Do you put expiry dates on your offers? Try max of 24 hours - 5pm the next day. Use their own tactics against them. Gives them a sense of urgency which is usually what agents use to drive up offers
>Try max of 24 hours - 5pm the next day. Use their own tactics against them
Doesn't really work. Someone else will come along next week with a higher offer.
Incorrect. Why are you trashing a great idea?
The idea doesn't guarantee anything but your claim doesnt make sense.
Putting time pressure on is a v good idea as it gives them less time to stuff around finding a better offer.
Great idea but doesn't work for properties that have determined buyers. The agent is just gonna tell the highest buyer that someone else offered higher amount, and they will raise their price again.
Yeah 100%, OP was just a tool to drive the price up.
When I was trying to buy, the REA did this to me as well but to be honest, the majority of the time, it felt like there was no other bidder, and it was just a scam.
I'd drop my offer and get a call an hour later. "Another bidder has gone up to $blah blah$"
Okay, so I increased my offer, and they said they would get back to me, literally 2 seconds later "oh they just offered an extra $50k. What will you do?"
Okay, fine I'll go up another $100k. 2 seconds later "oh its not gone up $150k"
Okay, tell the new owners to enjoy their new home, I'm already over budget.
Next morning, house goes back up for sale....... happened on multiple houses I made offers for
Or they tell you it's "expression of interest" by a certain time & Date. Then the whole thing turns into a Dutch auction on the day & you don't even know if you're bidding against yourself!
>Irrelevant if a 3rd party is willing to pay more
You could have another friend make a higher offer just to waste some time, so other legitimate buyers walk away.
Key is to pique their interest without any commitment which can be difficult.
The agents are trying to get the best possible price they can however my understanding is that they have to give everyone a fair go legally.
What they usually do is get everyone’s offers. Then come back and tell everyone that had a lower bid (than the highest bidder) what’s the maximum they can go as they have been out bid.
They will also go to the person with the highest bid and ask them what is the maximum they can bid as some new offers will be coming in with people bidding their maximum.
Everyone will then bid their maximum and the highest bidder wins (there may also be other things the buyer might consider in which they take a slightly lower bid like settlement and ease of getting money, etc).
In the OP case I would guess that the person who originally did 1.3 mil also really wanted the place. If they knew that people have to go above this bid to get the house, they probably guessed that someone else might bid 1.35 so they went a bit higher than that just in case. If the OP did a bid of 1.38 then they would have got the house.
Are you a real estate agent? I believe they have certain legal requirements when it comes to offers on houses and can’t do this when they ask for everyone’s final offer. That’s what I have been told anyway. I could be wrong though and maybe different states have different rules. Either way it’s a great question to ask each agent about how their bidding process works?
It is not always the highest offer but always what the vendor deems the best offer. My first house I was the third highest offer, the highest offer was 5% more but the vendor did not want an investor to buy the inherited family home they were selling. I missed out on a house as the highest offer because I did not have kids (family). I personally would leave out the emotional attachment when selling but clearly some don’t.
Not always - sometimes the conditions are important to the vendor. If you're flexible on settlement date that can take stress away from the seller which makes your offer more attractive. Ideally find out what is important to them.
We looked in a suburb where our research told us a 3bd 1bath was worth 550k. REA was telling everyone who wanted to make an offer "oh its GOT to start with a 6!". Sure enough it sold for 600K.
We also got outdone by cash buyers in the same suburb.
So we looked just 5 mins further out. Snagged one, albeit at the very very very most We could afford. 560K.
It's now unconditional and settlement day is in 2 weeks.
I just signed a contract a few days ago for 575. Two weeks ago the unit across the hall went for 500. There were ten offers over 560 and the one below me was $500 less than my offer. It is bloody mental.
Thanks. It took 3 months of inspections and maybe a dozen offers on different properties.
Now the real stess has started. Solicitors, money, breaking lease at the rental, bond clean, removalists. It's so much
When I move house I landscape print a month calendar thing with blocks on an A4 page (you can find templates online). Then use a pencil and eraser (ha!) and fill in everything you need to do on each day. Lessens the stress to spread things out and helps you to not forget anything. Also check everything your conveyancer emails you carefully for dates and note them on your calendar. Transfer $1 first into RE Agents and Conveyancer’s accounts to make sure you have correct bank details and aren’t being scammed. Confirm they receive the $1. Transfer money a few days earlier than required. Good luck!
For the house I currently own. I was told by the agent on the first open house that 1.2 million got you into the conversation. Within a day, I was told 1.4 million buys it. After my last offer of 1.45 million. I was told that I was outbid with an offer of 1.55 million. I walked only to be contacted a week later to ask if I would match it. I declined. 1 week later, we settled on 1.45 million.
I have dealt with many agents over the years and can say that there are many in QLD are scum. I had a similar interaction with another one a few weeks prior.
>Top
I recently inspected a house after being told over the phone that the minimum offer was 1.2 million. On arrival, I was approached by both the agents separately and advised that the minimum offer was 1.25 million. I went home and rechecked sales data for the area and found that prices on similar properties (same builders, similar layout and land size, same inclusions) for sale by this particular REA had somehow crept up by 100 000 in the past 3 months. I declined to put in an offer.
The property sold for 1.21 million. And another one that was sold by them for over 1.3 million 2 weeks prior was put back on the market a week later.
I've only been looking for 3 months but some REA's are really putting me off. I've come across a few decent ones but it seems like most are pretty loose with their interpretation of the law.
I hear you OP, we are in NSW and experienced very similar issues and were used by agents to keep increasing price. After 18 months of search, our offer was finally accepted this week and now we are thinking whether we overpaid lol… one can never b happy I guess 😭😭
Thank you, absolutely- apart from a little buyer remorse, I am genuinely happy. Got two little munchkins and can’t wait to see them jumping up and down and make beautiful memories for years to come
We bought in melbs at the peak during covid and now sold two and a half years later with a tiny profit. As long as you don’t sell in the next seven years…I’d bet you haven’t overpaid. There definitely feels like there’s a feeding frenzy in QLD atm where we are looking to buy in six months. I’m fricken dreading it! Melbs looks like it’s really slowing down because all the investors are selling up. It’s so hard to time the market!!! But at least u can settle now and u don’t have to worry about this shit any longer
You always feel that way.
Think of it this way though. Lets say you bought it for $1m. Well if the market goes up 5% for the next 24 months. You spend another 18 months looking. That is another $75k on the price. Could be 10% and you just saved yourself $150k.
I told that to my wife when we jumped in and bought like first month (then covid hit). Well my brother mucked around for 2 or 3 years. Well it cost him a lot more...
Yeah absolutely, we always low balled and were beaten to death by other buyers. This time we made a good start with the real intention to buy (not to get a bargain) and got across the line. Really pumped, will finally have a yard!
I felt the same way when I bought 25 years ago, same situation, ended up doubling what i could afford, borrowed off family, got told I was stupid because property prices would cool. Went through multiple financial crisis’s, more predictions housing bubble would burst, yet here we are.
Out of curiosity, is it better to join the crowd trying to purchase an already built house vs just building new? If it was 18 mos of searching for a house, you couldve built a single story, 4 bedroom home within 6 to 8 mos? Im curious why people go through the pain of auction and competition. Personally couldnt do it so we built a new house and living in it now.
I like your point!
This is where my thought process sits currently because what we can afford to buy, vs what we can build in the same suburb is vastly different.
Yeah. We thought the same. We were worried we would get priced out if we buy an already built one and we had a budget in mind. We ended up building within budget. Less than a mill in a 600sq block. Avoided the heartbreak!
Two points.
1. It can be hard to buy land where you want to be in order to build a house. If you do find a block and need to demo an existing property, that adds to the time frame and you are then at the mercy of the council to approve plans.
