by Taylah Antoniolli, iThink Property

Making an offer on a property can be daunting, especially if it’s your first time! It’s a massive financial decision and is one you don’t want to mess up. The actual act of making an offer on a private treaty is quite straightforward and will be easy once you chat to your real estate agent but the tricky part is making sure your offer is the one that they choose.

So how do you make sure you are making an offer that will give you the best chance of securing your home?
Here is a list of tips and tricks you can use to successfully make an offer on your dream property.

ATTEND AN OPEN FOR INSPECTION

If you’re interested enough to be thinking of making an offer on a house you need to make sure you attend an open for inspection. Not only does it give you a good feel for the property and it’s condition, but an open home can help gauge the level of interest.
By judging how many people turn up to the open home (especially the first one), you can get a sense for how well the campaign will run. When walking through the open try to keep an ear out for what buyers are saying and asking. This will give you a good idea of who your competition is and how much they are able to bid on a particular property.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Don’t fall into the trap of falling head over heels for a property without doing your research! Make sure you have a good chat with the agent and ask questions. Some questions you might want to ask are, have there been any other offers?, How long has the home been on the market? Why is the vendor selling?. By asking these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of the competition and motivation behind the sale. The agent can help you with the process of making an offer, so it’s a good idea to have them on your side and keep up the communication.

Also, make sure you do some research on the area and compare properties. This will give you an idea of how much the property is worth and whether the vendor is asking for market value.

OFFER EARLY AND OFFER YOUR BEST

Don’t be afraid to put your best offer out there early. If you decide to sit and wait in the hope that the vendor might get desperate and lower his price you’ll probably get left behind. The longer the property is on the market, the more time that gives other potential buyers to come into play. It’s okay to put a bit of pressure on the vendor and let them know you want a quick answer; this will not only put you in the best position to negotiate but will let them know you are genuinely interested.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE AN OFFER AT AN AUCTION

Making an offer at an auction is very different from making an offer on a private treaty. Auctions can be competitive and emotionally draining, so you need to be prepared. Have a good chat with your agent about the Auction process. Before the day make sure you’ve done all your inspections, got your finances sorted and understand all the terms and conditions. The main things to remember are that if you buy under the hammer there is no cooling off period and it’s an unconditional contract which means no conditions can be added, i.e. subject to finance. It’s also a good idea to attend a few Auctions to get a feel for how they run and what happens. On the day have a clear game plan. Know your price and stick to it.