Sydney has one of Australia’s most robust and resilient property markets. Data shows that in 40 years, the average capital growth was 7.4%. What this means is that many properties doubled in value over the decade.
Even during the pandemic, when the majority of the forecast predicted a downturn in the property market, Sydney’s landscape remained hopeful. Data shows that property prices dropped only 2.2% in the region. This makes Sydney’s real estate market one of the best to invest in.
But hold your horses. It’s not a wise decision to go at it alone. You need a buyers agent to ensure you’re still landing a great property deal, within budget, and all the needed paperwork is available and well-prepared.
So, who’s a buyers agent, what are the advantages of having one, and what steps will one, such as Amassed, use to secure your next investment property? Read on and find out.
A Sydney buyer’s agent, also known as a buyers advocate, is a licensed professional whose job is to search, evaluate, and negotiate properties on behalf of the buyer. A buyers agent works in residential & commercial real estate, meaning owner-occupiers and property investors can seek their services.
According to Australian law, a buyer’s agent must be licensed. The Office of Fair Trading issues these licenses to property buyers agents in their respective states or territories.
Real estate agents must provide unbiased, professional recommendations for every investment property they suggest to the buyer without showing any commitment or leaning toward one right property. A professional buyers agent such as Amassed will base their recommendations on facts and objective arguments such as your needs, wants, and wealth creation strategy.
A buyers advocate does more than just search for property. Their key responsibilities include:
The buyer’s agent first sits down with the buyer and draws up a brief indicating the buyer’s requirements, needs, and wants regarding the property they want to buy. That helps them know what to search for once they get to the searching phase.
Part of the brief includes a declaration of the buyer’s budget. Agent will also ask you which neighbourhood you prefer, offering guidance based on your budget and lifestyle needs.
If you’re an investor, the buyer’s agent may try to offer strategic investment advice at this point. However, this tends to be a double-edged sword.
Unless you’re working with an experienced, vast team such as Amassed, which has an internal team of professionals to look at your wealth creation strategy, you should first seek the services of an independent property strategist.
The property strategist will help you create a Strategic Property Plan that will help you reach your long-term investment goal. It will then help you implement the plan.
At this stage, an experienced buyer’s agent will also offer insightful market perspectives based on their local local property market knowledge. These insights help guide you to invest or buy property in places that offer the best value for owner-occupiers and returns for investors.
This is one area where the buyer’s agent shines the most, and their importance is underlined. An experienced buyer’s agent has a wealth of information and networks within the industry who can point them to fairly priced and available properties within your desired location and budget.
As a result, having a buyer agent drastically cuts down the research time for buyers. Also, a buyer’s advocate helps you manage your expectations of what property types and locations you can buy based on your budget.
Amassed, for instance, focuses its research on off-market properties that offer the best value to you as the buyer. They’re yet to be posted in the public market. Thus competition and demand for it haven’t driven prices too high.
They uses your brief or wealth creation strategy and research to create a shortlist of the best-matching properties within your desired location. They also schedule appointments to check out and evaluate these properties before presenting you with the final shortlist.
Once you’ve chosen your preferred property from the shortlist, the buyer’s agent helps analyse its price and value before making an offer. After drafting the offer, they run it through you, explaining its core bits and asking whether you should ask for special conditions in the contract for the property.
A buyer’s agent recommends and arranges tests and inspections, often with a valuer who helps assess the property and determine it is as advertised. Your buyer’s advocate will also coordinate pest and building inspections before they start exchanging and negotiating contracts with the seller or seller’s agent.
An experienced agent will also point out their observations about the property that may adversely affect its value in the short or long term.
This is another area where the importance of having an agent shines through. Negotiations are typically heated and tricky to navigate. But an experienced buyer’s agent knows their way around.
Since they have a professional relationship with several other agents and understand their selling language, they will be better positioned to negotiate a fair and affordable price for the property. They’ll also update you constantly on how the property sale is progressing and keep the scales tilted to your advantage.
