Hi everyone,
I've been house hunting for the last 8 months and i am exhausted.
The whole process of going to inspections every weekend, covering only a very small area, trying to put a bid in, gets outbidded last minute, repeat next week.. it's so frustratingly inefficient..
What techniques / strategies do you employ when you were buying your house / unit to make the process better?
Thanks in advance all!
We just purchased our first home, very very frustrating, people were offering $60000 plus over asking price. We actually found a great agent (Scott from absolute realty in Strathpine qld) we told him what we were looking for and as soon as a client approached him with something suitable he would message or call us and we could have a look before they even advertised. He was the only agent who would take you to listed straight away (no waiting for open houses like some Realestate's).
Hello there, Scott from Absolute Realty in Strathpine QLD.
Actually I am female (full time carer of my disabled son) and my husband works in transport, I actually thought it might help anyone looking in this area. We have had a lot of bad agents and he was the only one who went out of his way to help, even thought we didn't end up purchasing our new home from him. Will think twice before trying to help anyone next time.
They still do in other parts of australia. Eg Rockhampton
mate i feel your pain. sadly i have no better advice for you as i'm in the exact same boat.
phunkydude has some of the answers - lower your expectations. but at the rate prices are going up in sydney, it's really not even possible to do that - especially as a first home buyer who isn't looking to spend a million bucks or anything.
i hate having to get my pre-approval re-done every two-three months. i'm partly concerned that by the time i do find something and am successful at bidding on it, interest rates will be much higher, and my ability to negotiate with my bank on the rate will be out the window (my lender only rate matches for 20 days, so no idea what's going to happen when I finally get something).
good luck in your search. just hang in there.
thanks for your encouragement mate. glad Im not alone! good luck with your search too!
read it as "Haunting" at first and was intrigued.
haha I wonder if realestate.com.au could implement a "haunted" toggle. I wouldn't mind it if its a lot cheaper lol
Auction trouble?
Bikies.
I spent 2 years, every Saturday and Sunday searching for a house in the inner East of Melbourne (my first house). In that 2 years I saw hundreds if not thousands of houses, bid on more than I can count, and saw probably 3 or 4 that didn't go well over what they should really have sold for. I learned a few things:
Houses went cheaper on long weekends
Houses sold for less when it was raining
The last house auction of the day usually commanded the lowest price
Houses from deceased estates often go for less money, as the family wants closure
Some Real Estate agents lie. One told me the house was brick, but it was wooden with asbestos cladding that looked like bricks. Some are honest.
People play dirty tricks at auctions. I saw twice that people hired homeless people to disrupt the auctions. I saw someone do a burn out in the (super quiet) street during an auction, and the house passing in an eventually selling for over a million below market value.
As advice I would say that if you stick it out and hold to your guns, you will
find the property for you. I ended up buying a house which was in one of Melbourne's most expensive suburbs and a suburb I thought I could afford. When I bought it, it was the last auction of the day, it was raining and it was a deceased estate. The crowd I went from auction to auction with had gone from 30 people strong to 3 people by the end of the day. A house in the same suburb earlier in the day (a smaller house on land 1/3 smaller) sold for 40% more in the morning, but I managed to get my house for 400k below the suburb average for its size. After putting in several hundred thousand in renovations, my house is now worth around double my total spend, in 2 years. Be patient, it will work out.
oh wow thanks for the tips! really admire your discipline and glad you got yourself a good house in the end!
my god how could they lie about the brick wall when its asbestos thats insane =/
LOL @ hiring homeless people, that is extreme! =/ was it hyper competitive?
Melbourne property market is ultra competitive in the inner suburbs. Hence the prices.
Hopefully, soon, once all the old people in their 80s+ start dieing, it will accelerate the pace of estate sales.
And if the hospital/agecare system is too massively under stress, that could further increase deaths/week average.
You just need this number to get above the threshold to see a downward bidding war.
so what you are saying is we needs a few grandma serial killers?