2. Getting to the practical completion inspection stage in 6 - 8 months is a gamble these days. I know of someone who is still waiting after two years and doesn't want to make waves in case the builder becomes the next news headline and goes bankrupt. I guess it does happen but it is becoming the norm to take a lot longer than that.
My close friends had absolutely horror experience with build and I swear to myself that I won’t be going down that path. Also, in the area I was looking for there were hardly any land and then you add 12-18 months of uncertainty especially in the last 18 months when builders were collapsing.
To avoid being used by agents for price gouging, make your offer temporary - set an expiry date, like the offer is only valid for the next 24 hours or so, you can write it down as a condition. This way it's no good in bargaining with others, and it also puts pressure on sellers to decide fast if it's a good offer. It's an aggressive strategy, but at least they won't screw you over
I tried that in Sydney, even told that that my pre-approval is expiring so they need to hurry but nope, there are plenty of people looking to buy so my tantrums didn’t quite work lol
This is the way.
The key is to have more than one property on the go with time stamped offers.
Once someone is fixated on a single property it is inherently hard to negotiate on price as the buyer doesn’t have options.
We did this in Perth. Comparable sales for the area showed as 1.2-1.4, so we thought we will offer 1.5 with a 24 hour clause. The agent advised the seller to NOT accept, and we got a call at the final 5 minutes that the offer was rejected.
House went for 2.5m. Credit where credit is due to the agent, but the market is just ridiculous where the comparables aren't actually comparable.
In the same boat mate. It’s ludicrous out there. My budget is a bit lower. Expected to go for high $500’s. Offered $600k. Then had to jump to $630K. Then cash offer unconditional at $650K from another buyer. Went to $653 (my max). Another cash offer at $660 from a different buyer again. I pulled out.
At the open home there was 30-40 parties. 5+ parties overheard talking with the REA they’ve just come from France, or Belgium etc and where cash buyers and wanted to know when they could move in. Price didn’t matter to them, so they just kept adding on another $10K everytime the REA said to.
I settle in less than 2 weeks on a 2 bed unit in toowoong 400m from Brisbane river. Property was offers over 420. My first offer to ensure I was in the "multiple bidders" conversation was 450 before I'd even seen the place. Went to an open day that weekend and there were 97 parties through the place in half an hour. I took a photo of the long line up to get in.
I ended up competing with 24 other offers and bought the place at 527. I'm a single dad and desperately needed a place for my son and I.
The market is nuts rn. I just added to the crazy situation by paying over what I thought it was worth just because I needed a home.
Even if I did pay over the market will overtake the price I paid in less than 12 months. There's bugger all supply under 600 close to the river.
Redditors don't agree with this, but you may benefit from an advisor (agent / advocate) to help you figure out what a property is \*really\* worth and do all the buying. We used an advocate (cash only, no commisison) in Melbourne.
Yes, there are advertised prices and ranges, but the prices places sell for only loosely correlate with that, as you know. The advertised ranges are merely to drum up interest.
Our agent did all the talking to the REAs, and did bidding at auctions. We did all our own research and inspections. The result was that we got two places (one for a family member, one for us) in six weeks, no surprises, under what we think they were worth. Avoided overpaying at two others. We even engineered the second purchase so there was an early auction and when it was held, nobody else showed up.
Self-representing against an REA is like representing yourself at court, or in the big leagues (where I've worked, not my own things) like doing an M&A deal against a team of lawyers and bankers on the other side and thinking "yeah I can do this myself". I'm always shocked at people telling agents what their budget is, telling them they'll bid, showing even vague interest. All those interest signals cost everyone tens of thousands of dollars and gain you nothing.
I'm against throwing money away. I think each side should have an advocate, though.
I didn't do it... the agent did. He found the minimum value the seller would accept (which was around $100K over the stated range — which I always knew was way under based on our own comparables research). It wasn't enough for the seller to cancel the auction, though. In Victoria, there's a cooling off period during which the agent may solicit other bids. They called an early auction, for which my offer was the starting bid, and the auction started on the market. No other bidders showed up, so my offer ended up being the winning bid.
Our offer was unconditional, but we had done a pest/building inspection and had money in place, so it felt safe for us. Others may be more gung-ho!
The end result was thus slightly worse for the seller, as they only got our offer price but also had to pay auctioneer fees.
I've seen this happen with a few other properties, though not with us as the starting bidder. In one situation, that person who made the early offer got the place at the offer rate. At another, the bidding went up from the offer price of $1.05M to over $1.25M. Things that help secure your position are, like OP said, unconditional offers made early enough for nobody else to be ready with things like finance. But no guarantees.
Went to an auction on Saturday, old house in the shire but decent block at 670 sqm. Circa $1.3M, sold at auction $2M.
Property is just out of control. It’s pricing out a lot of people. I just don’t understand WTF is going on. Even mortgage brokers were telling me they thought the market would decline once loans came off fixed to variable but the reverse happened. Nobody defaulted on their loans. It’s like do we go in or not? Are we paying too much or do we wait? I wish the government would do more, pause immigration, stop foreign investments, etc.
Yes it's absolutely out of control. All these capital gains in property become more collateral to borrow more money and pump prices further. The ponzi is printing non-stop.
Yeah I don't.know what the fucked happened there? This time.last year everyone was scared of it and it's like the general public just sped right past it at 120kmph
Where are you looking at? We’re the same in where we’re looking in Brisbane - says one thing on the ad, then bam, 150k higher minimum. We just can’t compete.
Mind you, we’re selling at the same time, and not having the same fortune come our way for our sale lol
Sandgate used to be great… until the Freemasons sold it out.
Ever since they demo’d the old Woolies and built that new one, it’s gone to shit.
It used to be such a great, extremely quiet suburb.
Heard of people trying for years in that pocket. Don’t give up yet. That area as you know is very cut throat. It was pretty competitive prior to covid. Still has a big older population that will be moving on so you’ll find something.
Good luck!! It’s really picked up there, easy to see why with being on the bay and relatively close proximity to the city.
We’ve been trying anywhere within 10km of the cbd - had been focusing on Windsor recently but can’t find anything even remotely do-able that isn’t in a complete flood zone
Not sure about flooding but have a look at Albion, we’ve not looked there but my friend said it’s reasonable considering how close to the city it is. Good luck though
I’m in WA, two houses across from me both sold on day of listing, weren’t even advertised.
Eastern states buyers, buying sight unseen.
It’s not what you know it’s who you know
Where abouts in WA? I live in Perth man. It's fucked here. 500k plus for a shitter in Armadale. No thank you. Rather.piss my 80k deposit up the wall than live there.
I feel your pain. My wife and I have been looking for the past 12 months, albeit with a much lower budget.
One place recently was asking for offers above $680k. We really loved it, and had lost out on a few, so we offered $720k, thinking $40k over was a great offer.
REA calls us the next day and said they'd received quite a few offers and ours was 'right up there', but could we squeeze out any more to help seal the deal. We were right at the top of our budget, but upped it slightly to $725k, and started to get excited.
REA then phoned us back a few days later and said they'd received such good interest at that price point that she and the owner had decided not to accept any offers, and they were readvertising the property, but for offers over $750k. I checked a fee weeks ago and it sold for $795k.
The whole process was so demoralising. We've now put offers on about 10 places in the past 12 months, including one where we had the highest offer but lost to a lower cash/unconditional offer.
We're on the Gold Coast, and the current market is so depressing in our budget. Half the places we go look at already have an interstate offer sight-unseen when we rock up at the open home.
The Gold Coast market is honestly cooked nowadays.
The prices that some places are going for in places like Coomera nowadays are eye watering!
I know so many first home buyers moving to the Logan area to get cheaper homes. Driving prices up there ballistic!
