I've spent a long time establishing good relationships with many selling agents right across northern Sydney, the beaches, Central Coast and Greater Newcastle.  Often, they'll let me know when a new listing is about to hit the market, just in case I have a buyer whose brief it matches.  This happened on the weekend.  

My clients, first home buyers, had been desperate to find a place of their own.  They had a conservative budget and were happy to find a place that needed some work.  This house hit the market on Friday afternoon, first open on Saturday, by which time I'd checked it out and made sure it was a match to my clients.  Monday came, and I arranged to take them through.  They loved it, and instructed me to begin negotiations. 

Well, with their tight budget, we wanted to offer some other incentives that may make this sale happen.  Some of these may include longer settlement periods, short cooling off periods, releasing the deposit, or maintaining a tenancy, just as examples.  The key with all of these is speed and knowledge:  speed to have the necessary professionals on hand to provide advice and authorisation; and knowledge to understand which of these best apply in each individual purchase.  

In addition, these clients were brilliant at taking my advice.  They knew they wanted this place, and realised that on their own they would not have had the knowledge make the offer on their own.  They understood that speed was key, with other interested parties nearby, they could see their dream home could slip out of their reach if they didn't act quickly. And that, I believe, is where a third key comes in:  trust.  As a buyer, have someone you trust on your side, acting in your best interests.  The goal of selling agents, as it should be, is to get the best price for their vendor.  

The goal of a good buyer's agent is to get the best house at the lowest price and best terms for their buyer. 

So after a day of waiting for some back and forth negotiation, property checks, document signings and money transfers, my wonderful clients became happy new home owners of a three bedroom house on a 1000m2+ block of land with water views in a fabulous area on the shores of Lake Macquarie, with a little bit of cash left over to put their own touches on the place.  It's so much more than their brief to me: it's their dream.  

Trust was most definitely key for two of my other clients last week.  Having found the perfect homes for each of these, one on the Central Coast and one in Greater Newcastle, the COVID lockdowns hit which meant that getting them in for inspections was going to be tricky as they both live in Sydney.  With thorough communication and the benefit of technology, I took them on virtual tours of the properties, organised the building inspections, negotiated with agents and ultimately bought them each a home, sight unseen by the new owners.  I take very seriously my responsibility to my clients and am grateful for their trust in me.  I am glad they can see that I care about getting the right home for them, at the right price for that home.