Ep 13. Is It Worth Trying To Buy Before Christmas?
With Christmas approaching, Michelle takes a look at the benefits of keeping on top of the market during the festive season of 2021.
Here’s what you’ll learn from today’s episode:
Should you keep in touch with the market during the Christmas period?
What kinds of properties are listed during the Christmas period?
Real Estate Agents’ motivations towards the end of the year
How to prepare as a buyer for maximum negotiation leverage
Speakers in today’s episode:
Michelle May - Michelle May Buyers Agents
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Please note that any views or opinions presented in this podcast are solely those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent those of any business. These views and opinions are general in nature, and do not take account of your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Please consider whether it applies in your circumstances and seek professional advice wherever appropriate.
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VIEW TRANSCRIPT
Hello and welcome to the Buy Your Side podcast. My name is Michelle and today I want to talk about a question I get asked every year around November. Is it worth trying to buy a property before Christmas? The short answer is yes, but let me tell you why.
First of all, yes, because there is less competition now every year towards December people get enamoured with all the parties, but also incredibly busy with all the school and sport commitments with the kids and family and everything else. So buying a property ends up in the too hard basket, particularly for those people who've been trying most of the year or even since last year.
Now, of course, 2021 was a year that we were not meant to have after 2020, we were all hoping for an easier turn. But as it turns out that wasn't the case and add to that, of course, the incredible surge in property prices, which has made it even more difficult for buyers out there. So if you're one of those, I completely sympathise because I understand how hard it has been. And still is today. Being a professional in this field, I have to admit that this has been one of the toughest years to buy a property in and I've been doing this a long time. I can understand that many buyers are over it, want to take that break, and start a-fresh come next year and usually the market starts again after Australia day, beginning of February. But if you are currently in the market and you have your pre-approval going on, please, I urge you, do not leave the market and I'll tell you why.
First of all, because you've got that less competition because there are those buyers who are less committed. But also because of course the other side of the equation, the vendors and the agents are also over it and are anxious for a result before Christmas. They are far more likely to do deals with you and lock something in prior to Christmas and new year because, I think for a lot of people, Christmas is the time of year, where you want things sorted in your life and you want to take a break and start a new year a-fresh. Vendors and agents are no different. Certainly agents don't want stock looking stale going into the new year, because if a listing has been on the market, and typically with some portals you can now see how many days they have been on the market, buyers tend to become a little bit concerned about the length of time and they're worried about potentially there being something wrong with the property. So agents are particularly motivated and I think to be honest with you, because of the lack of listings over the last 18 months, I'm pretty sure they're also financially motivated, to lock someone in.
So, if you present yourself as a great buyer, your finances - they're ready to go, you have a much better negotiation power than you would have any other time of year. That is at least what I have found in my professional capacity as a buyer's agent. I want to say, just make sure that you've got your pre-approval in place and it doesn't lapse. Now, particularly with the APRA changes that are happening and the banks are tightening the screws in terms of lending, it is really important that you keep that running and make sure you check in with your broker or your bank, because obviously with the impending changes, you don't want to end up with less money to spend.
The other reason why I really think that you should not stop at any point in time, particularly not for Christmas, but any time of the year, is that once you've decided you're ready to buy, why would you dip out of the market? Because you never know when the right property comes up. If you take a break you might miss it, and so many times people come to us for an inquiry for our help, and that's the story we hear, 'Oh I've been looking about a year on and off.' Okay. So what were you doing in your off time? Obviously you're missing properties that you could have bought, so it's really important to stay focused. No one said this was easy, unfortunately. You've got to remain focused and keep on track of the sales. The other reason why that's important is because you can really keep your finger on the pulse of pricing so that when something good comes on, you actually will know what it's worth. Start a spreadsheet, a nice funky Excel, will help keep you on track.
The other thing that you should be doing during this time is contacting agents directly. I tell you why, because any other time of the year, you will never see as many off-market listings around, than around December. I've already started receiving an extra number of emails and text messages, usually we get them anyway for off-markets, that are saying, ' Hey guys, we've got this off market now, otherwise we'll run a full campaign come February'. Now come February, of course, the whole market returns, all the buyers are refreshed and ready to go, and you're going to have that surge in competition again, and what you'll naturally see is a higher auction clearance rate. So if you're savvy, contact the agents, make sure you're on their hit list. Do not, what do you call it? Ghost them. Pick up the phone when they call you because they may well be having the perfect property off-market for sale for you. Also, what I would recommend is hitting up their Instagram and their Facebook, because a lot of agents before they put anything online, they are now teasing their audience on Instagram and Facebook. So you've got to have that multi-pronged approach.
This is my pep talk for you guys out there. I know you are very tired and it has been a very demoralizing journey for many of you, but stay focused, keep track of the sales, contact your agent. Just really, do not give up, and who knows, you might surprise yourself and buy something on the 24th of December. I do it on a yearly basis, so you might like to join me.
I hope this has been helpful. If you need some help, when you do find the right property, always get in touch, I'd love to hear from you. If you've got any questions as well, the email is hello@buyyourside.com.au. Thanks for listening and until next time.