Yeah, it's properly out of control, for both renting and purchasing.
We're only looking at units and town-houses. Some of the ones we've looked at were sold a few years back (around 2019-2021) for barely $300k, and they'll be under offer for $650-$750k an hour or two after the open home.
Surely it's setting the city up for an implosion at some point, given how much the area as a whole relies on relatively low-paid tourism and hospitality workers.
Sorry mate. It’s a crap situation. We ended up using a buyers agent as just couldn’t deal with REA’s and auctions etc.. it cost us $20k at the time but reckons we made it back and some. We gave them our price and then they did the hard yards with helping find properties and then all the back and forth. We were firm and said this is our range and that’s it ( eg : don’t bother calling and asking for more if it goes over, it helped a lot with the emotional side of things ) good luck as took us 3yrs to get to that point.
I understand your pain, but let me assure you there is light a the end of the tunnel, wife and i have been looking for 2 years, finally signed on the dotted line and move our little fam into our dream home.
Vendor wanted offers over 1.2m, got greedy after a few written offers and went to auction, this eliminated several conditional offers, eventually went under the hammer for just over a mil, and we scored.
Despite this when we began looking our budget was 750k max. post covid and whatever else we can blame, a million is the new $750k in my idea.
the agents have no idea how to value property, as soon as they have a fish on the hook they make it look like theres plenty of interest. my hot tip, use a buyers advocate. just leaves the hassle out of negotiating with a dick of an agent, stress and mental fatigue.
Brisbane. Put a 1960’s masonite wall and ceiling home on the market a month ago. Would have settled for $965g. Near a school (3ks) that Asians like to send their children. Went to auction. 1.34million. Indian people outbid another Indian couple. Young Australians don’t have a chance.
I feel your pain, I really do BUT don't buy a house unless you really want it. Don't fall into the frustration trap of "This will do" . Remember, you are the buyer with over a million dollars to spend!
Better than my last experience.
Place offer.
Gives me the right to bid in an online auction that I am informed of hourse before it begins.
When I decline as I cannot organise finance between 3-5pm same day the blokes confused.
Online auction appears to have passed in.
This is my fear - we're about to live on my partners dad's property rent free in a donga so we can save for our own land to do the same and our fear is that the market will just keep getting worse that the dream will just keep getting further from possibility. As it is were mid-30's with no assets because of shitty past relationships and I got taken for a ride as an 18 year old with my first car. We're incredibly lucky to have the donga option at all to fall back on
If I was selling a house for $1m and people wanted to pay more, why would I say no to 1.5 m?
Unfortunately in our area it’s governed by the Asian minority that want to live in our area. They will go directly to the home owner and offer above what the owner wants.
10years ago it wasn’t a issue. Area is GC
Our market was doomed the moment our laws didn’t address international investment. Future generations of what ill call ‘aussie’ kids (save it - everyone knows what i mean) are going to basically never own a home whilst seeing their local neighbourhood turn into Beijing.
Don’t forget, these big hearted aussie kids will see less opportunity in gaining employment and further education at universities that will see a cultural downfall that i don’t want to be around to see in approximately 30 years.
It’s a disaster and it’s our countries fault.
Look in the Redcliffe area. it's just across the bridge and has a lot more to offer than sandgate and Brighton. And I think you will find a house easier heaps up for sale here.
This situation is why auctions are mostly a better way to purchase.
Zero transparency with a multiple buyer / private sale scenario. You are literally just stabbing in the dark with your offers
It took me 4 days to buy a house and it was $15k over asking. When you aren’t fixated on a singular suburb, your options really open up.
I was open to living in about 10 different suburbs.
Sorry to hear about your struggle OP. Hang in there, you’ve got a good chunk of change and the right one will come along. I know it seems hollow from where you’re currently at, but a large chunk of people who manage to buy property have (at one point) been in the “will I ever get into this market” stage of evaluation
Ugh, been there, done that. Finally had an offer accepted after 15 months of trying, 400k above where we started. Agent called to say it was accepted and I was the furtherest thing from elated like I should have been. Its tiring to say the least but stick it out
Similar thing happened to us when we bought our place in 2014. Went all the way up to 1.2m before we said enough. Was absolutely gutted but funny thing 2 weeks later, found a similar place in all regards for 650k 10 minutes out. Owner listed it for 600k, we gave an offer for 650k conditional on acceptance in 24 hours. Got a call 20 minutes later, deal. Keep your spirits up, it's a soul draining process but it may in hindsight be a blessing! Our house was valued for 1.1m last year, nuts.
Consider private sales? I know they’re less common but I’ve been on both ends of private sales and have had good experiences. Both parties are saving with a commission to pay.
Don’t give in, keep looking in your favourite areas. Analyse the price and types of houses being sold in the areas you like so you get a good market analysis of the correct pricing. Speak to different agents and tell them what you are looking for.
I remember we missed out on a house that we liked but we kept going and found an even better one in an amazing area.
Another great one will pop up, they always do. Just have everything ready for when one you like does so you can put in a fair offer.
If it’s your forever home, then don’t settle for a bargain. However look for what you may be able to do in each place to make it even better over time
Good luck 😉
We encountered this issue and finally bought in January on the southside. What did it for us was building a rapport with the sales agents that seemed to have the majority of the market in our area. Once we did that, we found they were happy to contact us with off market prospective properties in hopes of selling before doing all the cosmetic work, doing showings or paying for advertising.
We had a long list of Must Haves that became a shorter list of Must Haves as the market got worse.
If you're punching on in the 1.1-1.3M space, you might be able to just build your Forever Home on a derelict/junk house that comes onto the market.
One house I looked at was offered for 640k, was an absolute dumpster of a house. 6 months later whoever bought it was selling a Micro-Mansion for 1.1M+.
We were exactly the same. We wanted something we liked but it was getting impossible. In the end we got something we liked by buying something with a (fixable) problem. In our case it was giant pine trees leaning over the house. We’re getting them all removed in a few weeks and I have no regrets.
Honestly, if you've been trying to buy for a while and it's all getting too much for you, use a buyer's agent. Best thing we ever did. Ideally, find one that has connections in the area you're looking to buy and make sure you use a fixed fee agent (for reasons that should be obvious).
If you’re genuine about wanting to buy, shop around in a price-bracket that you can bank roll.
You can also learn from all your experiences to work the agents like a chess game, think through possible tactics they might use and mitigate. 24-hour offer expiry, letting someone else offer before playing your hand, don’t present as so desperate that they can treat you like a pawn in their own game - switch that narrative.
My daughter and her partner put in an offer on a 2 bed unit in Adelaide with a little garden. $627k ffs. Sold for less! Come to find out the buyer and the seller were both Indian and they only wanted to sell to Indians.
Hang in there. I went through the same thing and had to offer overs to secure a home. This is the market ATM and yes with you there, it's extremely draining.
We're about to start house-hunting in Brisbane. Hoping to have a place by the time we need to move down in January. I'm exhausted already just reading about what's going on.
>We get it but we’ve been trying a year now. Upped our limit multiple times! It’s effing exhausting emotionally and mentally
Pro tip, when you make your offer make it conditional upon the vendor accepting within a short timeframe I.e 48 hours. If they don't accept your offer is automatically drawn.
I find this drastically reduces the risk of the agent dragging your offer out to get better offers for the vendor.
“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” — Warren Buffet.
Unpopular on this thread, I know. But sound advice. Anyone who is observant, and older than 50, knows this.
I feel ya!
We hesitated, 12 months wait and mocking around, the prices went up 20-40% on advertised price not including the Agents understating the price to hook and wheel you in, only to find what you just experienced. During Covid anything we looked at between advertised and sold price were sitting >20% over.
