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Engaging a buyer’s agent is becoming increasingly popular for home buyers in Perth eager to get the upper hand in a competitive property market by tapping into the local insights of an experienced property professional. Buying a property, whether it is to become your family home or has investment potential, is always a significant life event that should be underpinned by taking professional advice. 

Perth property market

Perth remains in the position of the most affordable capital city in Australia with a median house price of $585,000. An inflow of new Perth residents is keeping demand for housing strong in an undersupplied market. Real estate agents on the ground insist that the Perth property market remains strong despite a small drop in values in CoreLogic’s latest home value index (August), the first dip since October last year.  

The PropTrack Listings Report released last week shows an uplift in new Perth property listings, with 7.1% more in August compared to July. Despite this upturn, buyers are still challenged by an undersupply of properties for sale, with stock levels sitting around 10% below pre-pandemic levels. Ongoing interest rate rises are reducing borrowing capacity which cools buying conditions a little, and properties are taking a little longer to sell which is making it a little easier for buyers to secure the property they want. 

What can a buyer’s agent do for you? 

Despite fluctuations in the property market, the first thing to remember is that buyer’s agents are licensed professionals which a deep knowledge of the property industry and who represent the interests of a prospective home buyer in a real estate transaction. They can be engaged in an advisory capacity to help home buyers in Perth determine what and where they want to buy, or they can provide a complete end-to-end service, acting on the buyer’s behalf through every stage of the purchase process.  

Here are some of the key tasks they can help you with:

1. Requirements gathering

Depending on your level of engagement with a buyer’s agent, as part of the first steps with new buyers, they work with the home buyer to ascertain your specific needs and requirements, such as the desired property size and specifications, and the location of the property search area. They can also offer advice about the proximity of certain services and amenities in the search area such as schools and public transport links. 

2. On, off- and pre-market research 

Once your buyer’s agent knows the specifications of the property you’re after, they can carry the load of researching – shortlisting a selection of available properties for inspection. While researching properties for you, they also analyse previous sales statistics within your search area, to prepare for potential negotiations once you set your heart on a property.

Property agents often have wide and extensive networks of contacts across the local real estate industry – one of the biggest advantages of engaging a buyer’s agent is that they may have access to off-market and pre-market properties which are not yet on general sale or available to the public. 

3. Impartial approach

Engaging a buyer’s agent helps to remove the emotion from the purchase process, relieving pressure and alleviating the stress commonly associated with a property purchase.  A buyer’s agent’s impartiality will also enable them to act for you in sales negotiations, which can help you secure a more favourable deal than you might be able to negotiate yourself.  

At Capital Property Advisory, we also follow a strict code of conduct. As part of this, we never pay or receive commissions from any third parties, conflicting or otherwise – ensuring the integrity and impartiality of our advice. We are not aligned with any product or service – we are pure, independent advisers supported by a business model that is void of conflict in all areas. Our clients pay us and we work in their best interest at all times. End of story.  

4. DUE DILIGENCE & LEGAL MATTERS

A buyer’s agent can also prove their worth during a property purchase by determining all matters relevant to the transaction, such as title searches and the legality of structures and the use of the property. The role of a buyer’s agent can encompass preparing the offer and acceptance, and their expertise is particularly useful when drafting any special conditions and accurately defining the subject matter of the sale.  

As the sale progresses to settlement, your buyer’s agent will continue to monitor the contract, ensuring the satisfaction of any special conditions. They will also be actively liaising with your settlement agent or solicitor to facilitate settlement, which can include arranging and attending the pre-settlement inspection. 

5. An INvestment that counts

While investment potential may not be your top priority when purchasing your new home, purchasing a property is an investment – which can turn out to be very good or very bad. Buyer’s agents bring to the table the experience, insights, and integrity of service to minimise investment risks related to the purchase of a new home.

In fact, the team at Capital Property Advisory have consistently outperformed the market for the past three years. From June 2019 to June 2022, the Perth market grew in value by 13.3%, while properties acquired by the CPA team grew by nearly 37% over the same period*.

We are the market leader, outperforming our competitors because we invest more than any other buyer’s agency in research tools, platforms and reports. Contact the Capital Property Advisory team today to find out more about our service offering.

* Disclaimer: Market performance for July 1 2019 to June 30 2022 has been determined via the Corelogic Hedonic Home Value Index for this period. Historical performance is not a predictor of future performance and Capital Property Advisory provides no warranty or guarantee on the future performance of any property asset.

** Disclaimer: any product information or advice is provided on a general advice basis only, without taking into account personal objectives, financial situation or needs.