BA taking a long time to find a house

Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy in Brisbane so I got a BA but, he seems to be taking almost 2 months to find something I like or even what he believes is good. Could it be that there isnt anything good in Brisbane under 650,000 & land 600m square, or is my BA just not looking hard enough. I think it would not be appropriate to state his name but he's highly recommended.

I really want something within the next month, so I don't know what to do with my BA. What could be the BAs agenda? For example his benefits buying from certain people... etc...

Thanks!

 

Have you asked him?

 

My last BA purchase in Brisbane took about 4 months to purchase a property. He actually came to me with a few properties over that time, but continually came back saying it's a reasonable deal, but he felt he'd be able to get better...

...and he did. That property was one of our best purchases and well worth the wait.


Also many BAs I know will only look for a particular type of property for one client at a time. If two clients have similar requirements they find something for the first client, then they start looking for the second client. If the type of property is hard to secure (as they often are in a hot market), it can take some time.

Whilst many may argue that the market could move during this time, I've found that these BAs don't have clients competing with each other and they consistently manage to find great deals for all their clients.

 

It depends. Do you want a deal, a good deal or a great deal? A deal might take a month. A good deal might take 2 or 3 months. A great deal might take 3 or 4 months or more. My last 2 deals each took around 18 months to source and secure, as a comparison. I sourced them myself but I have very strict criteria. It is unusual to find a property that meets my criteria.

My guess is your BA is trying to find you a really good deal and really good deals aren't common in the Brisbane market right now. That said, if you have concerns there is nothing wrong with raising them with your BA

 

what does your contract state? timeframe etc.

 

Some of my briefs have taken 3-4 months to source. Some 3-4 hours. All depends on whats in the pipeline for off/near market deals vs waiting for new listings

 

I thoughtit might be too rude and then he would hate me and just prolong the process...but then again he might think that I could then talk **** about him if he doesn't get me a great deal. But I don't have the guts to do that.

 

Why don't you discuss with your BA? Of course they could pick something and buy it in a couple of weeks, anyone can do this. You're paying them alot of money to buy an ip targeting above average growth presumably. Brisbane has been hyped to death and there is competition for good property. Let the BA know you have a short timeframe and are happy for them to buy the best purchase they can achieve in prescribed timescale.

 

Perhaps drop him an email and ask him how the search process is coming along?

Even try involving yourself a little bit more; ask him what he's found, what the market's looking like, will there need to be any changes to your criteria, for example.

He may be working hard behind the scenes and not realise you may prefer more frequent communication. Perhaps you could also say you don't mind receiving a regular email every week or fortnight...

Start the conversation and take it from there

 

& Perthguy

This makes me feel a lot better about things. Thanks guys.

I feel uncomfortable asking him ' why are you taking so long?' Or 'why are you offering me properties that later on you say could be better?' ... So I'm asking things like ' Do you think we can look into current market as well as the off-market opportunities? '

Nothing except within 12 months

Is it better to go off-market or on market...I suppose what are the pros and cons for both?

Also could it be possible that the BA gets a commission from buying from certain people?

 

@Maso19, a good deal ( which takes time) is much valuable than a quick deal.

 

We communicate daily via email, initially through phone calls.

 

My last purchase took me over 6 months to get a successful contract but by the time it settles it would of been about 1 year since I started the journey. I wasn't doing this full-time or looking all over the city/s (just happens to be Brisbane aswell + Melb), I saw countless - I would guess about 400-500 properties on the web but out of all these we only inspected probably 10-20 (including help from parents for Brisbane - plus flew up once).

From the 10-20 properties maybe 5 were of interest, 2 went to auction (1 after we purchased), 1 we got to contracts and found issues which we were unable to get an agreement and 1 was just weird (put a reasonable offer in - to me anyway, vendor then decides to put it to auction, cancel auction after 1 week and pulls listing they are not selling any more) and the final one we were beaten in negotiating by someone who wanted to pay a lot more (~10% more).

The property we ended up buying we (wife and I) didn't inspect until after we went unconditional. However dad did inspect it (once) and we had B&P done.

The property we ended up getting was one that I was interested in early in the piece but it wasn't what i determined as value. It sat on the market (over 250 days) and they dropped their advertised price by ~10% and then it was closer in the ball park. At their original price it was going to be easier to move a mountain than to get it for a realistic price.

Maybe there isn't/hasn't been anything that meets your criteria or the stuff that is on the market right now that does match is over priced so isn't worth considering.

 

sounds like you do not have confidence in BA? may be good reason for this, don't know?

have you viewed properties he has sourced for other clients?

what is the retainer $

Make sure you have evidence to support his claims ie rental returns, etc

Sorry I am cynical but BA are not gods, this is part of marketing tool..."They claim to find the gems, under market value", don't believe anything, make sure you research everything yourself

caveat - I am sure there are some good BA around but keep the burturds honest same as re agents

Mtr

 

Roughly what area ?

 

They ARE agents - they just bat for the other team

 

1. pick up the phone.
2. call the BA.
3. ask for progress and discuss or review the brief. what properties that might fit the brief? discuss merits of properties found to date.
Ask about their reasoning behind their searches. clear communication helps. emails don't always help.
4. if you still think the BA isn't working hard or being honest, terminate retainer and find properties yourself.
5. finding good deals isn't easy as one thinks.

 

Ask the BA directly and then let us know what their response is.