Sunshine Coast & Brisbane Buyer’s Agents
When looking to purchase property, there are a number of checks and balances that you can, and should, do before buying. As a buyers agent, when I am looking at a property online or that has been sent through to me these are some of the things I’ll be investigating.
It’s important to note that the goal, criteria and circumstances of the purchase play an important role in determining what, when and how I would assess these items.
Also, the urgency of the situation can determine the level of prep work I do.
If I get a ‘heads up’ on something pre-market then I may only have a chance to assess the bare minimum before my opportunity to inspect.
In other circumstances, if I know a property is going to be popular and likely sell immediately post ‘open house’ then I may conduct all of my checks beforehand, request and review the contract and have it prepped and ready to submit immediately post inspection based on my final review in person.
At the very least, these are types of things I’ll be looking at before I go out and physically inspect a property.
Location on a map:
- Main road – is it on or near a freeway, main road, busy road
- Commercial/industrial – does it back onto or is near a commercial or industrial area.
- Intersection – is it on an intersection.
- Is it a ‘good area’ – is this an appealing part of the suburb? Pockets within suburbs will also have an impact on pricing.
- Commission area – is there commission in the area, how much, where.
- Proximity to transport, shops, schools, major facilities
Pictures of the property:
- Major issues – fences, roof, slope, retaining walls
- Condition of the property
- Features and floorplan
- Street appeal
- Flood – does the property and surround location have any risk of flooding and if so, how much.
These items are useful and I will look into this either before or following the physical inspection if I am interested in the property.
- Autoval – an automated valuation from data providers such as RP Data can give a ‘ball park’ estimate but it is important to note that these are not highly accurate in many cases, so should get ‘taken with a grain of salt’ as just a rough guide.
- Land size value – how big is the land and what is the council valuation. What proportion of the property value is based on the land versus the dwelling itself.
- Council reports – zoning, overlays, contours.
- Easements – are there any easements on the property and do they burden or benefit, what are they for? Will they impact on the plans the buyer may have for the property?
- Surrounding developments – are there any developments near the property that may impact on it’s use or it’s value.
- Underground services – where is the location of underground utilities such as stormwater and sewerage assets.
The desktop due diligence items we have covered are the basics that can be conducted easily and using freely available online tools. If you do go ahead with a purchase there are many other paid searches that can be conducted, most often arranged by your conveyancer.
Conducting some desktop due diligence can save you a lot of time, and potentially money, when looking into properties and save you from bothering with the properties that are just not going to stack up. It is good to remember, however, that simply pictures and desktop analysis aren’t everything though. I believe that a physical inspection, by you or your representative, is imperative to deciding whether a property is the right one for you and I often find that a physical inspection will change my mind on property – for better or for worse!
Property Zest is a Brisbane Buyers Agent and Sunshine Coast Buyers Agent purchasing property for home buyers and investors. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us to learn more about our buyers agency services.