You've probably been seeing the emails come through week after week at present, with words like “price adjustment” in the subject line. Why are you receiving them all of a sudden, where 12 months ago they were nowhere to be seen? Peter Kelaher, Director and Founder of PK Property Sydney's Buyer's Agents says that buyers need to get used to these “price alterations” as they are here to stay for the foreseeable future, and that timing is everything in today's market.
Kelaher has compiled a list of phrases to look out for:
Kelaher says that he is saving his clients more than he has over his past 21 years running PK Property. The key to making these savings, he says, is to know when to strike and how to play the game for each and every negotiation, which are all very different.
Kelaher explains that there are many reasons why a property might be subject to a price reduction. Firstly, he says, with a shortage of owners listing their properties for sale, the agent may have overquoted the price of the property to the owners to try to secure or “buy” the listing. The agent may have an optimistic owner with their heads in the clouds or stuck in last years' market, and decide to take on the listing by “trying it at the owners' price” in the first instance.
Kelaher further says that properties are classified into A, B and C grades, and that the prices for these properties are going North, South, East and West, versus 12 months ago where all of these prices were only heading in one direction – North. Some agents are still pitching C grade properties at A grade prices, through ignorance or blind hope.
In all these instances, Kelaher says that the timing to look out for is the second week of the campaign, once the agent has had the first weekend's open home (usually with little market interest) to “condition” their owner before bringing the price down. Even then in many of Kelaher's recent negotiations, he says that he has waited for the final days before the auction before making an offer, or in many cases has attended the auction and waited for it to pass in, in order to secure the lowest possible price for his clients.
Kelaher does, however, advise buyers to be pragmatic and do their research on recent sales, and to look at the number of other buyers at the open for inspections. The A grade properties are still selling at A grade prices through good competition, so holding off when there is interest could cost you the property.
As the saying goes, 'patience is a virtue', but you have to know when to use it when playing the real estate game.
For further information, please contact Peter Kelaher directly on 0419 200 018 or peter@pkproperty.com.au.