When a property buyers agent is worth the cost

WITH Michelle BALTAZAR

Editor-in-Chief • Money magazine

The pandemic was raging, prices were soaring and buyers, especially those moving to regional areas, were battling it out for limited stock.

That’s the situation first home buyer Tom Minchin and his wife, Emma, found themselves in when, at the start of 2021, they decided to move out of the city and closer to family in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

“We were looking for a small, three-bedroom house with a bit of character and the potential to grow in,” says Tom.

“So, from January in 2021, we started keeping an eye on the market while we sorted out our finances.

“We weren’t officially looking to buy, but we were going to the odd inspection to get a feel for homes.”

Properties in the Blue Mountains were selling quickly.

“Prices were just going up and up and we were seeing near-identical places selling for $20,000 or $30,000 more than they had a week earlier.”

Faced with a hot market and strong competition, the Minchins decided to turn to a buyers agent.

“We weren’t really worried about him finding properties for us,” says Tom.

“It was about whether he could get us in to see a place or even help us negotiate, and given how quickly prices were going up, we thought that if he could get us a property a week earlier it would pay for itself.

“In the end, it actually happened really quickly.

“The property that we ended up buying came on the market and the buyers agent managed to get us in to see it the following day and before the first open inspection.

“We put in an offer and the owner was motivated to sell, so we went to final offers and the buyers agent managed all that on our behalf and we ended up getting it.”

Saving time and money

For the Minchins, their agent’s trump card came in having an established relationship with a local sales agent, which got them in to see the property as soon as it hit the market.

But as Michelle May, principal of Michelle May Buyers Agents, explains, an agent’s services go well beyond that.

“We save buyers time and money by buying better.

“We do research and due diligence when it comes to infrastructure or zoning, and the quality of the property should be better because we advise you to walk away from the duds.”

Buyers agents don’t only cater to owner-occupiers.

Bobby Haeri, managing director at The Investors Agency, says agents can provide expertise to help investors expand their buying horizons and tap into a larger pool of properties.

“Most people will go and invest in their backyard, but with over 15,000 suburbs around the country, your backyard isn’t necessarily the best place to invest for what you’re trying to achieve.

“What a lot of people also don’t know about is that you could own one or two properties in each state and never pay land tax, but if you bought two or three properties in your backyard, you would pay land tax on your portfolio.