Lesson 1.10: Rookie Errors

Lesson time: 3min 41 sec

Key Takeaways:

1. Why you don’t want to waste an agent’s time.
2. Why you’re going to need to make hard decisions about how to spend your time.
3. Why attending fewer inspections and auctions on weekends is the better strategy.

PLAY VIDEO BELOW

So far we’ve looked at a lot of the “do’s” in those early stages of looking for a property. In this lesson we’ll flip it around and consider some of the most common mistakes that we see. Many of the people that come to Hello Haus for our full-service have made one or more of these mistakes – and often without realising it! Many of these mistakes aren’t immediately apparent to inexperienced buyers in the thick of the action, which is why it’s always valuable to recruit the support of people that are experienced in this field, as they will prevent these mistakes from occurring.

Are you guilty of being a rookie?

Firstly, people who try to engage with an agent without having financing organised as well as a defined list of key attributes that they want in a property are making a big mistake. It’s fine to casually watch the market beforehand, but without these key preparatory steps covered you’re effectively going to be wasting people’s time. Only engage with agents and/or sellers when you’re ready to enter into a serious negotiation.

Secondly, make sure you know what you want before making your voice heard, as you want to be giving good feedback to agents and showing them that you are a serious buyer. Without the preparation, you'll also find it difficult to inform agents about what the dream property looks like – and without that information they’ll be less inclined to contact you when they do find a property that would be perfect for your requirements.

Thirdly, too many rookies start on a property search, only to give up, take a break, or ease back their efforts to a more “part time” approach. This is a mistake not only because it drags out the time you spend looking for a property, it also means that in a time where the markets are generally moving up that each day you go without fully committing to the search is a day where you’re allowing yourself to pay more for the property. It’s a problem in a falling market, too, as this part time approach means you won't see every listing or track every sale, so when the right home does materialise, you'll struggle to grasp the true market value to have confidence to strike and therefore risk overspending.

The reality is that when you’re on the property search, it needs to occupy your complete focus for the short term. It means you’re going to need to be willing to put aside some social events, resist the temptation to take on overtime or additional work, perhaps make alternative arrangements for your regular weekend events, such as the markets or kids sport events, and be flexible. That might sound harsh, but the sacrifices do go away once you’ve moved into the dream home, so it’s better to rip the proverbial “bandaid” off and just get it done.                                                                  

The final big rookie error we’ll cover here is being poorly prepared and organised. If you’re running around trying to see 20 homes on a Saturday, then you’re probably not going to see everything that you need that will allow you to make a good decision on whether they’re worth the investment. It also means you’ll rush and miss key details on the run. 

The best buyers will drive past the property prior to the open home, typically on the day it has been listed for sale, and by doing that, they will be able to disqualify some early, and not need to try and see 20 properties in a weekend. They’ll be able to shortlist it quickly to only the properties that caught the eye as being “close to” what it looks like they’re looking for, or is an “interesting comparable” that they want to monitor to see its performance in comparison to some of the other properties in the area. 

Coaching inexperienced buyers on how to avoid these common mistakes – and innumerable other small issues that make things harder for them – is a key reason that so many inexperienced buyers find value in our full-service at Hello Haus. 

Key Reminder

Buying property is a competitive activity, and you don’t want to drop the ball and lose the game. Perfect the art of negotiation, or seek out those with the experience & strategies to work with you in achieving your goal, as missing out on your perfect property is a hard pill to swallow.