Welcome to the Friends with Money podcast, brought to you by Money Magazine, creating financial freedom for Australians since nineteen ninety nine.

Welcome to the Friends with Money podcast, brought to you by Money Magazine, creating financial freedom for Australians since nineteen ninety nine.

Hello and thanks for joining us for another episode of Friends with Money, money Magazines podcast to help you earn, save, and achieve your financial goals. My name is Tom Watson, a senior journalist here at Money Magazine, and as always, it is a pleasure to be with you all. Buying a property is not an easy process, and to be fair, most people probably don't expect it to be. It's time consuming, you know, trawling through listings on domain and real estate during the week, plus you know, attending open homes on Saturday and Sunday. That can all take up a decent chunk of time, and then it can also be emotionally draining. Finding the right property itself is hard enough, but then you'll probably be in the position where you need to beat out other in trusted parties in order to secure it, which might not happen, so you've got to tank that setback in your stride. Definitely haven't done this myself recently anyway. That's all to say that it can be a lot. What people might not know though, is that there are actually professionals out there who can help with the buying process, and not just for investment properties, also for own occupier homes as well. These are called buyers agents. Some today's episode, we are going to run through all the various things that buyas agents can and can't do to help buyers, how much they will typically charge for their services, what to look for and avoid in a buyer's agent, and we'll finish off with some tips for budding buyers and to do all that. I am very pleased to say that we are joined today by Michelle May, the founder and principal buyas Agent and Michelle May buyas Agents. Michelle, welcome to Friends with Money.

Hello and thanks for joining us for another episode of Friends with Money, money Magazines podcast to help you earn, save, and achieve your financial goals. My name is Tom Watson, a senior journalist here at Money Magazine, and as always, it is a pleasure to be with you all. Buying a property is not an easy process, and to be fair, most people probably don't expect it to be. It's time consuming, you know, trawling through listings on domain and real estate during the week, plus you know, attending open homes on Saturday and Sunday. That can all take up a decent chunk of time, and then it can also be emotionally draining. Finding the right property itself is hard enough, but then you'll probably be in the position where you need to beat out other in trusted parties in order to secure it, which might not happen, so you've got to tank that setback in your stride. Definitely haven't done this myself recently anyway. That's all to say that it can be a lot. What people might not know though, is that there are actually professionals out there who can help with the buying process, and not just for investment properties, also for own occupier homes as well. These are called buyers agents. Some today's episode, we are going to run through all the various things that buyas agents can and can't do to help buyers, how much they will typically charge for their services, what to look for and avoid in a buyer's agent, and we'll finish off with some tips for budding buyers and to do all that. I am very pleased to say that we are joined today by Michelle May, the founder and principal buyas Agent and Michelle May buyas Agents. Michelle, welcome to Friends with Money.

Hello, what an introduct that was amazing. I hope I.

Hello, what an introduct that was amazing. I hope I.

Set the scene for our chats today. Well enough, Michelle, but fantastic. I guess we'll see.

Set the scene for our chats today. Well enough, Michelle, but fantastic. I guess we'll see.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I hope I can deliver. I mean I'm under the pump now.

Well, I hope I can deliver. I mean I'm under the pump now.

Oh, definitely definitely pressures on Michelle before we jump into some of the other questions today, I think it'd be great to focus on you for a second. So how long have you been working as a bias agent? You know, where is your agency base and what sort of buyers do you kind of typically work with.

Oh, definitely definitely pressures on Michelle before we jump into some of the other questions today, I think it'd be great to focus on you for a second. So how long have you been working as a bias agent? You know, where is your agency base and what sort of buyers do you kind of typically work with.

Yeah, so I've been a buyer's agent since two thousand and eight, which you know, it's a fair while now. I was probably one of the OG virus agents in Australia. I was very lucky to get an apprenticeship with really the true Ogs in Brisbane. When I first moved to Australia, I knocked on the door and said, please give me a job. I was an apprentice really for a year and obviously getting my license, et cetera, and I worked for other agencies before setting up my own agency seven years go. Now we focus on the Sydney metropolitan area and we have found that we are now venturing. You know, usually our cut off was in a west of Sydney, but as buyer demand has you know, grown, we're now doing Saint George River area as well a little bit of the suthern Shire Eastern suburbs and not sure but my team and I service those areas. Besides that, I also have a podcast called the Buyer Side Podcast, which is aimed at really educating those people that are new to buying, you know, talking about really practical things like looking at what do you need to look for in a strata report. When an agent says this, what do they actually mean? How to get ready for auction? All that kind of stuff. So they're short, sharp episodes that hopefully will bring a lot of value to those unassisted buyers out there.