@burnertoasty some of the points you mentioned are so true I have experienced them as well for example houses sold for less when it's raining , lowest price for last auction of the day, some one doing a burn out when in the Super quite street.
I hate auctions too but as you rightly said hold to your guns and things would work out just right.
It is a numbers game at the end of the day - we looked for maybe 4 months, and looked at as many as possible. When I lived in a smaller city, I was looking at maybe 20-25 houses each day (they start at 930-10am and finish at 4pm and then some are on Sundays too). When i looked further afield, I was going to maybe 10-15 per day where possible
And yes, I totally agree about the rain. If its raining, only the truly dedicated people will go and look (i.e those truly desperate to buy, or the real hardcore people, none of your everyday casual investors)
I literally don't bother with auctions at all. I decided I didn't want the stress and hassle, so I've literally never been to or bid on an auction. There are PLENTY of houses out there for private sale, especially now the market has cooled a bit and people aren't speculating on what the house is worth
Another tip is to try the places that AREN'T just Open For inspection, because they require people to make appointments and dedicate some time, instead of just being one in the production line
To help you narrow it down, I often pay special attention to the ones with terrible photography, because some agents just have truly terrible photographers. But it HAS TO HAVE A FLOORPLAN. Inevitably if there's no floorplan, there's a very good reason for it.
PS. Loving the dirty tricks ideas. That's actually freaking genius
thanks for the good tips. definitely will take them into account from now on. =D
Before you go to an auction you should know what it's worth especially with 8 months of looking. Sounds like your after that bargain property but the markets not ready for that yet. You might just have to lower your expectations or bust out another $1000 like everybody else.
100 000
put in pre-auction offers if you want the house
dutch auctions would be better i think.
start high and the first to say yes gets it, but again have a low limit and pass it in if needbe
This is an interesting way of auction indeed.
But then there would be no auctioneers needed. They wouldn't do it like that as it won't create a sense of urgency and catch overpriced bids from bidders giving into emotions.
Well it's true the advice please be patient and wait one two three years, but your saving after 3 years from now may be not enough anymore to pay deposit. House prices increase way faster than salary and saving rate.
depends on your current salary level and spending.
if you're single with over 80k pa and unlocked ozbargain level 99 lifestyle,
it's worth saving and wait for the downturn.
but if it's a couple that stupidly pay rents $800pw while enjoying avo toast, then no.
if you're single with over 80k pa
Won't last long girls will chase you hard
…. Downturn, what does that mean? I waited so long I had to move out to rural NSW as it's the only place one can afford on a government wage.
Flipside is that life is slower and simpler, which meets my needs ☺
@nrg2010: agree. Year by year everybody said just wait it will go down but never happen. When it happens it means global meltdown crash, everybody afraid to spend and panic. Then price starts go to up again, and people says ok let's wait…
Only the gold diggers.
@dragonindespair: Real Estate and the Stock Market- the two markets where no one wants to buy when everything is on sale
Only if girls know about it, which they probably won't if they see you with your woolies phone and ozbargain t-shirt.
Where these girls at…
Meanwhile… Avocados are $2 at Coles online, no way, that's cheap - https://shop.coles.com.au/a/a-national/product/avocado-hass
I have always thought spending 6 months just getting a feel for the market and doing your research before you buy is a smart thing to do. So you aren't doing too bad by that standard.
If you are getting outbid constantly it is clear you will need to lower your target price range or increase your budget for the current market. Or wait for things to cool down?
Try not to look during peak times like December January when prices generally spike.
I avoid auctions generally. Too many variables and emotions to screw you over.
Deceased estates or similar can be a great bargain.
