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Here's a $1 million dollar question. Are you more likely to tell the truth to someone who knows their stuffs? Or are you going to try to smoke your way through? Studies have shown that over 95% of the people are more likely to be upfront and frank when they are conversing with a subject matter expert. This is the value of the buyers agent. We've been asked many times, why should a buyer use a buyers agent. In addition to getting your answers from a trusted source, vendor agents (listing agents) or simply, the usual real estate agents are more likely to be frank with someone within the industry. Simply because it is easy for the other party to verify the information. Their reputation is at stake if they were found to be providing less than accurate information. Would you consider using a Buyer's Advocate?

While metropolitan Melbourne is experiencing a slow down in demand for properties, regional properties are being snapped up in record speed. Why? What do these buyers know that we don't? Well, here at Concierge Buyers Advocates, we've been advocating for regional properties about a year ago, well ahead of the demand. For the buyers who trusted our opinion, here is your reward. On average, the values of your properties would have grown between 12-20%, despite the difficult pandemic period. Now, here's why With the onset of working from home, city dwellers have suddenly realised that their convenient, but often tiny apartments are too cosy to be considered an ideal working environment. They have also realised that the milion dollar they spent on the apartment, could have gotten them a nice, luxurious 5 bed room property for a fraction of the price. This, together with the often-scenic peaceful settings of a regional town, appealed to the city dwellers. Technology has effectively closed the distance between these regional towns. What will happen when movements restrictions are lifted? Will these buyers sell up, and move back to the major cities? Only time will tell. https://www.domain.com.au/news/more-people-buy-in-regional-towns-during-coronavirus-lockdown-in-melbourne-968880/?utm_campaign=strap-masthead&utm_source=the-age&utm_medium=link&utm_content=pos1&ref=pos1

As Australia starts to relax its COVID-19 restrictions, Victoria has suddenly seen a spike in infections, and 12 suburbs are being put back into stage 3 lockdown. What does this mean for the Melbourne property market? How will this impact the Melbourne property market? What should you do, if you are STILL house hunting? Savvy property hunters are still buying throughout the lockdown. Should you have bought? Is it too late for you? COVID-19 Melbourne has, unfortunately seen a spike in COVID-19 infection numbers. 12 suburbs have been marked as COVID hotspots and travel in and out of these suburbs are being discouraged. This may seen dire, but how would this affected interests in the property market? While buyers are still buying, and properties are still being sold, CoreLogic has reported a drop in median prices. Is this a sign that the property market is crashing again? Unlikely. While drops of 1% make newsworthy and eye catching headlines, it does not necessarily mean prices are starting to crash. Prices seem to be trending down, but with buyers usually shopping within a price range of +/- 10%, it is hardly a cause for concern. What's more worrying is the curge in COVID-19 cases in Victoria. The possibility for a state-wide lockdown is high. Victoria could be put back into a Stage 3 restriction, if not worse. This means, non-essential businesses will once again be forced to shut, and non-essential travel banned. Outlook for the next 3 months If a statewide lockdown is re-instated in Victoria, activities could see a slow-down in buying and selling. Prices over the next 3 months will likely be stagnant (+/- 2-3%). Why so? Here is why: Foreigners are buying into Melbourne properties. They have seen how the Melbourne property market has consistently performed over the last 30 years, and the low Australian dollar is making this even more attractive. They will be reaping the rewards of low AUD (which will appreciate in future), plus the consistent 7% annual growth in property prices. While the rise in COVID-19 numbers are alarming, it is not unexpected. The spread of COVID-19 numbers worldwide, has reached a point where its containment and eradication is no longer practical and possible. People will start to get used to the the notion of living with COVID-19 for a while. When Smallpox, tuberculosis, AIDS were first discovered, people are equally alarmed at how deadly they are. Despite decades of trying to cure and eradicate these diseases, they are still around. And life goes on for us. Humans will learn to adapt to the new normal. Other than Victoria, all other states and countries in the Oceana reagion is starting to open us, and business activities are resuming. As the economy of the states around Victoria boom, Victoria has a lot to catch up. And the longer it stays shut, the more it will have to catch. And it will catch up. Victoria will not stay shut forever. We believe if a lockdown is re-instated, it will likely last 4 to 6 weeks, max. What does this mean for the buyer? Well... this would be the million dollar question. What should you do ? Get in touch to find out.

