the property is scheduled for auction.
6. Is the offer realistic?
The final essential step is to make an offer that is realistic enough to be taken seriously.
Be clear on the agent’s methods in regards to how they deal with competing buyers.
Keeping an eye on comparable properties in the area should give buyers a good feel for what the likely selling price is, use realestate.com.au/invest to find out about recent sales.
“Low-balling” an agent with a laughable offer is not clever negotiating, particularly in a strong sellers’ market.
Buyers who make offers insulting to the vendor can often jeopardise their chances of success because agents can either dismiss them as a realistic buyer and/or choose to stop helping them.
Looking to make an offer?
With all of the above ticked off the list, you’re now ready to make an offer.
But what do you need to do when making an offer on your dream property?
What’s your plan for dealing with the competition?
