The Top 5 Questions To Ask A Real Estate Agent At An Open Home
In This Week’s How's The Market | Edition 80
The Top 5 Questions To Ask A Real Estate Agent At An Open Home
The $2m Market Is Struggling
The Most In-Demand Rental Suburbs In Melbourne
The Top 5 Questions To Ask A Real Estate Agent At An Open Home
Going through open homes can be stressful.
You typically only get 15 minutes per inspection and there may be a line of people waiting to get in or out or talk to the real estate agent after you do, so you usually only get time to ask a few questions about the home.
Whilst I encourage calling the agent after the inspection or during the week to ask about the home, you can often get a lot of information from real estate agents at the inspection if you know the right questions to ask.
This is so important, because when it comes time to negotiate, the easiest way to give yourself an advantage is to have more information.
So hear are the top 5 questions to ask a real estate agent at an open home:
1. What was the reason for the sale?
It is better to ask ‘what’ questions rather than ‘why’ questions as it may come across as if you are accusing them for selling or looking for problems rather than being curious about the circumstances. Another way to phrase this is, ‘What were the vendors' circumstances?’.
This is the most crucial piece of information to get regarding a sale. Are the vendors upsizing or downsizing? Have they bought another house already and need to align settlements? Are they going through a divorce? Or issues with debt?
2. How many groups have been through so far?
I like this question as it gives a good temperature check on the property. Once you’ve asked this a few times you will get a good understanding of the market and which properties have higher competition in your market.
Agents can give the exact number of groups as it is recorded on their systems for check-ins.
If there are significantly more groups going through one property, it may be underquoted or about to sell fast so get ready.
3. Would the vendors consider selling prior to auction?
This can work too if it’s an expression of interest (EOI) campaign.
This will give you a deeper understanding of the vendors' circumstances if the answer is yes.
If the answer is no, ask how come.
Perhaps the property is very underquoted and an offer above the range would ruin their campaign.
4. Is there anything in the contracts I should know about?
As a bonus question if you are looking at a unit or apartment: Are there any upcoming works or levies for the complex?
Once you ask this question, it’s best to go silent and let the agent talk for as long as they like.
If there are cladding issues, major upcoming works, drug contamination problems or there has been a murder in the property - they should disclose this information here.
5. Has anyone made an offer or completed a building and pest inspection?
I asked this question at an inspection last weekend, the property was quoted $500k - $550k and the agent told me they had received an offer of $610k a couple of months earlier off-market that the vendor didn’t accept…
This can give you a great insight into the level of serious buyers that are on the property.
If an offer has been made, you then need to ask what their conditions are.
Were they subject to finance, building and pest or anything else?
What was their settlement?
I hope these questions help you on your journey to secure your next property!
If you have any questions for us, please let me know!
If you would like someone asking the tricky questions for you, feel free to reach out.
What The Agents Are Saying
Troubled times for the higher-end markets.
Many of the properties in the mid $2s appear to be struggling right now.
Agents have told me that their buyers are dropping off and they are having to lower their quotes.
On Monday, I received 3 different texts from 3 different agents saying they have had price adjustments on their properties and they have reduced their quoted range by circa $200k.
At the same time, many of the properties I have seen in the $3m range have performed well with some big auction results happening in the inner east.
On Feb 17th, Melbourne had an auction clearance rate of 53.8%.
The Wow Factor!
Rumoured to be Glen Iris' first residence, 'Cherry Farm' built c1860.
3.8m high ceilings across two floors with stained glass windows are just some of the incredible features of this impressive home on 1273m2.
Price Guide: $6,200,000 - $6,800,000
In The Media
Melbourne rent crisis: Most in-demand rental suburbs with limited or no supply revealed — Flatmates
This article does highlight some shocking numbers that helps to quantify the rental crisis we are currently experiencing in Melbourne. See below:
“New data from Flatmates.com.au showed 212,000 members were active on the share accommodation platform in January — the highest number ever recorded.
50,880 of those members were from Victoria and 23,320 were from Melbourne, specifically.
The most in-demand suburb in Melbourne was Fitzroy, where for 1738 members looking for a free bedroom, just 10 rooms were available.
Malvern and Fitzroy North also had a lack of supply compared to the number of room seekers, with only two or three rooms available for more than 300 people looking to move into those areas.”
Final Thoughts
If you’re getting ready to go through some open homes this Saturday, write these 5 questions down in the notes of your phone and record the answers the agents give you.
This will give you a great insight into the property and might just help you be successful in securing the property.
Thanks for reading this far!
We value feedback and if you have any suggestions on what you would like covered in the future please email me at tristan@tomii.com.au
Happy Buying!
Note: This is general advice and does not take into consideration your objectives, situations or needs. Please consider if this advice is suitable for you and your circumstances and speak to a professional before making any financial decisions.
