Inspecting properties

Your sales consultant will show you those properties that best fit your requirements. This will be at times to suit you and the owner of the property.

You will be kept informed of all changes relating to the properties you have viewed and you will be advised of new properties as they come on the market. Talk to your sales consultant about how you want to receive new property information i.e. via email, text or phone call.

Inspections of properties take time. We recommend you do not rush or disregard too quickly. Try not to judge a property from the outside only. Some properties have little or no street appeal, but have much to offer inside. An inspection will confirm your first impression or will pleasantly surprise you.

When you find a property that interests you, let your consultant know straight away. Even if you are not yet ready to make an offer your sales consultant will need to register your interest, especially where another consultant or agency is involved.

When the right property presents itself be prepared to make an offer. We will encourage you to do so as many people have found their perfect home and missed it because they didn’t take the opportunity when it was available to them.

Open For Inspections

Many sellers open their homes to group viewing during the marketing of their property. Open Home times will be advertised in the property advertisements.

It is normal practice for the consultant to meet you at the door to register your name and contact details. You will then be free to inspect the property at your leisure. The sales consultant will always be available to answer any questions and provide information on the property or area.

If you have a consultant working with you, ring them when you see an Open Home advertised and they can arrange an introduction or escort you through. After the Open Home the sales consultant will ask for your feedback on the property.

Writing up the Contract

When you are ready to write up a contract, the next step is to decide on the price you wish to offer the seller and under what conditions you wish to make the offer.

Common conditions of sale are: subject to finance, a builder’s report, sale of another property, solicitor’s approval of the contract or specialist inspection or approval.

You will be provided with details of relevant sales in the area and advised of any price guidelines that are available for the property.

The offer will be prepared on a standard approved contract and you will be asked to sign the required number of copies. Once this process has been completed your sales consultant will check whether any other interested parties are putting in an offer. If this is the case then you will be kept fully informed (see information on ‘Multiple Offers’ in the next section).

The seller can accept your offer, reject it or counter sign it. Counter signing usually occurs when the seller is not satisfied with the price offered and/or conditions included and subsequently alters them. The contract will be brought back to you for your consideration. If you accept, you initial the seller’s alteration and the property is under offer to you subject to any conditions that the contract may contain. Alternatively you also have the right to counter sign. Your sales consultant will continue negotiations between you and the seller until you are both in agreement.

 

The dangers of offering too low

Once they find the property they wish to purchase many buyers are tempted to “start low” with their offer.

We understand, but would not be giving you complete service if we did not warn you of what can happen.

• 1. The seller could feel insulted, and become difficult to negotiate with from then on.
• 2. The seller may think you are a bargain hunter “having a go” without serious intention to buy and dismiss your offer altogether.

If you are serious about purchasing the property it is wise to make a genuine offer that reflects your serious intentions and appreciation of the true value of the seller’s home.

 

 

Common conditions of sale

Along with the standard terms of the contract both buyers and sellers are able to insert further terms and conditions of sale.

When writing in any special condition the key parts are who is going to do it; what are they going to do; when are they going to do it by; what standards will apply; what happens if it is not satisfied and who can waive it.

Once an inserted condition has been satisfied notice will be provided to the other party usually by the solicitors involved.

A condition can be either satisfied or waived. If you have inserted a condition but it has not been met by the required date you can choose to waive that condition. If the condition is neither satisfied nor waived then the agreement will be terminated and any deposit paid by you shall be immediately refunded.

Some common conditions of sale are:

• Conditional on sale of purchaser’s property
• Conditional on sale of purchaser’s property becoming unconditional

Inserting these clauses allows you to sell your property before purchasing. Use the appropriate clause to allow you time to sell your property or for an existing contract of sale to become unconditional in all respects.

 

 

Expiry of Prior Agreement / Back up Clause

Insert this clause in your contract when the property you are making an offer on is already under contract for sale subject to a conditional agreement.

By securing a signed back up offer this means that if the first conditional contract on the property does not go ahead the seller cannot grant any extensions to the first buyer and your contract will take immediate effect.

If you have a back up offer on a property it is important that you take that into consideration when looking at other properties so that you don’t enter into two different contracts.

• Conditional upon Finance
• Conditional upon obtaining Solicitor’s Approval of the Contract
• Conditional upon obtaining a Builder’s Report

Each of these conditions should be clearly worded and the dates for confirmation made clear.