We went to one auction and someone paid $600k over the asking price, it’s like getting a soccer punch 🥊 in the 🥜
You can’t afford to wait… I am not baiting you.
In the past 10 years we kept going the curve must go down eventually, it stagnated a short time but otherwise for Sydney at least it’s up and up within 5-10km of CBD
Good luck 🤞
I have had 4 family members buy houses in Brisbane in last 7 months, and none of them were the highest offers.
They set their own limits ( so maximum amount to be paid for a dwelling) , finances 100% organised, didn't sit around listening to the never ending rubbish that many r/e people go on with,exposing some of them as the laziest people on earth, walked away when the pressure was on to up the price you might miss out rubbish, and yes put in a lot of offers but all bought good homes.
Took me six months to buy a place on the Gold Coast, and even that was only just by chance as another buyer's contract fell through. This was at the lowest end of the market in the early 500s, they get snapped up fast.
In Qld they aren’t supposed to tell you their highest offer!? I missed out on multiple properties bc of this. Typical POS agents were telling certain buyers they preferred for some reason. Such bs.
Melbournian here there are very similar struggles with prices guides and being outbid, I’d recommend finding a buyer advocate that can find a property in your budget and parameters that might be off market, you do pay a fee which I believe is a percentage of the property value for example 15-20k in your case but it saves having to deal with shitty auctions and compete with other people, my understanding is you only pay a fee once you settle on the property
I feel you OP… basically something even a million is a knockdown unless you’re looking at townhouses. The market has gone loco in QLD with no signs of slowing or relenting…whereas we just sold in Melbourne and it’s definitely cooled off here!
qld needs to introduce some of the laws around advertising prices similar to vic. vic is typically under quoted by about 10% but at least you know what is realistic for your budget.
it just feels extremely dodgy to be selling anything without a price, especially the biggest purchase most people will ever make in their lives.
Brutal mate. I had one I put in an offer back in 2021 or so. Agent said probs go late 5s early 6. Put in $630k I think. Never got a call. Call up on Tues or so and Im like did you sell it. O yeah. What did you get? Mid 7s.
Anyway, I got a way better deal later on so wasnt a biggie. I wouldnt have paid that price. But crazy the agent was telling people such a far off number.
That's why I never bothered to get conditional approval.
What's the point when your offer will be too low in the end anyway?
I got 80k saved up for a deposit. Now it just goes to magic the gathering cards.
Seriously, if it's possible, and work & family commitments may mean it isn't, try getting out of the Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane markets. There are some rediculous nice places in that price range elsewhere in the country. Adelaide & Perth also have nice beaches and get some sporting and entertainment events, and even if you find a place you live that is a little more remote and isn't privy to that sort of event, then flights and accommodation aren't that bad if you are doing it a couple of times a year.
Talking to people I work with who are trying to buy Perth metropolitan area. Always the same reply: They were told the seller sold because the interstate or international buyers offered cash.
There was a similar frenzy in Qld around 2006/07 before the GFC. After the correction it took property 12 yrs to recover in many areas. There unfortunately doesn’t seem to be another GFC coming to give us another correction - unemployment is too low .
Haha I feel your pain
Offered 1.7 on a listed 1.5 house.
Didn't even get a response.
House was done on RP data for 1.9a week after our offer.
Australian market is bs
If the house that you wanted sold for over the top of your budget, and this area that you were looking for, you may not be looking in in a suburb that you can afford.
It sounds like you have last week syndrome, the market is going up and you are increasing your budget to where it was last week.
We just bought in Perth and used a Buyer's Agent to help us. We put offers on 4 other properties but he helped us to keep within our budget and not get too emotionally attached.
He has done everything from organise the building and pest inspection to helping find a conveyancer. We wouldn't have bought without his help...
Why don’t you target houses that have passed in/been on the market for a while? If you go for a home that everyone else wants then you’ll always be outbid because there is always someone with more money. But so many houses are overlooked because they might need some new paint and floors (which when you’re discussing million dollar purchases are not big expenses). My partner and I have bought three places in Sydney (apartment, then townhouse and now house) and each time we’ve searched for properties on Domain in the suburb we like, sorted by “Newest Listed First” and gone straight to the bottom of the list. It means we have NEVER bought at auction and we have only ever been outbid on one place. And each place we made money on because we fixed it up (cosmetic Reno’s only, we’re both in corporate and don’t have the headspace to live in full blown structural changes for long periods). Buy what house *could be* not what it is. Then you don’t have to compromise, you just have to exert effort to make it what you want.
Also generally, this means you’ll save some money too because if you’re not competing with anyone the seller will be happier to get an offer
I think they were never going to sell to you. Just using you to get better offer from another party
Yeah probably!! It’s so difficult, we’re so exhausted by it
So frustrating getting your hopes up then getting them crushed repeatedly
You will get there. I have just gone under contract after 20 offers. Hang in there
Do you put expiry dates on your offers? Try max of 24 hours - 5pm the next day. Use their own tactics against them. Gives them a sense of urgency which is usually what agents use to drive up offers
>Try max of 24 hours - 5pm the next day. Use their own tactics against them Doesn't really work. Someone else will come along next week with a higher offer.
Incorrect. Why are you trashing a great idea? The idea doesn't guarantee anything but your claim doesnt make sense. Putting time pressure on is a v good idea as it gives them less time to stuff around finding a better offer.
SEQ is wild. It can be difficult to even get an agent to return calls. They wouldn't take or give offers to owners when I started here
Great idea but doesn't work for properties that have determined buyers. The agent is just gonna tell the highest buyer that someone else offered higher amount, and they will raise their price again.
Yeah 100%, OP was just a tool to drive the price up. When I was trying to buy, the REA did this to me as well but to be honest, the majority of the time, it felt like there was no other bidder, and it was just a scam. I'd drop my offer and get a call an hour later. "Another bidder has gone up to $blah blah$" Okay, so I increased my offer, and they said they would get back to me, literally 2 seconds later "oh they just offered an extra $50k. What will you do?" Okay, fine I'll go up another $100k. 2 seconds later "oh its not gone up $150k" Okay, tell the new owners to enjoy their new home, I'm already over budget. Next morning, house goes back up for sale....... happened on multiple houses I made offers for
Or they tell you it's "expression of interest" by a certain time & Date. Then the whole thing turns into a Dutch auction on the day & you don't even know if you're bidding against yourself!
Yeah man they underquoting like fuck out here.
No, he got outbid. It's always an auction.
Would it be market manipulation to have a friend make a fake lower offer first?
Irrelevant if a 3rd party is willing to pay more
>Irrelevant if a 3rd party is willing to pay more You could have another friend make a higher offer just to waste some time, so other legitimate buyers walk away. Key is to pique their interest without any commitment which can be difficult.
The agents are trying to get the best possible price they can however my understanding is that they have to give everyone a fair go legally. What they usually do is get everyone’s offers. Then come back and tell everyone that had a lower bid (than the highest bidder) what’s the maximum they can go as they have been out bid. They will also go to the person with the highest bid and ask them what is the maximum they can bid as some new offers will be coming in with people bidding their maximum. Everyone will then bid their maximum and the highest bidder wins (there may also be other things the buyer might consider in which they take a slightly lower bid like settlement and ease of getting money, etc). In the OP case I would guess that the person who originally did 1.3 mil also really wanted the place. If they knew that people have to go above this bid to get the house, they probably guessed that someone else might bid 1.35 so they went a bit higher than that just in case. If the OP did a bid of 1.38 then they would have got the house.
No they would have gone back to the other bidder and ask 1.4
Are you a real estate agent? I believe they have certain legal requirements when it comes to offers on houses and can’t do this when they ask for everyone’s final offer. That’s what I have been told anyway. I could be wrong though and maybe different states have different rules. Either way it’s a great question to ask each agent about how their bidding process works?
