Cease my lease, and buy?

Hi Crusher,

You've had some great advice in the posts above. The only thing I'd add is to hold your nerve when it comes to making an offer. In any field, a lot of the potential profit is made in the buying phase. If you didn't buy well then it's harder to make a profit later.

I'm not all that brilliant at buying (but I have a brother who is a positive genius at it...). The trick is not to show that you've fallen for whatever you're negotiating for, and not to mind too much if your bid isn't accepted . Professional sellers can smell a mile off when you've fallen in love with the house, car or whatever. You also learn not to be too spooked by the tales of other buyers who are about to put an offer in. They may well be 100% real and they may be successful, but they may also be largely imaginary (selling agents do occasionally get confused about who might be about to bid on a property... ) or else not in a very strong bidding position themselves.

One thing to remember is that you currently have a big thing in your favour - you don't have another property to sell first. Many other people in the market will be making offers that are conditional on the sale of their existing home. This can involve quite long chains that stall or fall over because the owner gives them a limited time to make the offer unconditional (by selling their place or getting bridging finance etc.). If you can get pre-approval for a particular amount you then have a very strong bargaining chip - a solid offer as opposed to one that's conditional on another sale. Make sure you use that advantage now you have it. If you aren't in a hurry and don't mind trying a few low tilts that won't always work, you might be able to buy at very good price from somebody who just wants to get a deal done SOON!

You can sometimes test the waters by not looking too interested but saying things like "I was really looking for something $10 or $20k below that".... You will probably get told firmly "I couldn't present the owner with that sort of offer". But then a few days later you might just get a call with some kind of compromise counter offer.

I'd second the advice to buy a relatively cheap place in a good area. My first house was almost derelict, but in an excellent suburb that was increasing in value. I renovated it myself (including building a small extension, doing new bathroom and kitchen, etc. Three years later I sold it for more than double what I'd paid.

All the best with it. Exciting times.

Chris

 

Thanks to everyone for your advice and posts.

I have since seen Alan Fox of Propertunity and he is going to assist me in finding the right house, for the right price, so i'm really looking forward to that.

Still gathering a deposit together at the moment, but have 'some' time to get some more money together, Also had some really good help from a Mortgage Broker (in Brisbane) so all is looking to be working out well..

Which makes me think.. I was 19, went into a meeting with a financial advisor who was recommended.. I asked the question, should i be looking at buying real estate? he said "No, at your ages you should be pooling all of your money into shares" ... Not only did that leave me $50k in the red (in the past now, what can i do..) but i am nearly 23 and starting from square one. Lets hope the way i am approaching this is the right one, i sure do have a good feeling about it!

I am a loyal guy, so if things work out (very optimistic ) I will be calling upon Alan many times from now..

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Now commencing 'take 2' on investing for the future..