Once all parties have agreed on a price, your Sidney buyer’s agent will help finalise the deal between you, the seller, their agent, and any lender involved, such as a mortgage broker.
Having a buyer’s agent service sounds like a nice and reasonable addition to your real estate investment property or purchasing strategy. However, not everyone contracts their services.
So, how can you know when you need one? Here’re a few indicators:
Searching, researching, and negotiating property takes a lot of time that most busy professionals don’t have. A buyer agent takes all this burden away, leaving you with more time for other activities.
Buying property not only consumes time but is also stressful due to the highly heated market. A buyer agent knows best how to tackle or avoid intense competition within the market, which often makes negotiations tougher and more stressful.
Buying property is a huge financial investment, no matter its purpose. Therefore, you need expert advice and guidance to ensure you’re putting your money on the right property.
When working with Amassed, for instance, their internal team helps you develop an effective wealth creation strategy that helps you build a strong property investment portfolio in a few years, depending on your chosen market.
An agent also understands the local real estate market and is aware of all the jargon, processes, contracts, and settlements necessary to secure the property. This includes the different legal procedures different territories and states may impose to transfer property ownership legally.
The negotiation prowess of buyer’s agents extends to the auction table. They know how to bid for lucrative properties in big auctions with stiff competition.
Some buyer’s agents offer this service solo at a subsidized fee, so you can hire them for a day if necessary and secure your dream home or investment. The agent does all this while still sticking to your budget.
Off-market properties are some of the most lucrative offers in the Sydney property market. However, relying on your spidey senses to nab one is close to building castles in the air. You need a strong network of real estate market players to which a buyer’s agent has access.
Real estate agents maintain close contact with real estate and seller agents and get first-hand information about a property going on sale or a private sale with a seller selling without an agent. This gives them faster access to better deals before the competition becomes aware of them.
Different property buyers agents in Sydney use different strategies to point you to the best property you should spend your money on. One of the most effective strategies is the Amassed System developed by Amassed.
The Amassed System uses a seven-part process to build your property investment portfolio in a few years quickly. These parts include:
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Going through hundreds of properties we search the market and contact real estate agents we have relationships with to discuss off-market opportunities.
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You must consider three crucial things before choosing a buyers agent to get the best in Sydney. They include:
Independence – Your commercial buyers agent should not have any conflict of interest in any property you may be interested in. The agent must declare if they’ll receive any commission from third parties or realtors.
Fee Structure – Buyers agents charge either a fixed fee or a percentage price fee structure, one of which may be more affordable to you.
Licensing – Australian law demands that all buyers agents must be licensed. Research if other states or territories also require additional certifications for them to practice or offer some services such as investment advice and strategy creation.
The fees charged by a buyer’s agent in Sydney will vary depending on the agent and the level of service they’ll provide. For instance, a buyer’s agent may charge as low as $100 if they only have to appear at an auction and bid for a property.
However, they may charge a percentage of the property’s final sale price or a fixed fee if you want the full scope of their services.
Typically, a buyer’s agent will take 2-3% of the property’s purchase price for their full service. This includes property search, inspection, and negotiation. Therefore, for a 1-million-dollar property, a 2% fee will translate to $20,000 paid to the buyer’s agent.
An upfront and refundable fee is often paid before the buyer’s agent offers their full services.
Other buyers agents may charge a fixed fee based on the property’s price range. For instance, property ranging from $2 million to $2.5 million may cost you a buyer’s agent fee of $20,000.
Your best bet is to research and ask around to discover which buyers agent offers the best prices according to your budget.
Sydney continues to offer one of Australia’s most vibrant real estate markets, making it one of the best places to buy or invest in real estate. To ensure you’re making the right decision, you should enlist the help of a professional buyers agent in Sydney.
Ensure the agent you’re dealing with is qualified and uses a tested and proven method of searching, researching, and negotiating for your property. Instead of searching too far, Contact Amassed today and learn how your property investment portfolio can grow to millions in a matter of years.
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