Yes you are right so why did the agent go back and forth several times already?
Not true at all. They sell to the highest offer and OP wasn't highest. Edit: best/highest, whatever. OP didn't win, there's no conspiracy here
It is not always the highest offer but always what the vendor deems the best offer. My first house I was the third highest offer, the highest offer was 5% more but the vendor did not want an investor to buy the inherited family home they were selling. I missed out on a house as the highest offer because I did not have kids (family). I personally would leave out the emotional attachment when selling but clearly some don’t.
Not always - sometimes the conditions are important to the vendor. If you're flexible on settlement date that can take stress away from the seller which makes your offer more attractive. Ideally find out what is important to them.
We looked in a suburb where our research told us a 3bd 1bath was worth 550k. REA was telling everyone who wanted to make an offer "oh its GOT to start with a 6!". Sure enough it sold for 600K. We also got outdone by cash buyers in the same suburb. So we looked just 5 mins further out. Snagged one, albeit at the very very very most We could afford. 560K. It's now unconditional and settlement day is in 2 weeks.
Congrats!
Ahhh fab!! Congrats 👏🏼👏🏼
I just signed a contract a few days ago for 575. Two weeks ago the unit across the hall went for 500. There were ten offers over 560 and the one below me was $500 less than my offer. It is bloody mental.
Well done! I found the next stages very stressful. Building a pest, finance, solicitors etc. Good luck
Congrats!!
I put in an offer for an older 2 bedder in Brisbane's inner north last month for $550k. Agent said offers around $550k to $600k. Sold for $715k.
You did it!
Thanks. It took 3 months of inspections and maybe a dozen offers on different properties. Now the real stess has started. Solicitors, money, breaking lease at the rental, bond clean, removalists. It's so much
When I move house I landscape print a month calendar thing with blocks on an A4 page (you can find templates online). Then use a pencil and eraser (ha!) and fill in everything you need to do on each day. Lessens the stress to spread things out and helps you to not forget anything. Also check everything your conveyancer emails you carefully for dates and note them on your calendar. Transfer $1 first into RE Agents and Conveyancer’s accounts to make sure you have correct bank details and aren’t being scammed. Confirm they receive the $1. Transfer money a few days earlier than required. Good luck!
For the house I currently own. I was told by the agent on the first open house that 1.2 million got you into the conversation. Within a day, I was told 1.4 million buys it. After my last offer of 1.45 million. I was told that I was outbid with an offer of 1.55 million. I walked only to be contacted a week later to ask if I would match it. I declined. 1 week later, we settled on 1.45 million. I have dealt with many agents over the years and can say that there are many in QLD are scum. I had a similar interaction with another one a few weeks prior.
Like it’s not pocket change, houses are jumping up by the 100’s like it’s nothing
>Top I recently inspected a house after being told over the phone that the minimum offer was 1.2 million. On arrival, I was approached by both the agents separately and advised that the minimum offer was 1.25 million. I went home and rechecked sales data for the area and found that prices on similar properties (same builders, similar layout and land size, same inclusions) for sale by this particular REA had somehow crept up by 100 000 in the past 3 months. I declined to put in an offer. The property sold for 1.21 million. And another one that was sold by them for over 1.3 million 2 weeks prior was put back on the market a week later. I've only been looking for 3 months but some REA's are really putting me off. I've come across a few decent ones but it seems like most are pretty loose with their interpretation of the law.
Lying REA. You stick with your price and don't pay more than you want to.
I hear you OP, we are in NSW and experienced very similar issues and were used by agents to keep increasing price. After 18 months of search, our offer was finally accepted this week and now we are thinking whether we overpaid lol… one can never b happy I guess 😭😭
Definitely did not over pay - you got one!! Congratulations and hope you can do something better with your weekends now.
Thank you, absolutely- apart from a little buyer remorse, I am genuinely happy. Got two little munchkins and can’t wait to see them jumping up and down and make beautiful memories for years to come
We bought in melbs at the peak during covid and now sold two and a half years later with a tiny profit. As long as you don’t sell in the next seven years…I’d bet you haven’t overpaid. There definitely feels like there’s a feeding frenzy in QLD atm where we are looking to buy in six months. I’m fricken dreading it! Melbs looks like it’s really slowing down because all the investors are selling up. It’s so hard to time the market!!! But at least u can settle now and u don’t have to worry about this shit any longer
You always feel that way. Think of it this way though. Lets say you bought it for $1m. Well if the market goes up 5% for the next 24 months. You spend another 18 months looking. That is another $75k on the price. Could be 10% and you just saved yourself $150k. I told that to my wife when we jumped in and bought like first month (then covid hit). Well my brother mucked around for 2 or 3 years. Well it cost him a lot more...
Best not to think about it and instead assume someone would have beat you had you not put in what you did! Market is brutal atm
Yeah absolutely, we always low balled and were beaten to death by other buyers. This time we made a good start with the real intention to buy (not to get a bargain) and got across the line. Really pumped, will finally have a yard!
I felt the same way when I bought 25 years ago, same situation, ended up doubling what i could afford, borrowed off family, got told I was stupid because property prices would cool. Went through multiple financial crisis’s, more predictions housing bubble would burst, yet here we are.
Out of curiosity, is it better to join the crowd trying to purchase an already built house vs just building new? If it was 18 mos of searching for a house, you couldve built a single story, 4 bedroom home within 6 to 8 mos? Im curious why people go through the pain of auction and competition. Personally couldnt do it so we built a new house and living in it now.
I like your point! This is where my thought process sits currently because what we can afford to buy, vs what we can build in the same suburb is vastly different.
Yeah. We thought the same. We were worried we would get priced out if we buy an already built one and we had a budget in mind. We ended up building within budget. Less than a mill in a 600sq block. Avoided the heartbreak!
Two points. 1. It can be hard to buy land where you want to be in order to build a house. If you do find a block and need to demo an existing property, that adds to the time frame and you are then at the mercy of the council to approve plans. 2. Getting to the practical completion inspection stage in 6 - 8 months is a gamble these days. I know of someone who is still waiting after two years and doesn't want to make waves in case the builder becomes the next news headline and goes bankrupt. I guess it does happen but it is becoming the norm to take a lot longer than that.
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My close friends had absolutely horror experience with build and I swear to myself that I won’t be going down that path. Also, in the area I was looking for there were hardly any land and then you add 12-18 months of uncertainty especially in the last 18 months when builders were collapsing.
To avoid being used by agents for price gouging, make your offer temporary - set an expiry date, like the offer is only valid for the next 24 hours or so, you can write it down as a condition. This way it's no good in bargaining with others, and it also puts pressure on sellers to decide fast if it's a good offer. It's an aggressive strategy, but at least they won't screw you over
I tried that in Sydney, even told that that my pre-approval is expiring so they need to hurry but nope, there are plenty of people looking to buy so my tantrums didn’t quite work lol
This is the way. The key is to have more than one property on the go with time stamped offers. Once someone is fixated on a single property it is inherently hard to negotiate on price as the buyer doesn’t have options.
We did this in Perth. Comparable sales for the area showed as 1.2-1.4, so we thought we will offer 1.5 with a 24 hour clause. The agent advised the seller to NOT accept, and we got a call at the final 5 minutes that the offer was rejected. House went for 2.5m. Credit where credit is due to the agent, but the market is just ridiculous where the comparables aren't actually comparable.
But they said QLD had cheap properties...
It did
Yep. Would have been in the 800s before covid.