Like others have said. Be patient. Your 8 months has given you that much more experience and knowledge. You definitely want to avoid buying something you weren't prepared for.
thanks for your reassurance. really appreciate it =) I think my budgeted range is reasonable, I think my tactics are not as disciplined as they should be, for e.g. people outbidding me the night after agent said yes..
thanks for the December / jan tips and auctions - yes I always do pre-auction offers now.
where can I find deceased estates? dun think I've come across many?
mmm I wonder sometimes, is there a community / house hunting group or some sort? at least this way I can bounce ideas of each other like you guys =D
thanks heaps!
No problem. I hate it too but it's a good way to invest in something tangible. It's one of those things you must do to reap the benefits later. I find things like stocks/shares difficult.
There is a register for deceased estates that you can google. I haven't bothered with it in a while. There are also bank-associated sales where the owner defaults. It's mostly luck and asking the agents if they've got any going - usually such things go to them or their friends/family first.
It's also good to bring somebody along to share in the pain with you. That way you only have to bear half of it a weekend at a time! Good luck!
thanks will check them out! really appreciate your help :)
is there a community / house hunting group or some sort?
Why would you want to discuss tactics with your competition?!
inspections every weekend - Well do you want to inspect a house before buying?
covering only a very small area - What does this mean? If its a small area you are looking at , doesn't it mean its easy and less travelling?
trying to put a bid in gets outbidded last minute - This is partially on you, if you have been outbidded for 8 months consistently, then perhaps your budget is not up to the locations you are after. You cannot controll other buyers but you can control where you look.
repeat next week - Its no different to dating, looking for equities…you keep looking until you find the right one.
Dating, sometimes you get some bonuses.
Yeah bonus points on ur amex card after you pay for the $20 for 2 small coffees n a old cheese cake
Now reduced points after the July 1 changes .. :)
lol thanks for the dating analogy
I wonder what the record is for most pre-purchase building inspections on one house for one sale?
interesting thought, I would want to find out too =/
Yep, vote with your feet. I wouldn't take part in an auction for a house, because it's a system weighted heavily against me. And if, as so many others here have said, I happened to "win" the seller can still refuse to honour the winning bid.
You mean you didn't hit the reserve price?
We had a set budget and we're looking for the nicest property around our max mark.
We're constantly being outbid with the properties going significantly over reserve.
We changed our approach and decided let's look for a similar size property 40-50K cheaper in a poor state to rennovate.
Were able to quickly buy one that fit that criteria.
Come to Perth. You be spoiled for choice in here
wish they'd build hyperloop between east & west coast.
going to work daily from perth to sydney.
that would be a legit option =D
Nah. Wont ever happen, we cant even built a railway station from CBD to the Airport. (its been delayed and delayed and delayed)
On our rental house street, there is 11 houses for sale for at least 6 month or more. No one is buying because there is no jobs in Perth anymore. No matter what industry. Thats why you be spoiled for choice in here:)
what about government jobs there?
You do realise a Hyperloop would still take 3-4 hours, right?
Imagine the possibilities.
Not sure about you, but I find most inspections are useless because there is usually more than enough information online.
1) Street frontage and neighbourhood - Google street view
2) Location and proximity to shops/schools, transport option - Google search and maps
3) Internal - Layout and photos, I find the floor plan the most helpful of all
4) Price guide - https://nabpropertyinsights.com.au/form.php or Domain Home Price Guide, then email the agent about their price guide
This should narrow your number of inspections significantly.
Secondly, the most expensive problems are usually hidden from view at an inspection, i.e. mould, termites, rotting timber, structural, so most people aren't even inspecting properly. Hence why you need a building report. I find too many people are focused on the cosmetic and superficial issues (i.e. paint, wardrobes, toilet and kitchen) which can be quite deceiving and are easily rectified.
Lastly, I believe inspections are to try to make buyers emotionally attached to a house/unit and therefore irrationally increase the amount that they are willing to pay preauction or at the time of an auction.
absolutely… attachment exponentially increases the more house I inspect and got outbid
You want to commit to hundreds of thousands dollars (these days over a million) and buy a home without inspecting it in person?
