Lately, I’m hearing from agents telling me how tough it is to get prospective buyers to go from liking the property, to actually making a serious offer to buy.
Even the media’s reporting how slow the market is. In many areas prices are down more than 10% from a year, or even a few months ago.
I recently helped one client buy a lovely home at a price 17% below its asking price just 12 months earlier; another client paid almost 21% less than the asking price for a commercial property.
This type of experience has become almost routine in the current market.
Of course, there are still property owners who have strong reasons to sell so they ‘meet the market’ from the time their property is listed; they usually sell quickly, and – often – get their price, or very close to it.
The two examples above were properties where the vendors were very motivated to move on from their current property. The difficulty is identifying those owners. I’ll write about that another time.
Meanwhile, as always, the keys to buying well (in any market) are:
- Comprehensively research the market in the neighbourhood, suburb and postcodes surrounding the property;
- Avoid being swayed by your emotions, when you find the ‘right home;’
- Don’t be in a hurry – haste can sometimes lead to regret, which with something as large and costly as a property, can be a real problem.
These keys can be difficult to maintain; the research key is time-consuming because it includes knowing the history of all the properties in the neighourhood, not just the ones that have sold recently or are currently for sale. Keys 2 and 3 get pushed aside when people think they’ve found ‘just what they’ve been looking for’ – which usually means their emotions are taking over.
So if you’re wanting to buy Adelaide property, now’s a very good time – but be sure to do your homework!