Yeah, so I've been a buyer's agent since two thousand and eight, which you know, it's a fair while now. I was probably one of the OG virus agents in Australia. I was very lucky to get an apprenticeship with really the true Ogs in Brisbane. When I first moved to Australia, I knocked on the door and said, please give me a job. I was an apprentice really for a year and obviously getting my license, et cetera, and I worked for other agencies before setting up my own agency seven years go. Now we focus on the Sydney metropolitan area and we have found that we are now venturing. You know, usually our cut off was in a west of Sydney, but as buyer demand has you know, grown, we're now doing Saint George River area as well a little bit of the suthern Shire Eastern suburbs and not sure but my team and I service those areas. Besides that, I also have a podcast called the Buyer Side Podcast, which is aimed at really educating those people that are new to buying, you know, talking about really practical things like looking at what do you need to look for in a strata report. When an agent says this, what do they actually mean? How to get ready for auction? All that kind of stuff. So they're short, sharp episodes that hopefully will bring a lot of value to those unassisted buyers out there.

Sounds fantastic and I would definitely recommend if anyone else would like to go and check that out, especially, as you said, Michelle, for people who were just about to end of the market for the first time. Because as someone who has just done that, as the painful intro or the pain of my voice in the intro might have indicated, it is a process, I will say that, and that is.

Sounds fantastic and I would definitely recommend if anyone else would like to go and check that out, especially, as you said, Michelle, for people who were just about to end of the market for the first time. Because as someone who has just done that, as the painful intro or the pain of my voice in the intro might have indicated, it is a process, I will say that, and that is.

All I is a journey. And to answer your question of who do we look after, I think there's a little bit of a myth that using a bar's agent is only for the wealthy and famous and rich and famous. In fact, we work with a lot of first home buyers and I actually think that taking that first step on the property ladder is the most important one because if you buy dud, that really can really change the whole future of your property journey. You know, just to think about all those new apartments or that have been built in the last twenty years, the build quality is not the same as before, and so young buyers, you know, fresh buyers will fall for the traps of the new kitchen and the en suite and all that kind of stuff without really understanding the risks that are present in the strat report and the build quality and the running of the building, for example. So we actually really love working with those buyers because we add so much value to the journey as well as people who have bought numerous times. We do do have the rich and famous who remain anonymous, but we also you know, across the board, we service a range of different clients.

All I is a journey. And to answer your question of who do we look after, I think there's a little bit of a myth that using a bar's agent is only for the wealthy and famous and rich and famous. In fact, we work with a lot of first home buyers and I actually think that taking that first step on the property ladder is the most important one because if you buy dud, that really can really change the whole future of your property journey. You know, just to think about all those new apartments or that have been built in the last twenty years, the build quality is not the same as before, and so young buyers, you know, fresh buyers will fall for the traps of the new kitchen and the en suite and all that kind of stuff without really understanding the risks that are present in the strat report and the build quality and the running of the building, for example. So we actually really love working with those buyers because we add so much value to the journey as well as people who have bought numerous times. We do do have the rich and famous who remain anonymous, but we also you know, across the board, we service a range of different clients.

I was about to ask you for names, but I guess that's not going.

I was about to ask you for names, but I guess that's not going.

To happen the sealed.

To happen the sealed.

Fair enough. Fair enough, you've already given us a little bit of a taste of what a bias agent does there than Michelle, But can we just start with the basics and get you to kind of expand on that. So what do buias agents do? And to be really clear, we are definitely not talking about the kind of selling agents that people probably might be more familiar with.

Fair enough. Fair enough, you've already given us a little bit of a taste of what a bias agent does there than Michelle, But can we just start with the basics and get you to kind of expand on that. So what do buias agents do? And to be really clear, we are definitely not talking about the kind of selling agents that people probably might be more familiar with.

