Every buyer wants to get a property below what it is worth.   Some agents pitch that as the opportunity offered by a quiet listing or a pre-market offering.  Is it real?  How do you find those opportunities?  Paul Wilcox and Robert Skeen say it is.
Transcript:
Kevin:  You’ve probably heard me in the past talk about how every buyer wants to pay less than what a property is worth and every seller wants more than what it’s worth. That’s always a bit of a problem. But I guess it would be fair to say that everyone who buys a property wants to actually buy at or below, because one of the greatest fears that every buyer has is they’re going to pay too much for a property.
Well, that’s where buyer’s agents come in. I’m talking to a couple of buyer’s agents now from a company called Oasis Skeen Property Buyers Agents. Paul Wilcox and Robert Skeen join me.
Paul, firstly, welcome to the show.
Paul:  Thank you, Kevin.
Kevin:  And Robert, you as well. Thank you for joining us.
You heard my intro there; that’s what most buyers want to do. how many of them actually achieve it? How do they go about doing it, Paul?
Paul:  As a long-time buyer’s agent, I’d like to think anyone who engages a good, qualified buyer’s agent can and does buy under market value. That’s what we’re all about, Kevin.
Kevin:  Yes, of course you are, because you work for the buyer, so you have to make sure the buyer doesn’t over-pay. But how does someone know they’re working with a buyer’s agent who has those skills? And what skills do you need? Robert, maybe you’d like to answer that question.
Robert:  Yes, sure. I’m going to help the consumers out and tell them how they can do it. And the best way to go about that is to really research the market. What I mean by that is if they’re buying in a particular area, get out to every auction that you can and see what’s going on in the marketplace. That way, you can get a feel for values quite quickly. And also jump on RealEstate.com or Domain.com, look at the “Sold” tabs to see what’s sold in and around the area if you can’t make the auctions.
I think through attending auctions and looking at the “Sold”… And the good thing about the “Sold” is you can click on those links and it takes you through to the photographs and floorplans and you can really compare apples with apples. In a short period of time, maybe in the space of five to six weeks, you’re going to have a good grasp on what that property is worth.
Now, once you know that, once again, it’s research as well. If you see the home that you love, questioning the agent. How long has it been on the market? Why are they selling? Where are they going to? All these sorts of questions, so that you can determine what the owner’s motivation is.
If you have someone who’s in a situation that they have bought elsewhere and they need to sell quickly, then obviously, you might be able to get a better deal there. You know what the market value is through your research and you can set up your offers appropriately to try and buy the property under market value.
Kevin:  You’ve given us a great insight there as to what a buyer can do to make sure they don’t over-pay. But if someone does all that research, why would they need a buyer’s agent?
Paul:  Good question. I’ll give you an example. We’ve just negotiated one this week that had an asking price of $2.6 million. Our client liked the home, and he was probably prepared to pay that. After we viewed it, I said to him “It’s just not worth it compared to what we’re seeing in the marketplace.”
I said, “If you can be a little bit patient in terms of our negotiation, you might be able to get this at a better deal.” We saved him $500,000. We actually exchanged on it yesterday for $2.1 million.
Now, I know there are probably people out there going “$500,000? Are you joking? Is this for real?” It is, because it wasn’t worth $2.6 million to start with. When we viewed the property, we said “Look, here’s how we’re going to do it. We let the property languish on the market for over eight weeks. Every week, we will place some low offers.”
Yesterday when we put the contract in, it was with a Section 66W, 10% deposit, so it’s unconditional; we’ve done all our due diligence prior. We had the terms favorable to the vendor. They needed a bit of a longer settlement, so we were able to meet that. We put that in, and guess what? They took the offer.
Kevin:  Yes. It’s interesting you should say that. I’ve always held the view that a property is worth what someone’s prepared to pay for it, and you said there that the client was actually prepared to pay the $2.6 million but actually secured it for a lot less. Congratulations on that, and I’m sure the buyer was very happy.
Robert:  Can I say, too, he might have been able to negotiate that a little bit less, Kevin. Normal buyers might put in a few offers, and who knows, they might have ended up at $2.55 million. I think the beauty of us is that we can save them a lot more through the tactics and our skills over the years that we’ve been able to harness.
Paul:  If I can butt in there…
Kevin:  Yes, certainly, Paul.
Paul:  One thing that’s probably good for everyone is we’re unemotional. Obviously, we’re buying for our clients, so it’s not an emotional purchase. We will give the clients the good, the bad, and the ugly, and a lot of the times, clients will say “Hey, Paul or Robert, can you buy this house?” And we’ll say “Have you considered that that second bedroom is quite small and facing south?”
A lot of buyers fall in love with the polished floors, the high ceilings, stylish furniture, and a lot of time, it’s us putting the handbrake on the transaction at times. So, as much as we’d like to [5:01 inaudible], we also save clients from making big mistakes.
Kevin:  Yes. I always thought that buyer’s agents will bring that to the table, the fact that they’re not emotionally involved and also that you’re good negotiators. It’s very hard for someone when they’re buying a home to actually remove themselves from the emotion, “I really have to have this house.”
Paul:  Correct. That’s true.
Kevin:  Guys, thank you very much for spending some time with us. Paul Wilcox and Robert Skeen are from Oasis Skeen Property Buyers Agents. Thanks, gentlemen, for your time.
Paul:  Thank you, Kevin.
Robert:  Thank you, Kevin.