PPOR - FHO - Your valuation and economics view

Really appreciate the views and experience of the members on this board, so would appreciate your views on the below property PPOR.

www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-greensborough-133768698

1. Never purchased a home before so experiencing paralysis by analysis.
2. I like the land size and older building (based on what's been advised on this board in the past). What should I be looking out for here?
3. Property value calculators are giving wildly inaccurate data. I'm trying to figure out valuations on my own.
4. I'm a subscriber of post-September property drop, but I have been sitting on the sidelines of property for so long expecting a drop that I have lost out on much (about 5 years). So I have no faith in my judgement of what's going to most likely happen in Post-Sept. Should I give this property a pass and continue saving for post-Sept for potential savings or upgrades moving forward?
5. As much as I would like to hire a buyer's agent to help me through these questions and strategy, I am concerned that it is not the right approach for me. I do struggle to see the benefits of Agents, but will happily hear counter-arguments for consideration.

Cheers,

 

1. You recognise this so that’s half the battle.
2. B&P or any other structural concerns, termites etc. noise, developments, changes that may not immediately be obvious. (This is general for all properties not specific to your example).
3. Comparable sales as best as possible. If you’ve been boots on the ground & now the areas and values if other sales inside out, your knowledge will be a lot better than automated valuations which can be WFG.
4. What happens if there isn’t a drop in September? Do you wait another 5 years?
No-one really knows and I don’t subscribe to the September drop, but there could be another pandemic, bushfires, locusts anything. There could also be a recovery and price boom with very cheap access to credit. People will try and talk with authority about future events, but no-one knows for certain.
I’d suggest if you like this property & suits your needs, work out the value & start taking action & due diligence.
5. This may help you with negotiation and recognised problem as per 1.

good luck!

 

Thanks craigc!

 

It's because they're inaccurate, the only way to work out the true value is to get a valuation report done. RP Data shows estimated value of $815K for this property with a large variance in the range from $725K - $904K so you'll likely never know exactly what it's worth until you get a valuation completed as part of the purchase process.
Get in touch with a Mortgage Broker to handle the finance side of things for you if you haven't already.

If you like the property and intend to live in it then does it really matter about the estimated value though? IF you make an offer, then get a valuation completed that shows you offered too much you could just not proceed with the purchase, as long as the contract includes a finance clause.
RE: a supposed price drop in September - What if it doesn't come and you miss out again?
Have you viewed the property in person yet?

 

I've been in contact with Tic:Toc and Lendi for finance. Lendi appear to just pull out a property report from CoreLogic. Tic:Toc value the property on completion of sale.

CBRE have quoted $600 for an acquisition report. I've seen the output of their reports in the past and they are fantastic in the amount of detail that they put into the reports - but I wonder if it's going to tell me what I want to hear

And I hear you about the September drop.

I've been doing this for the last 5 years. "Debt to Equity ratios are outrageous. Too expensive. I'll wait for the market to calm down". And it never has. I almost have a sunken cost on the amount of time that I haven't bought I just keep expecting the market to plummet only once I make my purchase.

Thanks for taking the time out to give your opinion, Lindsay.

 

No problem, I'll just add that Tic Toc and Lendli aren't brokers and a broker can order an upfront bank valuation for you at no cost should you use their services for the loan application. The benefit of doing it this way is that the valuation report is completed before you apply to the lender so you're not wasting your time or reducing your credit score by applying first then getting the valuation.