I definitely agree though people can get caught too easily with these issues, and because of "politeness" we can't go digging that hard (you know, flicking all the switches, looking behind appliances, etc.) and with the selling rate so far there's no reason for a vendor to offer a conditional contract.
(At least in Victoria)
I'm not saying no inspection at all. I'm saying you can definitely limit the number of inspections you do and beware of the limitations of them.
Don't just inspect a house because it was advertised on domain/real estate and it fits your search criteria.
The thing I've learned when I was looking, is to push your budget so you can buy it now. This will save you a lot of time & money, especially if you have found the place you like.
You think paying XX thousands more for a place isn't worth it, then you continue looking for the next 8-12 months and before you know it, properties have increased by the amount you didn't want to pay and you are still in the same boat. Just pay the extra now and secure the place you want.
Precisely what i did. Paid probably 50k over market value for a house i really wanted. 2.5 years later it's worth 40% more. Glad I didn't wait. Plus I really couldn't be arsed listening to agent and auctioneer bs week in week out for months. It's soul destroying.
it took me 9 months to get my property. when it a seller market, you going to have a hard time.
I had to be ready to sign on the day, deposit in hand and overbid. Got chummy with the realtors so eventually I knew how high I had to go to secure it.
Looking back, the extra 5-10K to save all those months would have been worth it. Should have done it from the start.
You think you got Chummy with the agent but really the agent got chummy with you - as some general advice dont talk to the agent if you want to buy a property except for the bare essentials ie section 32 - they are trying to sell properties not help you out there are probably the biggest scum of a profession they will lie and BS there way to make a dollar
So true. Agents are not your friends they are there too "lubricate" a sale and they are paid by the sellers to increase the price as much as they can, which it appears they have done successfully.
Also another thing to consider, the heindsight is a wonderful thing when you overpay for a property and the market rises. Thing is the markets not always going to rise, many would argue the initial signs of slowing/falling prices are upon us. Let me assure it, it's going to really hurt when you overpay and then 6 months later prices stagnate and 18months later they actually begin to fall.
You do realise when it a seller market, agents don't even pick up their phones cause they going to sell properties no issue. They mostly get 3 percent of the sale as commission. So the extra 10K you pay is only gong to equate 300 dollars. They rather close the sale and sell at volume.
Ok lets break down the extra 10K value over the 9 month period.
For 9 months, every Thursday you will have to look at all listing, call/email agents to ask questions and grab all contracts to review.
Friday, you will review and short list 2-3 properties to look on Saturday. Saturday you go spend half day looking and bidding.
So for one week , you burn 1.5 days. For 9 months that equals to 48 days. If you paid an approximately 200 dollars a day. That 9.6K.
If I didn't pay extra, i probably still be looking at properties and losing them cause i am not the highest bidder, which is technically the market rate of the property at the time.
That fair enough and completely irreverent to my comment - weather it turned out you got a good deal or not is hind sight at the time the agent had you believing you had a relationship that would benefit you when in reality it is usually the other way around
You just came in and generalised, replying to my experience. So I explain the situation during my experience, to show the reasons of getting chummy with the real estate agent.
stay in there, maybe up your offer a bit to increase your chances. Normally ppl pay a little more for their PPOR. what seems expensive now, will look cheap in a few years time.
I've just bought a place and it was indeed frustrating. The worst part is dealing with slimey agents day in day out. the amount of agents that uttered the words 'were not all bad' and then went on to behave like a dog was astounding.
We were probably searching slightly above what we could afford but lowering our expectation meant buying an apartment not fit to live in. I've lived in developing countries with better built apartment's. The older apartments are much a better. we got a place but we paid a lot more than we initially planned.
Funny thing was we saw the same people for months and months looking at places. They were obviously all first home buyers who couldn't win. The winners were always invisible. Buyers agents on phones etc. The saddest part is the fake advertised prices.we always added 10% to the advertised price but some of them went for 30% or more … So a whole lot of wasted time.
