Five things you should never do when purchasing: Patrick Bright

Buying property requires a strategic approach that involves obtaining information to give you an edge in negotiations, explains EPS Property Search director Patrick Bright.

He says that he regularly sees buyers weaken their position by disclosing too much information and that the reality is that very few buyers are skilled negotiators when faced with a well-trained sales agent.

“Buyers often get carried away with their emotions rather than asking the selling agent the quality questions they should so that they can gather all the necessary information to develop the best negotiation strategy,” Bright warned.

“The average buyer manages a handful of property negotiations in a lifetime while the average selling agent negotiates more than a handful of transactions every month.”

Here are the five mistakes Patrick Bright warns against.

1. Never disclose your budget to the selling agent
   
   While you will be likely giving the agent a rough guide based on the properties you’re inspecting, he warns that once they know your real budget they will do “everything they can to extract every cent out of you”. This is especially the case if they haven’t reached the vendor’s bottom line yet.
   
   
2. Never let the selling agent see you fall in love with the property
   
   “I’ve seen this happen far too many times,” explains Bright. “My advice is to never make any comments or talk about the property while you’re there.”
   
   He warns buyers to avoid the selling agent’s questions and to instead ask them a question whenever they ask you one.
   
   
3. Never make a silly low offer
   
   Making low offers is fine, he says, but don’t make it a silly one.
   
   “If you come in too low with your first offer and have too many conditions then you risk alienating the vendor and the selling agent or having them think you’re a time waster. When I put in a low offer I always attach comparables with it to justify the offer and minimise any chance of alienating the vendor,” he suggests.
   
   
4. Never let the agent know if you are motivated to buy
   
   Indifference is the name of the game.
   
   “If you’re buying property with your partner, let one person do all of the talking and have all the communication with the agent otherwise the agent will easily play one of you off against the other in order to get information out of you,” he suggests. Hide your motivation.
   
   
5. Never make a fed-up purchase
   
   You may have missed out on several homes you were really keen to purchase, and have been looking for a couple of months, but that doesn’t mean you give up and just buy, says Bright.
   
   “The problem is it won’t be long before they’ll regret it and want to sell. To sell then buy another home in the same price range will cost around 10% of the purchase price in selling and buying costs.”