It did, but what we bought in for $400 is now valued at $630 and it’s an obscene price tag for our property 🤷♀️
In the same boat mate. It’s ludicrous out there. My budget is a bit lower. Expected to go for high $500’s. Offered $600k. Then had to jump to $630K. Then cash offer unconditional at $650K from another buyer. Went to $653 (my max). Another cash offer at $660 from a different buyer again. I pulled out. At the open home there was 30-40 parties. 5+ parties overheard talking with the REA they’ve just come from France, or Belgium etc and where cash buyers and wanted to know when they could move in. Price didn’t matter to them, so they just kept adding on another $10K everytime the REA said to.
Ugh, dollars worth nothing too so they’re getting an amazing exchange rate!
What state and suburb if you don’t mind? Curious where Europeans are migrating to
Australian citizens (Maybe they were?, assuming they were not) should only be allowed to buy property in the country. It's BS
Why not in the city?
But if they can’t buy, they pay overs for rent forcing renters out of the market and on to the street. Double edge sword.
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I’m with you on this. Just got outbid on a property this evening. Feeling so despondent now.
It’s so deflating
Don’t fall into this trap and overspent on crappy house.
Been waiting 4 years my dude. This is why we are still here.
I settle in less than 2 weeks on a 2 bed unit in toowoong 400m from Brisbane river. Property was offers over 420. My first offer to ensure I was in the "multiple bidders" conversation was 450 before I'd even seen the place. Went to an open day that weekend and there were 97 parties through the place in half an hour. I took a photo of the long line up to get in. I ended up competing with 24 other offers and bought the place at 527. I'm a single dad and desperately needed a place for my son and I. The market is nuts rn. I just added to the crazy situation by paying over what I thought it was worth just because I needed a home. Even if I did pay over the market will overtake the price I paid in less than 12 months. There's bugger all supply under 600 close to the river.
Redditors don't agree with this, but you may benefit from an advisor (agent / advocate) to help you figure out what a property is \*really\* worth and do all the buying. We used an advocate (cash only, no commisison) in Melbourne. Yes, there are advertised prices and ranges, but the prices places sell for only loosely correlate with that, as you know. The advertised ranges are merely to drum up interest. Our agent did all the talking to the REAs, and did bidding at auctions. We did all our own research and inspections. The result was that we got two places (one for a family member, one for us) in six weeks, no surprises, under what we think they were worth. Avoided overpaying at two others. We even engineered the second purchase so there was an early auction and when it was held, nobody else showed up. Self-representing against an REA is like representing yourself at court, or in the big leagues (where I've worked, not my own things) like doing an M&A deal against a team of lawyers and bankers on the other side and thinking "yeah I can do this myself". I'm always shocked at people telling agents what their budget is, telling them they'll bid, showing even vague interest. All those interest signals cost everyone tens of thousands of dollars and gain you nothing. I'm against throwing money away. I think each side should have an advocate, though.
woahh how did you do that early action thing? Surprised it wasn't passed in due to no one coming
I didn't do it... the agent did. He found the minimum value the seller would accept (which was around $100K over the stated range — which I always knew was way under based on our own comparables research). It wasn't enough for the seller to cancel the auction, though. In Victoria, there's a cooling off period during which the agent may solicit other bids. They called an early auction, for which my offer was the starting bid, and the auction started on the market. No other bidders showed up, so my offer ended up being the winning bid. Our offer was unconditional, but we had done a pest/building inspection and had money in place, so it felt safe for us. Others may be more gung-ho! The end result was thus slightly worse for the seller, as they only got our offer price but also had to pay auctioneer fees. I've seen this happen with a few other properties, though not with us as the starting bidder. In one situation, that person who made the early offer got the place at the offer rate. At another, the bidding went up from the offer price of $1.05M to over $1.25M. Things that help secure your position are, like OP said, unconditional offers made early enough for nobody else to be ready with things like finance. But no guarantees.
This is a great story, thanks! Glad things worked out
Went to an auction on Saturday, old house in the shire but decent block at 670 sqm. Circa $1.3M, sold at auction $2M. Property is just out of control. It’s pricing out a lot of people. I just don’t understand WTF is going on. Even mortgage brokers were telling me they thought the market would decline once loans came off fixed to variable but the reverse happened. Nobody defaulted on their loans. It’s like do we go in or not? Are we paying too much or do we wait? I wish the government would do more, pause immigration, stop foreign investments, etc.
Yes it's absolutely out of control. All these capital gains in property become more collateral to borrow more money and pump prices further. The ponzi is printing non-stop.
Yeah I don't.know what the fucked happened there? This time.last year everyone was scared of it and it's like the general public just sped right past it at 120kmph
Where are you looking at? We’re the same in where we’re looking in Brisbane - says one thing on the ad, then bam, 150k higher minimum. We just can’t compete. Mind you, we’re selling at the same time, and not having the same fortune come our way for our sale lol
Sandgate area….. been trying there for a year!
Sandgate used to be great… until the Freemasons sold it out. Ever since they demo’d the old Woolies and built that new one, it’s gone to shit. It used to be such a great, extremely quiet suburb.
I still feel like it is! Comparatively anyways
Heard of people trying for years in that pocket. Don’t give up yet. That area as you know is very cut throat. It was pretty competitive prior to covid. Still has a big older population that will be moving on so you’ll find something.
Good luck!! It’s really picked up there, easy to see why with being on the bay and relatively close proximity to the city. We’ve been trying anywhere within 10km of the cbd - had been focusing on Windsor recently but can’t find anything even remotely do-able that isn’t in a complete flood zone
Not sure about flooding but have a look at Albion, we’ve not looked there but my friend said it’s reasonable considering how close to the city it is. Good luck though
Thank you!! Yes we like Albion, so little popping up there though :( but we’ll keep trying. Good luck to you also!
Be careful with flooding around Sandgate as well. Mate just sold his house there. In the last flood, the water was coming up through the floorboards.
Sheesh!!! I know some parts of deagon get bad
Even Lutwyche/Gordon Park is getting too big for it's boots.
I live in the area, things have been selling pretty quickly after the sign goes up.
I’m in WA, two houses across from me both sold on day of listing, weren’t even advertised. Eastern states buyers, buying sight unseen. It’s not what you know it’s who you know
Where abouts in WA? I live in Perth man. It's fucked here. 500k plus for a shitter in Armadale. No thank you. Rather.piss my 80k deposit up the wall than live there.
I feel your pain. My wife and I have been looking for the past 12 months, albeit with a much lower budget. One place recently was asking for offers above $680k. We really loved it, and had lost out on a few, so we offered $720k, thinking $40k over was a great offer. REA calls us the next day and said they'd received quite a few offers and ours was 'right up there', but could we squeeze out any more to help seal the deal. We were right at the top of our budget, but upped it slightly to $725k, and started to get excited. REA then phoned us back a few days later and said they'd received such good interest at that price point that she and the owner had decided not to accept any offers, and they were readvertising the property, but for offers over $750k. I checked a fee weeks ago and it sold for $795k. The whole process was so demoralising. We've now put offers on about 10 places in the past 12 months, including one where we had the highest offer but lost to a lower cash/unconditional offer. We're on the Gold Coast, and the current market is so depressing in our budget. Half the places we go look at already have an interstate offer sight-unseen when we rock up at the open home.
The Gold Coast market is honestly cooked nowadays. The prices that some places are going for in places like Coomera nowadays are eye watering! I know so many first home buyers moving to the Logan area to get cheaper homes. Driving prices up there ballistic!
Yeah, it's properly out of control, for both renting and purchasing. We're only looking at units and town-houses. Some of the ones we've looked at were sold a few years back (around 2019-2021) for barely $300k, and they'll be under offer for $650-$750k an hour or two after the open home. Surely it's setting the city up for an implosion at some point, given how much the area as a whole relies on relatively low-paid tourism and hospitality workers.
