Tommy's Tips for Property Buyers
The Tommy's philosophy has always been about trying to make the process of buying a property as easy as we can make it.
We encourage our home sellers to give a realistic indication to the buying public of their price expectations.
If you are buying a home from Tommy's, understand that a home sellers expectations can change depending on the owners' personal circumstances, the time the property may have been on the market, the numbers of inspections and a raft of other factors.
If the property has a price guide treat it as exactly that .... a guide.
We encourage vendors to use a price guide because we believe it is a more transparent and fair way of doing business.
Although buying property can be a minefield, it doesn't need to be.
If you approach it the right way, you should find the home you want, for the price you can afford.
- Make sure you pick up a copy of Tommy's Lifestyle magazine in any of the locations shown in our directory (click on the Tommys Magazine on our home page in the bottom left corner) and check out our advertisements in Saturday's Dominion Post - we're the only agency to list houses in price bands.
- Identify your preferred areas, bearing in mind affordability and your space requirements.
- Register with My Tommys on our website, a free Tommy's service to help you find the perfect property
- Start attending open homes to develop your knowledge of the market.
- Find one or two agents with whom you feel comfortable and start building a relationship, so the agents understand your requirements and can alert you to new listings. Although representing the seller, the agent has a responsibility to protect your interests and disclose any information that might influence your buying decision. Building a rapport with a good agent means you will be top of mind, and their advice will help you feel confident about your buying decision.
- Don't take Government Valuations too seriously - they don't always reflect current market values, especially after periods of strong growth. Their main role is to benchmark local authority rates.
- Make sure you know the vendor's anticipated price range before you become emotionally involved in the property.
- Talk to a Moneybox mortgage broker, to arrange the best loan to suit your needs - good advice could save you thousands over the life of your mortgage.
When you've found the right property:
- Don't be afraid to tell the salesperson if you are interested, (there is nothing worse than missing buying a property because the salesperson was not aware of your interest)
- A valuation can provide a useful, and unemotional, report on the property.
- Once you've agreed the sale price and signed a sale and purchase agreement you will need to pay a deposit, which will be held in trust in a trust account until you have made the agreement (through your solicitor) unconditional. The deposit must be held by the Real Estate company for a period of ten days before it can be released. Once the deposit has been held for ten days and the contract has been made unconditional the deposit can be released to the property seller.
- On settlement day, you may request you make a pre-settlement inspection, just to make sure the property is in the condition you expected, and that all chattles you have agreed to buy as part of the sale have been left.
Remember:
Vendors prefer offers without conditions, so the fewer your conditions the more attractive your offer will be. In saying that, you must protect your position.
So you may want to consider the following conditions:
- Subject to arranging finance
- Subject to a builder's report or other building specialists (electrician, plumber)
- Subject to solicitor's approval of the purchase agreement, and title search
- Subject to LIM Report (Land Information Memorandum), which covers all the local authority's compliance criteria
- Subject to sale of an existing property
- Subject to a valuation report (this may be required to arrange finance).
Tommy says:
- Be wary of well-meaning friends, who sometimes think it's their responsibility to find a fault.
- If you like the property, make a sensible offer (close to what you are prepared to pay).
- If there is other interest in the property and a deadline is called, trust your agent to guide you in making your very best offer. You may not get a second chance.
- If you do get a builder's or other specialist's report, remember that the perfect house has never been built. Make allowance for its age and normal deterioration, but take heed of any serious issues that can be costly to remedy.
Should you wish to discuss any aspect of the purchasing process, one of Tommy's Team will always be more than happy to assist you further.
