Where can you buy Glen Waverley Secondary College property for under $1.1M?

The $1.1million Glen Waverley Secondary College School Zone Property (GWSC/GWSZ)

A 3 bedroom house in the Glen Waverley Secondary College school zone (GWSC/GWSZ) for under $1.1million?

Yes, it is possible. Listed with price guide of above $1.3million, we were asked to provide an independent appraisal for the property. We said $1.1million to $1.2million (if the vendor is lucky), vendor said no, and our appraisal was rubbish and our offer of $1.11million was turned down.

It is OK. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion of how much their property is worth. With our independent appraisal, we can only provide an opinion of what buyers in the property market will pay at that point in time. Being local experts in the Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley and surrounding areas, our appraisals have been quite spot-on. Vendors can definite disagree with out valuation, but our opinion will not be determined by vendor's disagreement. We can agree to disagree, and disagree we did. We walked away and waited.

What happened after our offer for the property was rejected?

3 months after rejecting our offer, the vendor brought their listing to a different agent, who recommended an auction campaign. Auction day come, and the property was passed in, with the vendor insisting on a reserve of $1.3million. A further 3 months went, before it was sold for $1.05million.

6 interest rates rises after our initial offer was rejected, the property was finally sold for $1.05million. It is quite clear the vendor had lost a significant capital by holding out, hoping for better offers. With an average interest at 6%, the 6 months delay cost the vendor around $30,000 in extra interest repayments. How much was the vendor worse off, when our reasonable offer was rejected?

1. lost in sold price: $60,000

2. loss in 6 mths interest repayments: $30,000

3. new sales campaign under new agent: $5,000

4. Total: $95,000 (approx)

If the vendor had the right expectations, and accepted our independent assessment, they wouldn't have suffered a further $95k loss.

A quick check into the history of this property shows a darker story. We're very sorry for this vendor and we can understand why he was insisting $1.3million. However, the property is worth what it is. We're not prepared to overpay for the property, if it is not worth $1.3million.

History of the property

The vendor bought this property back in 2021, at the height of the property buying frenzy post-pandemic, for $1.1million, with the intention to quickly renovate and flip. Considering the buying cost, stamp duties and interest rates over the 2 years ownership, and renovation costs, it probably cost the vendor a total of $1,350,000 in total.

Considering the sold price of $1,050,000, and less agent commission of 2%, he made a loss of close to $300,000.

Lesson on Due Diligence

In a Fear of Missing Out situation, in a buying frenzy, it is easy to be caught up by market pressure, fear of missing out, greed, and more critically, wrong expectations or misinformation, and naive assumptions. Many new property investors were caught out.

If you are 100% sure of what you are doing, you'll be good. If you believed you know, chances are, you don't. Always get qualified help and advice. You have a choice to choose who you believe in. Help from social media is only as good as the information you provide, the responder's interpretation and assumptions, knowledge, opinions, and etc. Would you rather believe a faceless person behind a FB profile, or would you trust someone whom you can call, visit the site, consult with you and always there to help and guide you?

The role of independent Buyers Advocates

As independent buyer's advocates, our job is to educate both buyers and sellers on the value of a property. We've no agenda to drive, we've nothing to sell. So, we're not your usual pushy sales agents. Sales will promise you the sky, to get your listing (that is their KPI). But we know a good deal when we see one and will drive hard for a good deal when there is one.

Unrealistic expectations often results in more unnecessary pain, with little gains, or massive loss in this worse case situations.

There is only one group of happy buyer for each property. Make yourself that happy buyer, at the right price.

Our principal Buyers Advocate Rayson, personally see over each deal being made with our buying services.