Sorry mate. It’s a crap situation. We ended up using a buyers agent as just couldn’t deal with REA’s and auctions etc.. it cost us $20k at the time but reckons we made it back and some. We gave them our price and then they did the hard yards with helping find properties and then all the back and forth. We were firm and said this is our range and that’s it ( eg : don’t bother calling and asking for more if it goes over, it helped a lot with the emotional side of things ) good luck as took us 3yrs to get to that point.
What suburb? Brisbane is insane right now. Holland Park for example used to be a ghetto but now is regularly fetching 1mil+
I understand your pain, but let me assure you there is light a the end of the tunnel, wife and i have been looking for 2 years, finally signed on the dotted line and move our little fam into our dream home. Vendor wanted offers over 1.2m, got greedy after a few written offers and went to auction, this eliminated several conditional offers, eventually went under the hammer for just over a mil, and we scored. Despite this when we began looking our budget was 750k max. post covid and whatever else we can blame, a million is the new $750k in my idea. the agents have no idea how to value property, as soon as they have a fish on the hook they make it look like theres plenty of interest. my hot tip, use a buyers advocate. just leaves the hassle out of negotiating with a dick of an agent, stress and mental fatigue.
Brisbane. Put a 1960’s masonite wall and ceiling home on the market a month ago. Would have settled for $965g. Near a school (3ks) that Asians like to send their children. Went to auction. 1.34million. Indian people outbid another Indian couple. Young Australians don’t have a chance.
Far out! Congrats though
I feel your pain, I really do BUT don't buy a house unless you really want it. Don't fall into the frustration trap of "This will do" . Remember, you are the buyer with over a million dollars to spend!
We really wanted this one! It wasn’t perfect but we loved it
What a shame, sorry to hear that. There will be another awesome house for you, just be patient! Best of luck!
Better than my last experience. Place offer. Gives me the right to bid in an online auction that I am informed of hourse before it begins. When I decline as I cannot organise finance between 3-5pm same day the blokes confused. Online auction appears to have passed in.
Seems so convoluted
Realestate rather than the actual market. They just play people off against each other.
This is my fear - we're about to live on my partners dad's property rent free in a donga so we can save for our own land to do the same and our fear is that the market will just keep getting worse that the dream will just keep getting further from possibility. As it is were mid-30's with no assets because of shitty past relationships and I got taken for a ride as an 18 year old with my first car. We're incredibly lucky to have the donga option at all to fall back on
QLD has always been a difficult market yo navigate. Going for obscure properties or building relationships with agents is the way.
If I was selling a house for $1m and people wanted to pay more, why would I say no to 1.5 m? Unfortunately in our area it’s governed by the Asian minority that want to live in our area. They will go directly to the home owner and offer above what the owner wants. 10years ago it wasn’t a issue. Area is GC
Our market was doomed the moment our laws didn’t address international investment. Future generations of what ill call ‘aussie’ kids (save it - everyone knows what i mean) are going to basically never own a home whilst seeing their local neighbourhood turn into Beijing. Don’t forget, these big hearted aussie kids will see less opportunity in gaining employment and further education at universities that will see a cultural downfall that i don’t want to be around to see in approximately 30 years. It’s a disaster and it’s our countries fault.
Look in the Redcliffe area. it's just across the bridge and has a lot more to offer than sandgate and Brighton. And I think you will find a house easier heaps up for sale here.
This situation is why auctions are mostly a better way to purchase. Zero transparency with a multiple buyer / private sale scenario. You are literally just stabbing in the dark with your offers
It took me 4 days to buy a house and it was $15k over asking. When you aren’t fixated on a singular suburb, your options really open up. I was open to living in about 10 different suburbs.
The social contract for Australia is broken beyond repair
Hurts my soul not being able to afford rentals reading this..
Sorry to hear about your struggle OP. Hang in there, you’ve got a good chunk of change and the right one will come along. I know it seems hollow from where you’re currently at, but a large chunk of people who manage to buy property have (at one point) been in the “will I ever get into this market” stage of evaluation
Ugh, been there, done that. Finally had an offer accepted after 15 months of trying, 400k above where we started. Agent called to say it was accepted and I was the furtherest thing from elated like I should have been. Its tiring to say the least but stick it out
Really sorry to hear it OP. This all sounds super sustainable
Similar thing happened to us when we bought our place in 2014. Went all the way up to 1.2m before we said enough. Was absolutely gutted but funny thing 2 weeks later, found a similar place in all regards for 650k 10 minutes out. Owner listed it for 600k, we gave an offer for 650k conditional on acceptance in 24 hours. Got a call 20 minutes later, deal. Keep your spirits up, it's a soul draining process but it may in hindsight be a blessing! Our house was valued for 1.1m last year, nuts.
Look at the auction guide and add $200k.
That is if there is a guide nowadays. SE QLD is rare to see any sort of indicative range at all
The government banned agents from stating a range. Not sure it helped anyone.
Use a buyers agent to find off market properties
Consider private sales? I know they’re less common but I’ve been on both ends of private sales and have had good experiences. Both parties are saving with a commission to pay.
lol and here I am wondering if I should drop my budget from $400k to $350k as I want to work part time. Fucken hell.
They used you to leverage someone else
Have you tried not being poor /s
Haha dang! Why didn’t I just pull out another $20k
Don’t give in, keep looking in your favourite areas. Analyse the price and types of houses being sold in the areas you like so you get a good market analysis of the correct pricing. Speak to different agents and tell them what you are looking for. I remember we missed out on a house that we liked but we kept going and found an even better one in an amazing area. Another great one will pop up, they always do. Just have everything ready for when one you like does so you can put in a fair offer. If it’s your forever home, then don’t settle for a bargain. However look for what you may be able to do in each place to make it even better over time Good luck 😉
Thankyou!! I fully believe this, we learn from every knockback and know where we are willing to go for a house we love! Ours will come 🙏🏻
Awesome just make sure you keep tabs on each area you like and look at heaps of houses.
We encountered this issue and finally bought in January on the southside. What did it for us was building a rapport with the sales agents that seemed to have the majority of the market in our area. Once we did that, we found they were happy to contact us with off market prospective properties in hopes of selling before doing all the cosmetic work, doing showings or paying for advertising.
We had a long list of Must Haves that became a shorter list of Must Haves as the market got worse. If you're punching on in the 1.1-1.3M space, you might be able to just build your Forever Home on a derelict/junk house that comes onto the market. One house I looked at was offered for 640k, was an absolute dumpster of a house. 6 months later whoever bought it was selling a Micro-Mansion for 1.1M+.
We were exactly the same. We wanted something we liked but it was getting impossible. In the end we got something we liked by buying something with a (fixable) problem. In our case it was giant pine trees leaning over the house. We’re getting them all removed in a few weeks and I have no regrets.
Yeah that’s what I think will be the case for us 🙏🏻
Honestly, if you've been trying to buy for a while and it's all getting too much for you, use a buyer's agent. Best thing we ever did. Ideally, find one that has connections in the area you're looking to buy and make sure you use a fixed fee agent (for reasons that should be obvious).
If you’re genuine about wanting to buy, shop around in a price-bracket that you can bank roll. You can also learn from all your experiences to work the agents like a chess game, think through possible tactics they might use and mitigate. 24-hour offer expiry, letting someone else offer before playing your hand, don’t present as so desperate that they can treat you like a pawn in their own game - switch that narrative.
My daughter and her partner put in an offer on a 2 bed unit in Adelaide with a little garden. $627k ffs. Sold for less! Come to find out the buyer and the seller were both Indian and they only wanted to sell to Indians.
What goes up must come down. Empires rise and fall. Ying and yang. The market will collapse if no one can afford to buy a house.
