Empower Blog Buyers Advocate

8 Tips to Buy in a Hot Market

I’ve been buying property on behalf of clients since October 1998 and in that time I have experienced many hot property markets.  Having moved from Perth to Queensland in 2002 and then to Melbourne in 2006 as well as travelling around the country filming Location Location Location Australia for the last 3 years, it sometimes seemed like I was of...

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Is the Real Estate Agent a Friend or Foe?

I’m often amused by the antagonistic approach that some buyers adopt when dealing with a real estate agent in the midst of a negotiation.  Sure, the agent is employed by the seller to get them the best price and terms and draw as much money as they possibly can from the buyer but equally, they’re a crucial cog in the chain for you getting the ...

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The Investment A-Team

As the driver of your investment strategy, selecting the right members for your team is crucial to scoring investment gold. In April 2013 issue of the Smart Property Investment Magazine, Ben Kingsley writes about the need to take control and hand pick a team that will be contributing and working towards improving your financial status. Similar t...

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What is the ONE thing in a negotiation that can get you across the line?

As Buyers Agents, when we are at a party or a BBQ, inevitably the discussion with a new person turns to work. “So, what do you do?” can give way to a whole night of exciting questions and tales about houses, real estate agents, property investing, horror and success stories. It’s almost as interesting a discussion as one you’d have with a c...

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Making Your Offer Irresistible

Real estate negotiation requires creative thinking in any private sale, pre-auction or post-auction negotiation. Buyers make the mistake of assuming that the vendor solely cares about price. Every vendor cares about price, but most vendors care about a combination of price and terms. In a selling situation where the vendor is relaxed about timing, ...

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Why Most Investors FAIL to build a Multi-Million Dollar Property Portfolio

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Secrets of a Negotiator

Whenever we address a group, meet a client or speak on stage, there are two popular questions we are often asked. The first is generally “where should I buy?” Our response to this question is usually long because we give specific and tailored advice to every client; and no client’s property journey is ever the same as another. The secon...

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Recognising an ‘Investment Grade’ Property

We are often asked by people "What are the good suburbs to buy in?"  If we could pick a better question to ask a Buyers Agent though, we would ask them "What makes a property an investment grade property?"  The answer is not all that detailed, however SO many people get it wrong.  Like one of team member says, "it's simple but it's not easy!" T...

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Negotiation Tactics in a ‘Sellers’ Market – Part Two

3. Establish recent sales to justify your offer Recent sales of comparative properties can help in getting the estate agent to help support your price offer, but you must compare apples with apples, don’t compare weatherboard with Brick or vastly different land size blocks etc.   4.  Start with a long term settlement When you put your...

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Negotiation Tactics in a ‘Sellers’ Market – Part One

It’s an understatement to say that the residential property market is ‘hot’, as values in almost all major locations are up on this time last year. Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are leading the charge, as supply is outstripped by demand from a growing population. In real estate terms, we are currently in a sellers market, whereby in most loc...

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