Real Estate: Most common mistakes buyers and seller make you need to avoid

In the current real estate market, there is little room for error and too many buyers are making things even harder for themselves.

In my 35 years of real estate, I see vendors and buyers make recurring mistakes when looking to buy or sell. In this current market, there is simply no room for error.

Let’s start off with the most common vendor mistakes.

MOST COMMON MISTAKES REAL ESTATE VENDORS MAKE

1. Don’t confuse the cheapest agent with the best agent.

They generally are not the same agent. You want a house price maximiser not a commission minimiser.

2. Marketing – You can’t sell a secret

Your home will be on the market in competition not in isolation. Now that many restrictions are ending, there will be so much stock on the market, you are going to need to stand out to win out.

You can’t sell a secret. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

3. Don’t let your house stay on the market for too long

It will move from the sweet zone to the stale zone. Just like milk and bread, it gets cheaper sitting on the shelf at the supermarket, not dearer.

4. First impressions count

Styling your home or getting it touched up, is an investment – not a cost. People buy things emotionally, and then justify it logically.

5. Price it right

Overpricing a property scares buyers away. You want to create buyer competition. Some of the best results I’ve seen have been from a bidding frenzy. Be sure to discuss the pricing strategy with your agent to ensure it is not considered as underquoting and you are not breaking the law.

Like many things, first impressions count when selling your home.

Now, let’s look at the common mistakes buyers make.

MOST COMMON MISTAKES HOMEBUYERS MAKE

1. Buying in a suburb where you have not done the research.

One of the biggest mistakes I see, is a buyer who misses out on a few properties in one suburb and out of frustration, buys another property in an unfamiliar suburb thinking it’s a bargain. It’s not a bargain – it just seemed cheap compared to what they were looking at.

2. Paralysis by over-analysis

This will often stop you from paying that extra 5 per cent that will secure the home you want. Of course, it’s normal to be nervous about a big purchase, but real estate at worst has had a drop of 18 per cent in any correction and the market picks up this correction within 24 months.

Ensure you know all about the suburb you’re buying in. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

3. Not getting a pest and building inspections

Whilst it can be expensive getting these reports and then missing out at auctions, the most expensive thing you can do is to buy a ‘lemon’. These days, there are organisations such as Before You Bid that allows you to amortise the cost of pest and building inspection reports with other prospective buyers. This can greatly reduce your costs.

4. Relying on just real estate portals to source properties.

Agents have ‘Little Black Books’ with hot buyers in them looking for off-market opportunities. Make sure you have relationships with agents in the area you’re looking to buy and get into their ‘Black Book’. Some of the best buys, are off-market.

Tom Panos in his role as auctioneer. Picture: John Appleyard

5. Timing the market

If you are trying to time the market, you’ll get it wrong. The only way to buy at the bottom of the market is when the market has gone up. Because you can only look back and realise when the bottom was, but by that stage, it will be too late. Do not buy a home based on the market. Buy a home based on your life.