First Home Buyer / Advice please newbie

I would like to hear people opinions...

I'm interested in a property thats up for Auction end of month, price guide is 595k.

I attended the inspection on the weekend.

The property was listed as sold in Dec 2017 for 645k. House photos were similar and you could tell it was the same owner. I wasn't interested enough to ask the agent on the day..

I got a call from the agent yesterday and I asked about the Dec sale. The agent said it had actually sold twice, that December sale (buyer's deeds came to late or something along those lines) and again at the beginning of the year for 605k (wife got pregnant and finance fell over).

Therefore:
Dec 2017 - 645k
? 2018 - 605k
Sept Auction - Price Guide 595k

There are not many auctions in price range in my area. So first concern is being up for Auction with no cooling off period are they perhaps trying to pass on a house with problems? Or is this buyer wanting to finalise a sale?

Thoughts? Does this seem unusual?
What should I be asking the agent?

Thanks for your time

 

If the REA mouth was moving you can pretty much guarantee that a lot of what was said was BS and based purely on getting you to buy rather than the being 100% truthful. If I was then vendor I wouldn't be happy my REA was giving non-public price data to a potential buyer so again validating the worth of the information provided by the REA and therefore weight you should give to any advice they provide so make sure you do your own due diligence on all aspects of any potential purchase.

My purchase in 2012 was similar with last sale at $459K and a few failed sale in the preceding 6 months over 2 marketing campaigns with my purchase being for $438K so it just proves property doesn't always increase in value overtime and each sale is contingent on many variables.

 

With the decreasr in property prices going down by about 5% every 6 months i would hold off few months till price dtops again and make a offer over auction

 

@womble66 - thanks for following the trail and replying here. I assumed most sales would just go through once an offer is placed, gd to know sometime there are failed sales and there is nothing to be suspicious about.

@Ricki barkham - I am very interested in watching the market and swooping in. It's a lot of $$ to spend and I would like to be able to live happily with the decision (the decision being harder as we are moving to a new suburb we haven't lived in, it'd would be nice/easy if you could buy where you rent..)

 

The main thing is that you are comfortable with the price you pay. I would not rush the decision. If the property was last sold in Dec 2017 then I think it's safe to assume the vendors are in financial trouble. You can buy at a price you are comfortable and secure a home; you can wait and see if the price changes or a better property becomes available; you can keep looking.

If you've never bought then at least get the opinion of people you know and trust, and listen to them when they list the pros and cons. There's no perfect property. Right price, right location, good enough for you (can be improved within budget).

 

Agree with this, we have many family and friend homeowners saying the same.

This is our first purchase.


Oh to clarify also - last sold in Dec '17 - but sale didn't go through. Still trying to sell so yes I guess you could assume desperate and I imagine that's why it's up for auction.

 

That was not clear. Probably not desperate then. Just want to sell for some reason.

 

So last failed on-market sales attempt.

Couldn't find a listing matching your criteria so can't comment specifically on your target property but unless your desperate I wouldn't be rushing to buy at auction at the moment especially with 2 failed previous attempts to sell you just never know so doing more due diligence under a private treaty sale rather than auction may be a safer option.

Wait till it gets passed-in the you can do B&P and be in a stronger bargaining position and just remember if it sells then there is always another being listed

 

Just remember the . selling agent.will talk sweet anz not tell you everything to get you to buy so they get there commission


so make sure.you double check from another source

 

Totally true. Auction feels a bit too hard for first home buyers