I laughed imagining all the agents saying 'were not all bad'.
My wife and I spent 2 years looking in Melbourne and we're in a late 30's with 2 kids in the car, who had to wait patiently as our weekends were eaten up going to auctions, inspections, etc. It was tiring, we were sick of the process, but eventually our luck came and we got something that suited us in our range. But I'm not going to lie, it's going to take time, and I wouldn't be waiting around for a bubble in my opinion … we did that between 2011-2013 and it cost us dearly. If you can buy now, buy now.
I found listening to The Property Couch podcast to be very beneficial.
It really depends on what areas you're looking at and how strict you are with your parameters.
I've purchased a property in the past 12 months.
I was already familiar with the area we were looking at since I lived one suburb away for 20+ years.
Spent about 6 months just occasionally browsing auction results and seeing what things were selling for while waiting for the winter period where the market softens. It then took my wife and I 12 weeks of hitting the pavement before we found a place. We were out every Saturday morning from 8am-3pm. I had an excel spreadsheet with target properties we would visit each week and time slots to try and fit in as many as possible. Would visit a bunch of properties to inspect and then auctions after- some that we weren't even interested in buying really but purely to get a feel for the area and see what they would sell for. I also setup a massive tracking spreadsheet with data from the past 6 months and including parameters like $K per: land size, build size, rooms, bedrooms etc. I knew exactly what was a fair and reasonable price.
In the 12 weeks we inspected ~50 properties across 4 suburbs. We went to ~20 auctions. Only about 25% of those auctions at the time sold - a lot of these were brand new town house builds that were under quoted e.g. 500-550 list price getting passed in with an offer of 600K - no sale. There were also a lot that were over quoted that they would then sell private sale and make it seem like buyer got a good deal. A lot of the auctions we went to couldn't even get an opening bid. Just this past weekend a townhouse down the street from us was passed in. It's listed 800-880. A fair and reasonable price would be about $750-775K.
My advice to you would be be clear about your budget (and your stretch) and the parameters you're looking for. Have your finances already pre-approved.
e.g. Ours were:
3 bedrooms
2 bathrooms
within 1km from a train station
within 1km from a primary school
budget = 550-650K. Maximum stretch of $700K
Get to know the market. If you know the market you won't waste your time going to things outside of your budget. This website (http://house.ksou.cn/) is fantastic for finding previous sale prices and details about properties.
Try not to be too picky but you also don't want to be compromising too much. This will most likely be your home for the next 8+ years so you need to be comfortable with it.
Know how to negotiate with real estate agents and private offers are the way to go. Auctions are a disaster if you want a fair and reasonable price. Even if a property is going to auction that you are interested in - put a solid private offer on the table 10-20 days earlier and try your luck. Don't be afraid to go in quite low. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Hi,
great info.
any chance i can take a look at your spreadsheet?
I dont know where you are looking in but im going to assuming Sydney or Melbourne
It is only inefficient because you are trying to find a bargain or get good value for money which in this market doesnt exist.
People are not idiots everyone wants more then their property is worth if you dont want to pay the money you need to lower your expectations.
If you want my advice over-paying for property is the new 'good value' (because of how quickly prices are raising) don't listen to people who say it is going to crash they are usually people who dont have property (like people who are poor that say rich people arent happy it is to make themselves feel better about there insecurity) and are hoping against hope that is will miraculously become affordable again - even though there is Zero evidence of the property market slowing.
The truth is i've seen it in so many 1st home buyers your expectations are really high and you think you are smarter then seasoned investors (even though you're clueless) and can find a good value property at a unbelievable price - Well I'm going to tell you something it doesn't happen if you were the Vendor you would be chasing maximal bang for you buck it is a sellers market it always will be in those two major cities dont expect it to change.
The whole system is set up to lure potential buyers in, get them to compete with each other, push them to their financial limits and get them to pay way more than the house is worth.