Right, So a sales agent represents the vendor. A true bias agent because I know there are people out there that are dipping in both pools. A true bias agent will only ever represent the buyer. So I am working in the best interest of my client, the buyer, and I will always look out, you know, at the transaction. From that perspective, I'm protecting their rights. I'm protecting, you know, the quality of the property that they buy, the risks, the pitfalls, and through an enormous amount of due diligence. So a buyer's agent typically will offer different kinds of services that will go from anywhere from just auction bidding, so being the hired hand on the day if you're simply too nervous, you know, and I'm not familiar with in the auction process, and they can come in and they will represent you on the day and put their hand up and help you, you know, signing the contract, et cetera, to you finding a property, and then they come in and do the whole evaluation process and then help you decide a strategy whether to either go to auction or try and buy prior. That's when you have found the property yourself as the buyer. But then there's also the fully comprehensive search which is where. You know, you give us a brief and a budget, you know, an outline of what it is you're looking for where, and then we take that and run with it. So we do all the legwork for you. You know, that means uncovering off markets, pre markets, doing all the inspections, giving you you know, a video photos, an outline of the positives and negatives, and then we do all our due diligence. So that means comprehensive price evaluation, looking at you know, the pitfalls that could be detrimental to your enjoyment of living there or also the future value of the property, So think about things like infrastructure projects, development applications, rezoning, flooding, bushfire, you know, all that kind of stuff. We really take a real comprehensive look at the property and then give you an advice as to you know, you should or should not proceed and at what level price point would be a reasonable level to go forward. And then we also you know, devise a strategy with you know, the agent in mind, the vendors in mind, the market conditions and go, okay, well we need to move fast here because of X, Y Z or you know, we're better off waiting to auction and then snapping it up at auction, and that that process keeps repeating itself until you purchase, and that could be you know, a couple of weeks, it could be a couple of months, depending on you know, the type I guess, the specificity of the brief, but also market conditions, you know, things like that, because obviously, you know, you never know when the right property may may come on the market for you.

Right, So a sales agent represents the vendor. A true bias agent because I know there are people out there that are dipping in both pools. A true bias agent will only ever represent the buyer. So I am working in the best interest of my client, the buyer, and I will always look out, you know, at the transaction. From that perspective, I'm protecting their rights. I'm protecting, you know, the quality of the property that they buy, the risks, the pitfalls, and through an enormous amount of due diligence. So a buyer's agent typically will offer different kinds of services that will go from anywhere from just auction bidding, so being the hired hand on the day if you're simply too nervous, you know, and I'm not familiar with in the auction process, and they can come in and they will represent you on the day and put their hand up and help you, you know, signing the contract, et cetera, to you finding a property, and then they come in and do the whole evaluation process and then help you decide a strategy whether to either go to auction or try and buy prior. That's when you have found the property yourself as the buyer. But then there's also the fully comprehensive search which is where. You know, you give us a brief and a budget, you know, an outline of what it is you're looking for where, and then we take that and run with it. So we do all the legwork for you. You know, that means uncovering off markets, pre markets, doing all the inspections, giving you you know, a video photos, an outline of the positives and negatives, and then we do all our due diligence. So that means comprehensive price evaluation, looking at you know, the pitfalls that could be detrimental to your enjoyment of living there or also the future value of the property, So think about things like infrastructure projects, development applications, rezoning, flooding, bushfire, you know, all that kind of stuff. We really take a real comprehensive look at the property and then give you an advice as to you know, you should or should not proceed and at what level price point would be a reasonable level to go forward. And then we also you know, devise a strategy with you know, the agent in mind, the vendors in mind, the market conditions and go, okay, well we need to move fast here because of X, Y Z or you know, we're better off waiting to auction and then snapping it up at auction, and that that process keeps repeating itself until you purchase, and that could be you know, a couple of weeks, it could be a couple of months, depending on you know, the type I guess, the specificity of the brief, but also market conditions, you know, things like that, because obviously, you know, you never know when the right property may may come on the market for you.

Michelle I said that that was an excellent, excellent kind of run through of the various services that you can provide. So I think that's so helpful. One of the points I want to pick up on that you mentioned there, and this is someone that's always interested me when I've written about bias agents in the past, is this concept of off market listings. What does that term actually mean? And do buyers agents, I guess, really have access to a you know, pool of properties that regular buyers don't.

Michelle I said that that was an excellent, excellent kind of run through of the various services that you can provide. So I think that's so helpful. One of the points I want to pick up on that you mentioned there, and this is someone that's always interested me when I've written about bias agents in the past, is this concept of off market listings. What does that term actually mean? And do buyers agents, I guess, really have access to a you know, pool of properties that regular buyers don't.

