In Australia until recently the use of a professional buyers agent to undertake one’s search and property purchase was uncommon.
Sydney house hunters have long been resigned to the stresses of endless weekend inspections and annoying agent phone calls, not to mention having to negotiate with seasoned professionals trained in the art of extracting the highest possible price for their client- the seller.
In the last few years however Australians are increasingly following the trend of their US counterparts to engage a buyers agent to find, negotiate and secure residential owner-occupied and investment property. Why?
The competition for the best property in the most desirable suburbs has intensified, with a significant percentage invisible to the average house hunter. Property prices have spiked- and with them so has the cost of making a mistake. And we have increasingly become time-poor professionals who realise the value in deploying another professional to do what they do best.
Hiring a buyers agent does make sense but what can you expect for your money, and how will you assess the value of your buyers agent’s services?
A good buyer’s agent in Sydney will understand your brief in detail, then tailor their services and fees to your exact needs. This may be as simple as attending an auction to bid on your behalf, or appraising a property you have found, or conducting the entire search campaign all the way from day one to contract settlement.
‘Bid at auction’ gets you a hired gun as your proxy on the big day. They will bid, deploying one of many strategies they have available, which they believe is best on the day to secure the property for you for the lowest price possible whilst taking into consideration other bidders, and the auctioneers style.
An appraise and negotiate service will see a buyers agent provide you with a professional opinion on the market value and likely selling price of a property you have found, based on recent comparable sales, market momentum, and level of interest in that particular property. The agent will then deploy their negotiation expertise and relationships to negotiate a purchase by private treaty.
A complete search really should be just that. The best buyers agents will go beyond public listings to use real estate agent outreach, professional research tools, community and developer outreach, and door knocking to shortlist potential properties.
Dozens of physical inspections will follow, accompanied by detailed research to validate the properties have no issues and can be secured within your budget. They will have a team of professionals including building inspector, engineer, solicitor, builder, handyman and property manager- to do all the heavy lifting, and will coordinate them all on your behalf. They’ll deal with selling agents, so you don’t have to. And they’ll package up a shortlist of desirable options to make your decisions. easier.
A top buyers agent will show you the property that ticks your boxes, and sometimes that may be unconventional- but a buyers agent will also show you how an easy low-cost renovation can leave you with the property you dreamed of.
An expert buyers agent will be your voice of reason- guiding you to avoid psychological pitfalls like analysis paralysis, FOMO, buyers remorse and more.
Finally, a good buyers agent will ensure you pay the right price, which means a discount to a comparable property, or ensuring you don’t overpay.
There’s no doubt a good buyers agent can save you a lot of time and heartache, but what about the hard numbers?
Here at Unicorn Buyers Agents, we achieve for our clients an average discount of 4.3% across home and investment purchases in the $900k to $3m price range – gauged against the closest comparable properties selling at the time. This equates to a 3x to 4x return on our fees. In real dollar terms, a client makes average savings in the order of $24,000 to $85,000, after Buyers Agent Fees and Commission.
With these typical results, it’s easy to see how we will save you not just time and stress, but serious money too. The question then becomes- how can you afford not to have Unicorn Buyer’s Agents working for you?
If you’d like to learn more about the results we can achieve for you we are available for an obligation-free 30-min discovery session to answer any questions you may have about how we can find your perfect property.