When it comes to selling your property, the cost of listing your property with a traditional vendor agent is very often the biggest expense you'll have. Depending on your property and its value, the cost of listing and agent commission can be well over $20,000 for a typical $800,000 property. Is this the only way to sell your property? Are there any other low-cost ways of selling your property effectively? We've been asked such questions many times. To most sellers, the only other way low-cost is to sell it yourself. But, how do you market the property? How do you know what your property is worth? Are you prepared to wast time handling low-ballers and time wasters? What about the risks of having a open for inspection on your own? What if, there is an alternate way of selling your property effectively. It is low-cost, and you'll usually only need to pay for the conveyancing to prepare the sales contract (which you will need to do anyway, through a traditional selling agent). Do you want access to a hidden source of qualified buyers? Buyers who are finance approved, and who are ready to buy the right property? What if buyers in this group is interested in your property? It could sell with little effort. Approach a buyer's agent. Yes, a buyer's agent. Some buyer's agent or buyer's advocates including us will be happy for you to approach them. We have a pool of buyers who are already qualified. They are serious buyers, and are in the market, finance ready, and are prepared to buy your property. We will guide you through preparing the property for sale, just like a traditional agent, put you in touch with conveyancers who will get your sales contract sorted. And we will manage the open for inspections for you. That's right, no commissions. You save the usual 2% commission and marketing cost. Interested? Get in touch with us.

It's not surprising news that some homes were sold at a loss in the March Quarter. If you have been following our posts, you'll recall that, prices have only just stabilised in the past 3 weeks or so. I. E., these statistics were a reflection of losses at the peak of the downturn. If you're hoping to pick up a bargain in these suburbs, don't hold your breath. These are sold properties, which means, they have already been bought. Gone. All's not lost, however. Chat with us, we can still find you a deal. Have a look at our property of the week blog. These are just a select sample of the discounted deals which we've come across through our AI search. There are still many out there. Let us know what you want, we'll find one which suits you. Have a read. https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-sydney-and-melbourne-suburbs-where-up-to-a-third-of-homes-are-selling-at-a-loss-20190708-p5255g.html

With Melbourne's population continuing to grow at record rates, the population is projected to overtake Sydney by 2050. It is a short 30 years away. This gif shows where the project growth areas will be. If you're into property investing, buy where there's demand.

How do you view the property you are buying? This is a common problem for interstate and foreign investors. How much should you trust a real estate agent? Should you even trust an agent if their only interest is to sell the property for the highest price? Would you prefer to pay a small fee, engage the services of a licenced property agent to work FOR YOU , to help you make sure you do not end up buying a dud or lemon? Consider the fee an insurance policy, or getting an expert on the ground to help with the due diligence. Throughout our years of property buying, we've seen many creative ways of describing a property that's been very well used (or abused). From the common "in need of some TLC" to a straight-forward "renovator's delight". What if the description says "original condition" or "tired"? Would you expect to see this? It looks like a tornado has torn through it. This was described as a "renovator". I'll think it would cost more to renovate than to rebuild. Would you now prefer to engage a buyer's advocate or buyer's agent to do the ground work for you? Get in touch.

