How to think – and purchase – like a buyer’s agent

Eliminate
Make a long list of the properties you like in an area, he said, and then systematically eliminate the least suitable ones.

“You might be looking through the photographs and see in one of them that through the living room window there is an apartment block directly opposite.

“Well if you want a bit of an outlook you can discount that one straight away.”

Similarly, if the agent is telling you a property on your list is in a quiet street, go and look for yourself on Google Maps.

“You might see that it is backing onto a very busy street, like Military Road on Sydney’s north shore. The front of it might be quiet but the back of it might be Military Road,” he said.

“So, having a critical eye and thinking laterally you can qualify quiet a lot.”

View
Now you’re left with the properties you want to go and look at.

“Get out there and view as many as you can,” said Mr Skeen.

“And get to know the area. Use realestate.com.au if you don’t have the tools like CoreLogic RP Data to determine value.”

He also recommends attending a few auctions.

“If you are a bit of a novice, they can be quite daunting if you are going to do your first one. So go and see what is going on in the market.”

Negotiate
Then once you have done that, turn your knowledge into an advantage.

“Not only with the research that you have done and the preparation, but also when it comes to the negotiating,” said Mr Skeen.

“And what I mean by that is, find out where the owner is going, why they selling — so do they need a long settlement or a shorter settlement? Are they happy with their 5 per cent deposit? Things like that.”

The more you know about the negotiation, he says, the better prepared you can be to go in and negotiate a good price.

Close
“So for example, if the owner is downsizing and they are building a villa up the Central Coast and they need a three-month settlement and you know that, that can help you get a better price,” said Mr Skeen.

“I had that situation with an apartment in Greenwich, they were downsizing to a villa. They had a huge apartment. There was an offer $70,000 above us.

“Obviously we were $70,000 less, but we knew they needed time to finish their villa up the coast. We gave them the settlement period. They took our offer.”

Listen to more of Robert's tips, tools and tactics on The Smart Property Investment Show: How to get the best properties for the best price.