What is REBAA and why is BuyEast a member?

The job description of a real estate agent tends to be common knowledge these days, however it seems that the role of a buyers’ agent is still quite a foreign concept to those outside of the real estate world. To bring you to speed, a buyer’s agent is a licensed professional who specialises in searching, negotiating, and purchasing the property on a buyers’ behalf.

You have been looking for the right home for a while, bumping into the same real estate agents at different properties and finally the suggestion has been made to engage a buyers’ agent. Buying property is usually the biggest purchase one tends to make, therefore selecting the right team to help you find that property is extremely important.

The best place to start your search for a buyers’ agent is on the REBAA website. REBAA, yet another foreign term and it stands for the Real Estate Buyers Association of Australia, an organisation established to create and enforce guidelines for the professional conduct of buyers’ agents nationally. By choosing a REBAA member, you as a buyer, can be confident that you will only be dealing with an experienced and professional agent.

Experience and professionalism in the context of a buyers’ agent is working with an individual that you trust to make the right decision on your behalf. When choosing this exclusive individual who will be dedicating their time to learn and understand your brief, you want someone independent and impartial acting in your best interest. A REBAA member will not only focus on sourcing properties that tick the boxes, but they will ensure to present options that fit within your budget and not provide false hope on unachievable properties.

They say you get what you pay for, so once you’ve made the decision to engage a in a buyers’ agent, take the extra step to ensure they are a REBAA member and specialise in the areas that you want to live in!

Why is now the best time to purchase an investment or first home?

This time last year you were almost ready to buy your dream home, however property prices were almost at their peak with houses and apartments selling well above reserve pricing. This quickly took you out of the running for almost any home which seemed to be within budget when you conducted your initial online search. Now it seems that all the stock has just disappeared, but we can assure you that is not the case.

Is 2020 the worst time to buy a property?

If you have been hearing that 2020 is not the year to buy, have you stopped to think why that might be and whether that statement relates to your situation. Whilst COVID no doubt has had quite the impact on life as we know it, it has not actually affected everyone in a negative way. For majority of buyers it is never the “best” or “right” time to buy, as buying a property not only takes a large chunk out of your savings but inevitably means taking out the biggest loan you will probably ever have. So if you are asking, when is the best time to buy a property, we would suggest that with interest rates at the lowest they have ever been, it is certainly not the “worst” or “wrong” time to be considering that purchase right now.

Why are there such limited properties being advertised?

And so now you have waited, seen properties come and go from the market, potentially turned up to an auction or two where the starting bid is higher than your stretch budget but you are ready to find your next home. Whether it be your first steppingstone into the real estate market, adding an investment property to your portfolio, upsizing or downsizing, regardless of your position, you have made the decision to purchase your next property.

However, for some reason it still does not seem like the right properties are popping up on your searches or you just are not getting an accurate price, and this is where a Buyers’ Agent comes in.

A buyers agents advantage

We can assure you that almost any property you are seeing online, came across our desks first. Our invaluable relationships with real estate agents allow us to inspect these properties and put them forward to our clients before they even hit the market. But as you may have noticed, it seems like a lot less properties are hitting the market. Whether it be COVID-conscious sellers wanting to reduce the number of strangers coming through their home week to week or a bitter and complicated divorce where both parties want the property sold as quickly and quietly as possible, the demand for off market dealings has grown rapidly this year. Just last month we had over 500 properties come through to our off-market database.

We set up private inspections to walk you through the property, answering all and any questions to turn pictures and floor plans into a reality. With our industry expertise, we know how to calculate the true value of a property and will only show you properties that will sell within your budget, hopefully avoiding disappointment from unrealistic price guides. Best of all, once we find you the perfect property, not only will we negotiate or bid on your behalf, but we will follow through with all the due diligence so that you can focus on the excitement of your brand new purchase!

Whether you are relaxed by nature or like to take control, we can remove the stress of searching, negotiating and buying your next property to add to your portfolio. 

Some interesting buying facts -

• Influx of apartments expected in the market, perfect opportunity for an investment and to create capital growth

• Great time to jump into the market as first home buyer as the grant has been increased to include properties up to $800k (previously $650k)

• Buyers agents can provide accurate pricing on properties, not unrealistic guides that come up on realestate.com/domain

• Buyers agents can source off-markets, pre-market or go door knocking for those hard to find homes

• Less houses and apartments going to the advertised market due to vendors being covid safe and wanting to reduce traffic through their homes

Let our team assist you with your next investment purchase - please fill in your details and we will be in touch!

Are you a Rightsizer?

Looking for low maintenance? Large living space? Want to live close to the action? But have had enough of your large home - Then you are trying to rightsize!

Up-sizing and downsizing are two common words we tend to hear in the real estate world. Young families tend to up-size needing more space in their lives for extra children. And older families tend to downsize, the kids have left the nest and they just don’t need a large house to maintain.

So what is Rightsizing?

With an ageing population we are seeing increased demand for homes that can still cater for their lifestyle but just on a smaller scale. According to Knight Frank Residential Research Report 2020  - rightsizing is taking place as the lifestyle trend towards luxury apartment living dominates the Australian residential landscape.

Instead of looking for 2 bedrooms apartments, we are finding active retired buyers are wanting a smaller property but with house-like proportions. These right-sizers still want 3 bedrooms and with parking becoming nearly impossible in the East they are also demanding 2 car-spaces.

At BuyEast we can guide you on Rightsizing. Often you need to look beyond a specific brief to find your next home. We have helped guide past clients into the right size home for their situation. Even if the kids have left the nest, you need to consider noise factors, babysitting the grand-kids, having your own private space, and potentially even consideration for later down the track when you may need a lift or amenities within the building. 

Times have changed and your Rightsize home may be a brand new semi or house that you may have not have even considered. Let our team show you the multiple opportunities in the market to fit your needs and requirements.