When buying an investment property unseen, trusting your buyer's agent is essential

Purchasing a property is one of the biggest financial commitments you’re likely to make in your lifetime.

Only certain properties should be bought without you seeing them first. I recommend that those looking for a new home to live in themselves should see the property in question before making an offer.

However, purchasing investment property can often be done without the buyer seeing the property at all. Successfully purchasing a property without viewing it beforehand is dependent on the level of trust you have in the buyer’s advocate you have engaged.

When presenting a property to a client, I provide them with a detailed report that includes historical growth patterns and market value for properties within that specific area. We also provide detail on land size, orientation and comparable sales evidence of similar properties.

When engaging someone to act on your behalf it’s important you’re confident that they’re acting in your best interests. It’s imperative that they have extensive knowledge and experience in the property industry. This ensures that they are well across property market in the area that you’re looking to invest in.

Three important factors to consider when selecting someone to purchase property on your behalf:

1. Experience

Certification and experience provide a base for grounding and trust. Look at a buyer’s agent’s history; has he or she had experience in the property industry? Working in a variety of roles in the property industry enables a multifaceted understanding of the property market. If your buyer’s advocate is also a licensed real estate agent, he or she will be familiar with selling techniques, growth patterns and auction clearance history. Industry experience is integral to an ability to build relationships.

2. Industry relationships

Pre-existing relationships with real estate agents enables buyers’ advocates to unearth properties that are yet to be advertised to the wider market and present them to their clients.

3. Set fee vs. percentage of the purchase price

Engaging professionals to act on your behalf will take the stress and complication out of purchasing property. When engaging a company, look at whether its fees are based on a percentage of the final purchase price or whether they’re set from the beginning. It’s important that you can be confident your advocate has your best interests at heart and won’t be making more money should he or she recommend a more expensive property.

Cameron Deal is senior buyer advocate at Infolio Property. 

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