How To Avoid Delays Costing You Your Dream Property


As we discuss in our Get Buyer Ready course, speed is critical when it comes to securing a property. Australia’s property market is always highly competitive, and the buying process rarely goes without a blip along the way. If you allow that blip to cause you to slow down, you’ll often jeopardise the entire negotiation.

A recent deal we did with a client highlighted just how valuable it is to know the right people and be able to move quickly.

As part of the normal process of inspecting a property and running through the checks and balances, our client discovered, via a building and pest control inspection, that there was an issue with a timber deck that meant that it was not code-safe and would need rectification work.

The problem was that this, plus a financing issue, was potentially going to stall the negotiation process.

Firstly, the client was anticipating a seven – 10-day process to get builders out to look at the deck and provide her with a quote to update her offer with. Secondly, she hadn’t had her conditional finance approved through her bank yet. So, even if she could expedite the builders doing the site visit, there was still the question of the finance.

There was every chance that the seller could have walked away from this deal.

When the client came to us, we had to act quickly. Firstly, we advised the client to organise conditional financing immediately.

That took a fight over the phone on her part. After yelling at the bank for taking their time to review the application, they finally agreed to look at it immediately. They declined it, meaning that the client had been wasting her time for three weeks out of loyalty to the bank.

So we immediately suggested an independent mortgage broker that she was able to talk to the same day, and he gave her the verbal go-ahead, knowing that she would, in fact, be able to easily qualify for finance.

Overcoming the second challenge, and dealing with the builders was another benefit of working with us. As we’re experienced negotiators and property buyers, we were able to provide her with a builder contact that was able to give her a quote over the phone that, firstly, was less than she was expecting as she had overestimated what was required to rectify the issue and, secondly, allowed her to confidently factor that lower number into her offer without any delay.

By addressing those two things, the client had her best possible chance of securing the property, as she was able to move immediately. In contrast, any other bidders would have been going through the same process she was looking at.

Speed knocks out the competition

Agents and sellers want to move as quickly as possible with properties, and that’s one of the main reasons that we always recommend having conditional finance – typically the thing that holds up offers the longest – confirmed before you start looking at properties. It’s not always possible, but having that certainty that you’ve got the money that you need to work with allows you to move quickly and confidently.

Just as important, however, is knowing how to quickly respond to challenges that crop up along the way. If there are issues with the property that come up through inspections, having the right contacts that can address them immediately is an advantage. As is having the lawyers ready to go and able to look through any contracts quickly.

“Moving quickly” doesn’t mean making a panicked or overly emotional offer (or accepting a counteroffer too hastily). People often confuse the two, and that can lead to negotiation errors. However, having the proverbial ducks in a row so that you can move through the process methodically, and deal with disruptions without a delay, will allow you to close the deal quickly and to everyone’s satisfaction.

As it turns out, because we carried out the building and pest inspection upfront, and addressed the challenges immediately, the client was able to get her offer in a few days ahead of three others. Additionally, as she had already completed the building and pest inspection, the agent confirmed that they would be put forward as the best option to the seller.

For more ideas on how to make the property purchase process smooth and quick, be sure to take our Get Buyer Ready course, which deals with this topic in-depth. You can also talk with us, and we’ll be able to help you as we were able to assist this client.


Back