The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

Hi all,

Just wondering if someone could talk me through the actual process of buying a house in Perth specifically (and the other cities generally).


For example, do you need an agreement in principle etc (as is common in UK - we will have a substantial deposit but will still need to get a mortgage for about 50% of the value of properties we are looking at)

When you offer is it binding like in Scotland or is it like in England where people pull out with no penalites?

How long does it take from "I like this house and I want to buy it" to putting your feet on your new sofa in your new home and relaxing with a beer in hand? (I know this is a peice of string question but in general is it quicker/slower/easier/less/more frustrating than in UK?).

When offering do how far below asking price is it "acceptable" to go? (and while we are on this why do they price it some places as "from" $475-505K why would anyone offer the higher price?? :confused: ;) ).

any other tips (or "Omigod you'll never believe the stupid way they do this" warnings ;) ?) for a novice buyer?

Just trying to budget and work out timelines etc.

Thanks

Michelle

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

Perth has one of the easiest and best ways to buying and sellling property. Its all done on an Offer and Acceptance form which is 1 page.

You Offer a price and any conditions that the offer will be subject to and if the Seller accepts this then the house is Under Offer subject to the conditions being met and the Sold when the conditions are met.

Once its Sold its yours. You can get out of it but it will cost something like 15% of the value of the house.

The settlement time from once the Offer and acceptance has been agreed upon usually is 4 weeks but again can vary depending on what the buyer and seller agree on. The quickest I have done is 1 week from signing the paper to being able to move in.

The price range the some agents give 450-500,000 is a range to entice more buyers to look at the price. They probably wont want to sell it for less than 475 but if the only figure was there was the 500,000 then people that have set their budget at 460 may not come view the house but may be able to stretch themselves to 470/475.

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

It really depends what/where you are buying and how desirable the property is (and how emotionally involved you get in the buying process), the first place we tried to buy we offered the bottom figure in the range, two other offers were presented at the same time, ours was the lowest so we lost out, in this situation there's no option to increase your bid, if you want the property you are deemed to of been prepared to offer as much as you can.

Second time round we went to a private sale, there was a 20K range on the property, I could tell the house was going to go that day, so I tied the owner up for the hour (not literally) so he couldnt talk to anyone else, made an offer when the home open ended (right in the middle of his range) and then continually hassled him on the phone to make a decision for the next 24hrs. Thankfully we got it.

One of the main reasons they have a price range is to take into account any conditions you may put on the offer. If your putting in an offer which is pretty much unconditional, you should offer at the low end of the range, if you subject to, selling another property (that might not even be on the market), finding finance, wanting a delayed settlement etc, your not looking as good an option as a buyer so your likely to have to offer a higher price to compete with the unconditional offer.

You can of course offer whatever you want, it can be under the set price, but you might find some agents wont even right up a contract as they know the seller wont accept it, the WA market is still very strong, and particularily in the desirable suburbs your unlikley to be able to purchase much under the listed price.
Find out as much as you can about the sellers situation, and if you think your the only one putting an offer in at that time id maybe offer 15-20K under the listed price (based on a purchase price of 500K, so between 3 + 4%) and hope to get it for 490. Unless its an undisirable property in a bad location that the seller is desperate to offload, you not going to be saving 10% etc.


Good luck
Steve :)

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

In a word, it is easier. There is less of the jumping out of contracts after exchange less hassle.

However sometimes agents try to get you to sign a contract to buy when you make an offer binding you in. Be careful - you may only want to make an offer to see what they will do. I am not sure if agents are allowed to start a bidding war amongst all the parties concerned to raise the price, especially once another offer has been accepted, but they will often tell you that another party has made a bid or a bid was made but rejected.

Once your offer has been accepted, that (in theory) is it. No gazumping.

badge

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

Hi Michelle, We are going through the process at the moment and it has been interesting. I have bought and sold in Scotland and England and its different here.
One bit of advice is to have your mortgage preapproved. Your finance is then in place to move quickly on a house if you need to. It can be a really competitive market in parts of Perth.

You can either buy through the selling agent, use your own agent (who will split the commision with the selling agent) or a buyers advocate (who takes a commision from you). Once you find a house you like a contract is written. You must physically sign it and fax it to the selling agent. Beware! A friend of ours has just been caught out because the agent she used (who was also acting for the seller) did not put any conditions in the contract. She is not entitled to a pre settlement check and so if anything doesn't work then tough. I'm sure that I could see the glint in estate agents eyes when they thought they had a pom to deal with. Our agent had all sorts of conditions in the offer. If these were not met then we could pull out.

Once the offer has been accepted the deal is finalised by a settlement agent. Our contract allowed 21 days for finance approval and 28 days for settlement. As I understand it is possible to delay settlement but harder to get it faster than 28 days. OUr fiance was approved in about 14 days.

It took me 5 months to get to grips with the system here. In some ways its great- no gazumping for example. However I have heard of offers being refused for bizarre reasons. A friend told me her offer had been refused because she was a cash buyer and so the agent wouldn't have got commission on selling a house for her. She offered the asking price!!

I do think that they system here has to change. I see buyers advoicates becoming more popular. This is an agent who only has your interests at heart.

Hope this is some help
Ali

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

If you will be needing a mortgage here in Perth try
[email protected]

She arranged the mortgage on the house that we move into next week!!!!

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

http://www.reiwa.com.au/Inf/inf-tips...fm?TipTypeID=1

Piece of cake. If you want to put an offer in, the selling agent draws up a one page offer and acceptance form. The seller then either accepts, rejects or counter offers on the same form (usually the latter). You go back and forward until one of the party gives up or an agreement is reached. Once the seller accepts your offer, the house is yours (subject to any conditions you put on the sale.) You must then place a deposit. Settlement times vary, it depends on the needs of both buyer and seller - this is usually spelled out during the offer and acceptance phase.

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

Thanks everyone for your really useful replies!

Michelle

Re: The actual process of buying in Perth?
 

[QUOTE=Soi Oz]http://www.reiwa.com.au/Inf/inf-tips...fm?TipTypeID=1

Piece of cake. If you want to put an offer in, the selling agent draws up a one page offer and acceptance form.

The point I am trying to make is that the conditions need to be attached to this contract. If the selling agent writes this, as is often the case, he will not necessarily put in all the conditions you might wish for eg pre settlement checks etc. Its too late to come in with conditions later and easy to be caught out as a newbie to the system.

Agents are really wily folk and we found them really pushy. At every meeting at home opens they were trying to find our budget, our jobs and even how much rent we were paying. At the outset we had a relocation agent who taught us to keep our traps shut. Valuable advice. Its so easy to fall in love with a house and just go for it. Take care

Ali