Waiting for property can be a waste of time, says buyer’s agent

“After we finally hit the ‘peak’ of the market at the end of the first quarter of 2017, there begun a trend towards people ‘holding off’ on purchasing and slowly the buyer pool [became] smaller.

“My top tip to … investors wanting to secure their next property is [to] not wait – the time is now.”

Instead of focusing on finding the best time to enter the market, Ms Goudy instead believes time in the market is more vital.

“What is most important is to buy when you are ready, not when others tell you to be ready,” she said.

“Considering the ‘fundamentals’ of the property is crucial because these will not change regardless of market conditions. Most commonly, I hear home owners and investors say, ‘If only I had purchased my property a year or even five years earlier’, because overall the trend has been upward given housing stock supply remains low versus demand in Sydney.”

Ms Goudy also provided her top three tips for buying:

1. Analyse the market despite current conditions

“There are certain properties which will out-perform other properties and consistently prove to be the strongest investment or the most highly sought-after,” she said.

She also said to be aware of any issues with the property itself, as it could potentially impact upon capital growth rates.

2. Waiting works against you if everyone is waiting

“As buyers hesitate to jump into the property market waiting for a price drop, they could also miss out on a window of purchasing opportunity in the market,” Ms Goudy said.

By waiting until everyone else is looking to come into the market, there will be more competition, which will mean property prices would be higher.

3. Look for off-market and underperforming property

“Always seek out off-market opportunities, which is what a buyer’s agent has easier access to; simply reducing buyer competition could reap the benefits of a solid purchase for the longer term,” Ms Goudy said.

“It is important to be able to identify opportunities from [a] poorly performing property as they could be easily confused in a weaker market.

Ms Goudy added underperforming property will typically be harder to sell in a weaker market, and despite being labelled as ‘value’, buyers can expect to pay a premium for other aspects of the property that are worthwhile, such as capital growth, rental vacancy rates and rental yield.

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