Personally, after realising this, I refused to participate in this scam and went for a property that wasn't going to auction. Specifically asked if the advertised price was actually close to what they were after and offered it. Took me 4 weeks to find one.
Though this was after making an unconditional offer on another house, about 20k over the advertised price, I was in no chain, could have settled in 4 weeks, which was rejected as they wanted to take it to auction. It sold at auction….. For 30k less than I offered!
Given what you have done so far, it seems you must have a good feeling for the market. The reality is though that you can't be too fussy - you are unlikely to find your prefect house (and even if you do find it there will always be someone willing to pay more than it is worth). Take the emotion out of it - go to lots of auctions and be prepared to buy on the spot if you see a good buy.
I went through the same as you 15 years ago when I bought my first house. In the end we just started going to lots of auctions and bidding, and ended up buying a house we had only once briefly seen once 3 weeks before, but it was raining hard and there was hardly anyone at the auction.
I know many people who have been spent many years looking for the prefect house or "waiting for the crash" (one for more than 10 years), in which time prices have continued to climb
Agree with you. We went to so many open inspection/auctions. It also happened that there were perfect houses but were out of our reach and there were people who were paying more than what we wanted to. So at the end, we bought house which we inspected only once and was not perfect one but it was good enough and ticking most of the boxes. But yes we searched houses for 1.5 year and when we bought it finally, we felt that we should have bought it an year back with $10K-15k on top of asking price. But you learn this with each auction. But i would advise that buy if its ticking say 75% of all your boxes.
What techniques / strategies do you employ when you were buying your house / unit to make the process better?
Clearly, you're bidding at your maximum. Lower your price point, so you won't be 'out bided' all the time.
I did this not too long ago.
For 6 months went to auctions of houses we liked, didn't bid, but the houses always went way beyond what we wanted to spend. I enjoyed the process, was a fun adventure.
We had a max budget, and worked around that.
We found a house we liked, and put in an offer before it went to auction. 4 other people were making offers for the same property, eventually gave my last offer and got the house.
It was tough, because we were lucky no one put a higher offer in after ours. Also worked out if the house was worth the offer as well, if not, back out.
My advice is to find a house you like and put in an offer before it goes to auction. Don't play games for the house you want. If you want it, go for it if it's within budget and it's likely to grow in value.
It's not just you, the process is incredibly inefficient.
It would be way easier if the listings had 3D walkthroughs, unbiased detailed building reports, plans, approvals, etc.
I can get better information from an AliExpress listing selling $1 electronic parts than I can for a $1M house, it's stupid.
Yes. It's a bunch of liars. Real estate agents are such parasites sucking our dosh whenever they have chances.
So you would be happy to buy a $1M house sight unseen with no buyer protection like aliexpress. Nice…… :/
Ali has buyer protection, and thousands of people do buy unseen properties (off the plan apartments?), but no, I never said that.
It would help save my time by being able to narrow down the choices, then driving out to a smaller set of properties.
Well, most listings have photos, so can narrow down your choices pretty fast!
Buying off the plan normally comes with many many many renders of the final outcome, and do come with builders insurance and they do sit down with you and show you many mock ups.
The real issue is people looking at places they can't afford and then getting 'out bided', and repeating the cycle. AFter 8 months of being out bided, wouldn't you lower your price range a bit?
@JimmyF: Yeah, they have photos, but they're edited and they only show what they want. Often omitting entire rooms, and rarely providing more than one angle within a room. I have seen one listing with an interactive 3D thing, it was really good, not sure why it's not the norm.
Price range, as OP said, is a joke. The agent just quotes some random number, sale price usually ends up being much higher, if you can find it (many recent sales seem to say "price withheld").