What are the top suburbs to invest in Melbourne? We've been asked this question many times. But we have a different answer for every buyer. Find out why: Most people would have jumped the gun and watched the video. However, articles like this should just be taken with a grain of salt. Here's why: 1. It does not take into account each buyer's personal circumstance. This is the typical approach of a property sales agent. "Sell whatever we have. Buy at your own risk." Every buyer has a different reason to why they wanted to buy a property. They would also have different criteria. What works for one, may not usually work for the other. 2. Reports like this, are known as lag reports. The event has already happened. Prices have already risen. Will they rise further? Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. There are too many factors to consider. The majority of property buyers simply follow these reports, to help drive prices up further, to the point of overpaying, benefiting the sellers. Good buyer agents study trends, read signs, read the market, take the time to understand what motivates the buyers, and more importantly, why they wanted to get into the property market. We then, scan all sources in the property market, including on-market, off-market sources, before short-listing and presenting the properties that suits the specific client. In our eyes, no two clients are the same. We tailor our recommendations to each and every single buyer. 3. If you definitely want to buy your property yourself, and are convinced this top 10 is the right suburb for you, we've hand-picked some new house and land packages in this top 10 list. Find out more. If you have a location in mind that's not in our list, let us know. We'll find something for you. If you have a land and want to build, let us know. We'll find a specialist turnkey builder for you. Every buyer of our house selected house and land package is eligible for a special promotion. We're giving away a solar system or a SMART home automation kit, fully installed with every purchase. These hand-picked properties will not last long. Get in touch for the latest list or to find out more information today.

If you've successfully applied for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS), are you aware that you only have 90 days to search for your first home? Given the latest social distancing restrictions, public open for inspections and public auctions have been banned. Agents can only schedule inspections on a one-on-one basis, and this makes property search a lot more difficult. There are a lot more coordination involved and a lot of planning involved. How do you hasten the property search? How do you see more properties in the limited time you have? Plan, plan, plan. It takes a lot of planning and coordination, and juggling between property search and all your other commitments. This is where most all first home buyers get anxious. You have to scan through the various real estate websites to research the property market, estimate the property value, understand your mortgage commitments, organise the building inspection, termite inspection and pest inspections, talk to your financial planner. There is a lot to do within the 90 days, for the inexperienced first home buyer. What can you do to help yourself? There are a few ways to help yourself. 1. Start searching on a full time basis. Remember, no two properties are the same, every single property needs to be valued and assessed individually, against your priorities, needs, and wants. 2. Let your privilege lapse and try your luck applying. Yes, there could still be some vacancies from now till June 2020, or you would have to wait till July 2020 for the new quota to be released. If you are expecting property prices to fall, you'll be wrong. Here's why. 3. Engage a buyers advocate to speed up the search. Buyers advocates (similar to buyers agents) use their intimate knowledge of the property market, to help buyers research the property market and access more properties (pre-market and off-market listings). On average, engaging a buyer's advocate can speed up your property search by 3 to 4 times. How can Concierge Buyers Advocates help? If you are getting seriously anxious, have a chat with us. Let us explore ways of working together to help you buy your first home. We have helped many first home buyers buy their dream homes. We understand all first home buyers have other commitments, and this is why we keep our fees low just for first home buyers. If you prefer, we have a few high quality zero-fees properties which are specially selected for first home buyers as well. So, would you prefer to miss out on your 5% home loan deposit privilege or would you prefer to engage a professional buyer to help you? https://www.domain.com.au/news/first-home-loan-deposit-scheme-recipients-may-miss-out-on-buying-a-home-amid-covid-19-restrictions-943937/

Banks are traditionally the preferred lender for most home buyers. But, did you know? You can get better interest rates if you go for one of the specialist or boutique lenders? They are offering interest rates as low as 2.3%! Interested to find out more? Book one of our strategy sessions and you'll get access to exclusive, low interest rates. Get in touch now Which bank is offering the lowest home loan interest rates right now? https://www.domain.com.au/money-markets/which-bank-is-offering-the-best-home-loan-interest-rates-right-now-940465/?utm_campaign=article&utm_source=metros&utm_medium=link&utm_content=pos2