How to: Find out as much about the vendor as possible

When it comes to purchasing a property, it’s easy to forget that there’s a vendor on the other end of the struggle who, ultimately, will determine the outcome to your offer. Their motivations, requirements and attachment to the home in question can all be crucial in getting the deal over the line.

Usually, the real estate agent will play the part of ‘go between’ for yourself and the vendor, leaving very little, if any, opportunity to meet and discuss in person. While this can do wonders for keeping emotions out of the transaction, it can also leave you completely unsure of who you are dealing with and what you can do to push the deal over the line.

There are a number of ways to determine what you can about the vendor.

Questioning the agent correctly

Upon your initial conversation with the real estate agent, you want to take things fairly easy. Remember that the selling agent is the vendor’s agent and is there to act in their best interest. For this reason, you do not want to be asking them to reveal personal information, or details that may limit the potential success for the vendor.

One way to structure your questions is to do so in terms of offers. You could say to them something like the following:

“I’m interested in making an offer. Are there any favourable terms and conditions I could include that might make my offer more acceptable? Such as a longer or shorter settlement?”

You haven’t put your cards on the table in terms of a dollar figure, but you’ve alerted the real estate agent that you’re a serious contender for this property and you’ve put the ball into their court.

Don’t be scared to further question why they want those terms, for instance “Excellent, yes, I can certainly put that in. Do they already have their next home lined up?”

If this isn’t particularly revealing, you can ask questions framed in terms of the property itself. You may say “This is a beautiful home, why are they moving away from it?!”

These non-threatening exchanges may provide you a few snippets to get started with.

Checking the property’s history

Heading on to the past records, such as RP Data, can show you a number of important pieces of information. This could include:

• How long the property has been on the market for
• Whether the vendor has changed agents previously
• If it is/has been rented or advertised as a rental
• Whether the price has been decreased over the sales campaign (also known as ‘vendor discounting’)

You can use the area’s averages to get an understanding for how it looks on a comparative basis. You may even find the vendor’s name and a few details within these records, otherwise a land title can reveal the information necessary.

With the vendor’s name, particularly for prestige properties, a quick Google may result in the reason for the move. High quality homes, with high price tags to match, can often be owned by the movers and shakers. Press releases and ‘about us’ staff pages may reveal whether they are moving for a new job offer, or perhaps heading overseas. You’d be surprised what information the internet holds about people – and their properties. Googling the street address can also be just as revealing.

You might just find that Property Observer has written about the home in the past. Here are some of the digital footprints that properties might just leave behind.

At the open home

Open homes can be good for multiple reasons. While it gives you an opportunity to have a thorough look around the property, you can also get an understanding of the people who lived here last. Children’s rooms, family pictures and new baby paraphernalia may suggest you’re dealing with an upsizer. Meanwhile, older and black and white photographs may indicate otherwise. Other clues can also be in what is displayed – are there certificates and trophies?

You may find that the entire house has already been cleaned out. If it’s the primary place of residence for the previous owners then this may suggest that they have already purchased their next home and that they are looking for a quick sale.

How well presented the home is, and whether it has been professionally staged or not, can also attest to how savvy the vendor is about property.

You may also find that the neighbours are poking around the open home as well, which may give you an opportunity to field some questions about the home and its occupiers as possible.

Speak to the agent again

Head back to the agent with this information. If it has been listed for a long time, you might want to ask questions like the following:

“Are the vendors actually interested in selling? It has been listed for five months, which is far longer than the area’s average.” If you look as though you might step away from purchasing, the real estate agent is likely to try a little harder.

You may also want to ask about any previous offers and the reasons they were not accepted.