What does a Buyer’s Advocate’s busy Saturday look like?

This Saturday started just like many others.

An 8am meeting in Brunswick West at John Gorilla Cafe to chat strategy with some lovely new clients, followed by a 9.15am back in Yarraville with some locals who are keen to find their home in the area. A 10.30am meeting at my favourite, friendly local cafe The Naked Egg to meet a new prospective investor client was my last ‘meeting’ before our auction starts.

Armed with my take-away toasted sandwich, I headed off to the first auction at Gunnedah St, Albion.

This big beauty had seen better days, but set on a 530sqm allotment and being restricted by a Heritage Overlay meant that the buyer needed to incorporate this circa 1920s period property in their plans. Albion, just 12km from the CBD and only six train stops from the city has been ripe for investor, developer and builder interest for the last few years. But more recently, this interesting little suburb has been attracting families who have been priced out of Melbourne’s inner-west, or those who have yearned for bigger backyards then the traditional ‘city blocks’ on offer in Yarraville, Footscray and surrounds.

A thorough building inspection and careful due diligence yielded a positive outcome for our clients so at 12pm I positioned myself in the line of sight of other bidders I’d identified and I bid deliberate $1000 increments when it became apparent it was down to just myself and one other bidder. Sadly the hammer fell on the bid above our limit, so I located my clients in the crowd and checked in to see that they were OK before heading on to the next auction.

Amy was already at 8 Raymond St Sunshine West when I arrived for the 12.30pm auction. With clashing times or short time frames we often have to tag-team our auction attendances. Had Gunnedah St gone my way, I’d have been kept at the property for up to an hour with contract signing. In the event of a passed in auction, we can be delayed by anything up to 90 minutes if the negotiations are tough. Unusually we had not one but two in this area, but often we find ourselves calculating travel times across town.

Provisioning for these time frames is imperative so that we never feel rushed or face a situation where we are late to an auction.

Sadly this beautifully presented solid brick house attracted more than just home-buyers. On a larger allotment and boasting a fantastic rear yard meant that developers had a keen interest in the property also. Our client had carefully selected the property as a potential future project for development also, and seeing the vast numbers of auction attendees in the street was a stark reminder to her of the popularity of these types of blocks in the area. The bidding raced past $550,000 and the property was still not declared on the market. When bidding stalled at $590,000, the auctioneer paused the auction to refer to his vendors. Seeing that no other bidding was likely to follow, I was surprised to see him place the property on the market. It sold for $590,000 to an ecstatic buyer. But our buyer wasn’t so ecstatic on this occasion.

After a post-auction conversation with our disappointed client, I headed off to an inspection.

The next phone call was from a dear friend who’s holiday in Cairns had gripped her enough to go property shopping. I explained I’d need time to assess the property and chat to the agent in order to give her some friendly assistance. The price reduction was recent though and my friend was excited.

 

 

I know all too well the dire effects of delays, so I pulled over after my inspection to establish some more information from online research.

A good chat with the agent, exploring some historical sales in the block, and obtaining the property outgoings was the first step. At least I’d flagged that my friend was interested enough to make an offer.

And just when I thought my day was just about over, an excited prospective client called to tell me that the property we thought was out of their budget had passed in and the agent was keen to negotiate.

A quick u-turn and a twenty minute trip back to Albion ensued.

We had only appraised the property. We hadn’t had a building inspection, a pest inspection nor a contract review. I was quite concerned that unless we could make a conditional offer, our chances at securing this property would be slim. Fortunately a wonderful local conveyancer took my call and was happy to do a contract review immediately. His notes followed 35 minutes later and revealed no nasty surprises.

The vendors were receptive to all of our conditions including our 5% deposit and two-day building inspection clause.

So until Tuesday we can’t put any pics or details up, but we will do so once the sale is unconditional, because it’s a fantastic outcome and our clients are ever-so-excited.

I climbed back into my little car, feeling tired, happy and ready for a quiet night in. The text which greeted me related to an offer I’d put in on a property in Ballarat for a client on Friday. After some negotiating and amending of clauses, our 24 hour negotiation had finally fallen into place. As it turned out, allowing the vendors to remain in their home for a premium rental over the many months to follow while they build their dream home was the clincher to acceptance of our offer.

Property is never dull, and Saturdays are seldom quiet.

We love Buyer’s Advocacy and all of the adventure it brings.