After buying hundreds of properties for ourselves and clients throughout Brisbane, and also watching lots of novices try to navigate the Brisbane real estate market; we’ve realized one thing:
The time it takes to do and close a property varies greatly based on expertise, access and level of commitment to the search.
Usually, it takes an average of 6-8 months to find the ideal property, complete the negotiation and tests and finally make it yours. However, there’s a few ways to make this process faster and less stressful. Want to find out? Read on!
Why does home buying take so long?
Whether you already live in Brisbane, are looking to relocate to Brisbane or simply want an investment property in the Sunshine State, you may have found that buying a home takes quite a while.
This is because buying a home involves a lot of time-consuming steps. None can be skipped, but you could make them faster if you know the ropes.
First, let’s talk about the steps.
Finding the Ideal Property in the Perfect Location
Every homebuyer has a mental picture of the home they want and a location that works for them. Although the level of specificity may vary from one person to the next, what matters is not all properties will appeal to you.
So this is the first, and usually daunting step of home buying. It usually takes the most time too as experts have estimated the search process takes around 4-5 months.
Getting an Offer Expected
Brisbane’s market is highly competitive. A home that ticks your boxes will likely catch the eye of many other prospective buyers. So how do you get in front of the line?
This one’s usually tricky and requires a level of expertise to effectively pull off. In fact, you may need to send in offers for multiple properties before getting one accepted.
To get an offer accepted, some buyers ply the risky route of sending unconditional offers. Usually works in helping you get your offer accepted, but is it worth the risk? Learn More about unconditional offers in this short post.
Negotiating
Usually a back and forth process before agreeing final terms. For instance, inspections may reveal that a property requires pest control and some expensive repairs. Such discoveries usually bring both parties back to the negotiation table to mutually agree new terms or pull the plug on the deal.
Financing
All the paperwork and processes required for securing pre approval can be quite stressful and time consuming. Yet, it’s a necessary process if you wish to buy a home. Except, of course, you’re making a cash offer.
So that’s it. Finding the right property, getting your bid accepted, negotiating and financing the purchase could take 6 months. Or 6 weeks. The choice is usually yours to make. But to help you, here’s a few reasons you should consider fast-tracking your home buying process.
Why you should buy a house faster
Most investors advice buying a house sooner, rather than later. There are few reasons to back up this sentiment.
- The more time you waste, the more money you lose. And, if you’re an investor, your ROI may take a blow.Why? The Brisbane market sees a price rise of about 10% every six months. Imagine you get into the market for a home worth $1 million dollars today. But you sleep on the process and purchase the same home 7 months later at $1.1 million dollars. That’s an extra $100K you’d have saved and used for something else.That’s the reality of the Brisbane market. It’s a race against time and you’ve got to be as fast as possible to seal the best properties at the best prices.
- It saves you time. When you’re in the market for a home, you spend your supposed “free time” combing the internet for listings, attending auctions every week, checking out new properties and thinking of ways to submit a winning proposal.Sometimes, it’s fun at the beginning. But after a few months, it gets tiring and you just can’t wait to get it over with. We know this too well from the stories of many clients we’ve worked with.Well, you don’t have to spend all your precious time looking for the ideal property. There are ways to buy a home faster and without breaking a sweat.
- Getting into the market for a new property is usually an exciting time for families. The thought of moving into a new home is pure bliss. Sadly, the joy soon fades when they see one property after another slip through their fingers for several reasons.One of our clients said they felt like screaming and totally giving up on the house hunt before they found us. Fortunately, we got their dream home in time for Christmas and you can imagine how happy they were.So you don’t have to let the market tire you out when you can fast-track the home buying process and remain excited!
How to buy a home faster
One surefire way to buy a home faster is to start financial preparation ahead of time. Save up for your down payment, review your credit report and try to make it as clear as possible, and even get pre-approved beforehand.
However, avoid taking large loans at this point because it affects your debt-to-income ratio, cripples your credit score and reduces your chances of securing funding from lenders.
Getting the finances all sorted makes you look more serious to real estate agents and gives you more confidence in the search and bidding process. Plus, after finding a property you like, you won’t have to waste any more time trying to get a lender to finance the purchase.
Another important step is to research and have in-depth knowledge about the market. This helps you know where to look for what you want and cuts down the time you spend going all over the place.
Researching the market also helps you get a bit familiar with the real estate agents in the area, the properties in the market and the entire purchase process.
However, you can only do so much research in, say, 3-6 months before buying a home. You’re better off getting help from experts who have been in the market for years and know the ins and outs of home buying in Brisbane.
Professional buyer’s agents are your surest bets if you want to buy a home fast and without stress.
For instance, at Invision Properties, we help our clients buy a home within a few short weeks while helping them save money.
How?
We’ve been at it for years, we have access to off-market stock and are professional negotiators. Get in touch with us if buying a property in Brisbane is on your bucket list.
Schedule a FREE call to have us take the stress off of your shoulders, while saving you time and money.