Would this be acceptable in any other marketplace? Imagine if the ASX listed shares as "price on application" and "sale price withheld", no one would buy Aussie shares! (To continue the analogy, you'd have to spend your own money hiring an accountant to audit the financials of the company, the annual reports would not be published, etc)
Agreed that after 8 months being outbid you need to look in a shittier area or "get a good job paying good money" as suggested by Mr Hockey ;)
@abb:
Price range, as OP said, is a joke. The agent just quotes some random number, sale price usually ends up being much higher, if you can find it (many recent sales seem to say "price withheld").
Nothing new here though. Decades ago when I was house hunting, it was the same back then. Every generation thinks it's a 'new' thing for just them!
Shock, it was the same for me back then as well. So if its quoted as $300k+ and your budget is $300k. You know its a waste of time even looking!
OP needs to look as a lower grade suburb, a smaller place or one in a slightly less finish than they are currently looking at. As after 8 months, you're just flogging a dead horse.
So if its quoted as $300k+ and your budget is $300k. You know its a waste of time even looking!
I think the problem is more like the range is quoted as $1 - $1.1M and they laugh in your face at any offer below $1.2M — imagine if you walked into Harvey Norman to buy a TV advertised at $800 and then they told you it was now $1000…
Decades ago when I was house hunting, it was the same back then. Every generation thinks it's a 'new' thing for just them!
I never claimed it was new (I've only been looking recently so that's the extent of my knowledge), but this is a poor argument.
"Things used to be shit, therefore it's OK that they continue to be shit" ?
@abb: > I never claimed it was new
Never said you did, just saying its not a new thing. People shouldn't be shocked by it, but always are!
"Things used to be shit, therefore it's OK that they continue to be shit" ?
At least you know they didn't turn to shit just for you then ;)
Been there, done that.. so understand what the OP (and many others are/had) gone through.
Took us about 3 months of intense searching, and was somewhat lucky to have won a recent auction of a house we really liked.
We almost won a previous auction, but got outbidded by another bidder who waited patiently and out of sight till the property "was on the market". In hind sight, it was a blessing as the house had issues (from the inspection) and we were bidding with our heart, not our head.
Long story short.. (some my tips, based on experience.. but may vary):
a) building + pest inspection are important if the property is located on an uneven landscape or termite prone area (read Section 32)
b) bid alone (keep partner- unless he/she calls the shots, kids out of sight) - less pressure from Agents
c) wait patiently.. if there are no bidders, don't worry. The property would not be passed in without a few Vendor bids
d) stick to your budget; if you haven't put in your bid and the price is close to your limit and not yet reserve, I would not bother.. chances are, there are bidders (With deeper pockets) waiting for the property to "be on the market"
play some csi with your friends at inspections
Lower your expectations - try the next suburb along or a smaller house (i.e. townhouse). When we bought, the house we wanted went for $60k over what we could afford. We walked 500m up the road to the next auction in the next suburb and got our home within our price range. Think about where you're buying in terms of zones, not roads i.e. if prices are super high beneath one road but lower over it, buy just over it and watch the house prices shoot up in that area a year later. We did this last year after 10 years of trying and failing to buy in Sydney (where people care less about boundary roads), we moved to Melbourne and found the hipster fence much stronger down here but we didn't care and it worked out. For us it came down to a choice of townhouse in our desired suburb vs big block and a backyard in the less desired suburb which was the next one along, we chose the latter.
Secondly, bid in $10k increments, it freaks people out. Even if you're about to hit your limit, just bid in $10k increments up to your limit and keep a straight face. Forget about the $1k and $2k business, someone will just swoop in over it. If you bid up to your limit and you get outpriced, it was always going to happen. If people are dithering with their $1 and $2k and you bump it up $10k, you've knocked those competitors out and they're less likely to keep trying to push past their own limit.
Finally, listen to the Property Couch podcast - it's free and really really really helpful. It changed my thinking about buying for the better.
totally with you… =/ the 10am-12pm thing is a killer.
wow i would love to have agents drive me around to check out places =/
some days i split the inspections with my friend just to check out more places…
maybe I should hire a buyers agent haha..