The spring real estate season has arrived! This is the time that most property owners decide to sell. The weather is warming up, people are starting to think of new beginnings and wanting to get settled before summer.
And Australians (particularly east coasters) love an auction. It’s a great way for market forces to determine the value of your home. As a buyer, sometimes you can pick up a bargain, as a seller, you can sometimes sell for far more than you’d hoped for.
So here’s our top 5 tips for buying at auction:
- Make sure your money is ready – you need to know how much you can spend and you need to confidently be able to sign that contract when you’ve won the auction.
- Do your due diligence on the property – check out recent sales results within the neighbourhood, do your building and strata inspections, feel confident that there are no surprises.
- Set your limit. Make sure you go into the auction knowing the top price you are willing to pay.
- Play your cards close to your chest – real estate agents are experts at prying information out of you, and will try to find out your top price you are willing to pay. Remember the agent is employed by the vendor, so regardless of how nice and helpful they are to you, their job is to get the top dollar for the property you want to buy – and their commission is a little higher if they can get you to pay a little more.
- If you’re not confident bidding or concerned that you may get carried away or lost in the excitement, hire a buyer’s agent.
It’s also great to go to a couple of auctions beforehand so you can get a feel for what happens.
Good luck! We really hope you secure the property of your dreams.
If we can help secure finance at great rates, please call! 0405 113 543