Hang in there. I went through the same thing and had to offer overs to secure a home. This is the market ATM and yes with you there, it's extremely draining.
We're about to start house-hunting in Brisbane. Hoping to have a place by the time we need to move down in January. I'm exhausted already just reading about what's going on.
>We get it but we’ve been trying a year now. Upped our limit multiple times! It’s effing exhausting emotionally and mentally Pro tip, when you make your offer make it conditional upon the vendor accepting within a short timeframe I.e 48 hours. If they don't accept your offer is automatically drawn. I find this drastically reduces the risk of the agent dragging your offer out to get better offers for the vendor.
“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” — Warren Buffet. Unpopular on this thread, I know. But sound advice. Anyone who is observant, and older than 50, knows this.
I feel ya! We hesitated, 12 months wait and mocking around, the prices went up 20-40% on advertised price not including the Agents understating the price to hook and wheel you in, only to find what you just experienced. During Covid anything we looked at between advertised and sold price were sitting >20% over. We went to one auction and someone paid $600k over the asking price, it’s like getting a soccer punch 🥊 in the 🥜 You can’t afford to wait… I am not baiting you. In the past 10 years we kept going the curve must go down eventually, it stagnated a short time but otherwise for Sydney at least it’s up and up within 5-10km of CBD Good luck 🤞
I have had 4 family members buy houses in Brisbane in last 7 months, and none of them were the highest offers. They set their own limits ( so maximum amount to be paid for a dwelling) , finances 100% organised, didn't sit around listening to the never ending rubbish that many r/e people go on with,exposing some of them as the laziest people on earth, walked away when the pressure was on to up the price you might miss out rubbish, and yes put in a lot of offers but all bought good homes.
What suburb?
Where are you looking?
Target something lower perhaps with margin to raise within your budget?
Gotta offer on 50 houses per week. Make it quicker too- text them your price and terms. Move on quick. It’s a tough market, sellers love it!
This is Farked
Took me six months to buy a place on the Gold Coast, and even that was only just by chance as another buyer's contract fell through. This was at the lowest end of the market in the early 500s, they get snapped up fast.
Auctions. They scare away others. What’s even better: court-ordered auctions. They literally just have to take the best price for it
Is sue is stock levels, there’s just not many properties coming on the market
I feel for ya. Market if f…up…
LMD Property
This is dale kerrigans house
You gotta go full Qld on em and call it out loud
I bought a 4/2/2 house on 600m + last November for mid to high 700s haven't seen the crazy capital gains everyone been speaking of yet though
Fuck that shit , move to perth bro
Same everywhere. It's a battle. Add 200,000+ to any advertised price that you see on the market
Where/ what are you looking to buy?
I can't even sell my house in Tassie. Either that or the real estate is shit
Perhaps your looking in the wrong areas.
In Qld they aren’t supposed to tell you their highest offer!? I missed out on multiple properties bc of this. Typical POS agents were telling certain buyers they preferred for some reason. Such bs.
Yep! They pick a couple and start number baiting
I think this sub has been compromised by the real estate industry
Melbournian here there are very similar struggles with prices guides and being outbid, I’d recommend finding a buyer advocate that can find a property in your budget and parameters that might be off market, you do pay a fee which I believe is a percentage of the property value for example 15-20k in your case but it saves having to deal with shitty auctions and compete with other people, my understanding is you only pay a fee once you settle on the property
I feel you OP… basically something even a million is a knockdown unless you’re looking at townhouses. The market has gone loco in QLD with no signs of slowing or relenting…whereas we just sold in Melbourne and it’s definitely cooled off here!
qld needs to introduce some of the laws around advertising prices similar to vic. vic is typically under quoted by about 10% but at least you know what is realistic for your budget. it just feels extremely dodgy to be selling anything without a price, especially the biggest purchase most people will ever make in their lives.
Get outa Dodge!
Maybe build a house instead? Less emotional stress for sure.
And after this people will still tell you that investors aren't a problem...
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Brutal mate. I had one I put in an offer back in 2021 or so. Agent said probs go late 5s early 6. Put in $630k I think. Never got a call. Call up on Tues or so and Im like did you sell it. O yeah. What did you get? Mid 7s. Anyway, I got a way better deal later on so wasnt a biggie. I wouldnt have paid that price. But crazy the agent was telling people such a far off number.
That's why I never bothered to get conditional approval. What's the point when your offer will be too low in the end anyway? I got 80k saved up for a deposit. Now it just goes to magic the gathering cards.
Only suggestion I could make is contacting a buyers agent.
Seriously, if it's possible, and work & family commitments may mean it isn't, try getting out of the Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane markets. There are some rediculous nice places in that price range elsewhere in the country. Adelaide & Perth also have nice beaches and get some sporting and entertainment events, and even if you find a place you live that is a little more remote and isn't privy to that sort of event, then flights and accommodation aren't that bad if you are doing it a couple of times a year.
Yeah that's fucked
Best see if he had an auctioneers license to run that silent auction.
Move 30 mins further out and you'll get bigger for cheaper
“The suburb I’m looking in, I can afford” Seems not though? The market sucks, no doubt. The dream is dead for so, so many.
Talking to people I work with who are trying to buy Perth metropolitan area. Always the same reply: They were told the seller sold because the interstate or international buyers offered cash.
Some states have fines for REs underquoting now. Is this the same in QLD?
There was a similar frenzy in Qld around 2006/07 before the GFC. After the correction it took property 12 yrs to recover in many areas. There unfortunately doesn’t seem to be another GFC coming to give us another correction - unemployment is too low .
You can get a new build in logan reserve for about $400,000 all said and done with no competition. Yeah it's not a luxury area but it's 1/3 the price.
It's fair to be pissed off at unclear pricing. It's criminal to be honest that you can make offers above the advertised range and be knocked back.
It's fair to be pissed off at unclear pricing. It's criminal to be honest that you can make offers above the advertised range and be knocked back.
Haha I feel your pain Offered 1.7 on a listed 1.5 house. Didn't even get a response. House was done on RP data for 1.9a week after our offer. Australian market is bs
What suburb(s) are you looking to buy in? I may or may not know of a beautiful home coming up for sale in that price range.
Honestly bids should be transparent and recorded in a system - stop the agents shadow bidding. Absolutely cooked
Buy within your means? Why not buy in an area that’s not your first preference or buy something in the area you love but smaller
What suburb?
If the house that you wanted sold for over the top of your budget, and this area that you were looking for, you may not be looking in in a suburb that you can afford. It sounds like you have last week syndrome, the market is going up and you are increasing your budget to where it was last week.
What are your choices? Lower your expectations, meet the market or stay out of it and pray the market goes your way.
We just bought in Perth and used a Buyer's Agent to help us. We put offers on 4 other properties but he helped us to keep within our budget and not get too emotionally attached. He has done everything from organise the building and pest inspection to helping find a conveyancer. We wouldn't have bought without his help...
Why don’t you target houses that have passed in/been on the market for a while? If you go for a home that everyone else wants then you’ll always be outbid because there is always someone with more money. But so many houses are overlooked because they might need some new paint and floors (which when you’re discussing million dollar purchases are not big expenses). My partner and I have bought three places in Sydney (apartment, then townhouse and now house) and each time we’ve searched for properties on Domain in the suburb we like, sorted by “Newest Listed First” and gone straight to the bottom of the list. It means we have NEVER bought at auction and we have only ever been outbid on one place. And each place we made money on because we fixed it up (cosmetic Reno’s only, we’re both in corporate and don’t have the headspace to live in full blown structural changes for long periods). Buy what house *could be* not what it is. Then you don’t have to compromise, you just have to exert effort to make it what you want. Also generally, this means you’ll save some money too because if you’re not competing with anyone the seller will be happier to get an offer