Yeah, we really do. But I think it's really important because obviously, like well, you know, my clients have been honing their skills and their chosen professions. You know, whether their doctors are working in office, their teachers, whatever the case may be, about which I have no clue. I have been buying property since the age of twenty two, and so I've been honing my skills and also you know, honing relationships with agents and you know, in the local area, I know exactly where to look for what, you know, who to talk to to uncover those off market opportunities. But I think it's really important for those that are listening to understand that the term off market, because it is is seen as something exclusive and oh there's less competition and I'm going to get my foot in the door. I'm going to get a better deal. There's a lot of misconceptions about that because there's it's actually now being used as a marketing tool by sales agents and by even domain for example, they have an off market portal, which the true meaning of an off market is of course that there has been no marketing done at all, and it's a transaction between one vendor and one buyer, you know, and they get a deal done as soon as there's any marketing involved. So as soon as you get an agent's email saying off market, it's been sent to everyone in their database people, which is thousands and thousands of people. So it is effectively just another open for inspection, and so strategically a lot of those agents will use the term off market for a two week period where they just use their database, okay, and if they can get a deal done in those two weeks, fantastic. Then the vendor hasn't spent the money on advertising, it on domain and real estate and all those other portals. But they've very often already done the photos, they're very often already done the styling, okay, so the ideas and that they get the premium that they want. Sometimes it is used also by the sales agent to condition the vendor because potentially the vendor has unrealistic expectations, right if they don't get the premium and then goes on the market. But don't forget that two week period. Every you know, everybody is a grandmother and their dog are coming through just like you are, because they also got the email. So there's that to take into consideration. The other thing is also to remember that an off market doesn't mean it's a better property. It still needs to go through the filter of due diligence, It still needs to stack up financially, it still needs to you know, make sure it's not in a flood plane, it's not on a major road. All those things, right, you still need to look at it and really take your time to ensure that you're not being sort of pulled in by the allure of it being an off market.

Yeah, we really do. But I think it's really important because obviously, like well, you know, my clients have been honing their skills and their chosen professions. You know, whether their doctors are working in office, their teachers, whatever the case may be, about which I have no clue. I have been buying property since the age of twenty two, and so I've been honing my skills and also you know, honing relationships with agents and you know, in the local area, I know exactly where to look for what, you know, who to talk to to uncover those off market opportunities. But I think it's really important for those that are listening to understand that the term off market, because it is is seen as something exclusive and oh there's less competition and I'm going to get my foot in the door. I'm going to get a better deal. There's a lot of misconceptions about that because there's it's actually now being used as a marketing tool by sales agents and by even domain for example, they have an off market portal, which the true meaning of an off market is of course that there has been no marketing done at all, and it's a transaction between one vendor and one buyer, you know, and they get a deal done as soon as there's any marketing involved. So as soon as you get an agent's email saying off market, it's been sent to everyone in their database people, which is thousands and thousands of people. So it is effectively just another open for inspection, and so strategically a lot of those agents will use the term off market for a two week period where they just use their database, okay, and if they can get a deal done in those two weeks, fantastic. Then the vendor hasn't spent the money on advertising, it on domain and real estate and all those other portals. But they've very often already done the photos, they're very often already done the styling, okay, so the ideas and that they get the premium that they want. Sometimes it is used also by the sales agent to condition the vendor because potentially the vendor has unrealistic expectations, right if they don't get the premium and then goes on the market. But don't forget that two week period. Every you know, everybody is a grandmother and their dog are coming through just like you are, because they also got the email. So there's that to take into consideration. The other thing is also to remember that an off market doesn't mean it's a better property. It still needs to go through the filter of due diligence, It still needs to stack up financially, it still needs to you know, make sure it's not in a flood plane, it's not on a major road. All those things, right, you still need to look at it and really take your time to ensure that you're not being sort of pulled in by the allure of it being an off market.

And where do you come across these off market properties, Michelle, Obviously the true ones, these connections that you already have in the areas that you're kind of you know, helping buyers buying, or where do they come from?

And where do you come across these off market properties, Michelle, Obviously the true ones, these connections that you already have in the areas that you're kind of you know, helping buyers buying, or where do they come from?

So they do come from sales agents. Also, don't don't forget that they do come from sales agents because as a bar's agent, I speak their language. I have qualified buyers, people who have pre approval in place, who are serious obviously about purchasing because they have engaged me and are paying for my services. So selling agents know this right. And there are some selling agents who predominantly work off market with bars agents only, so obviously I'm on speed deal with them. So as soon as I have a client with a brief, I will reach out to them and go, hey, what have you got? And don't forget the good selling agents they have been, you know, talking to owners over many many months, sometimes years, to say hey, are you ready? To sell. Oh I'm not ready yet. Okay, I'll get in touch with you in six months. So if they then have a bar's agent in front of them who has a client who's ready to act, they may then go, oh, actually I spoke to mister Johnson four months ago. Let me just call out to him and see whether he would be willing to show you through. So there's that aspect of it. I have been in my area in the Inno west of Sydney for quite a number of years now, so I have a local community and they all know that I'm a barer's agent, so you know, they will contact me directly and say, hey, I'm thinking of selling, have you got a client? All that kind of stuff. But also the marketing that we do, the social media, people know where we are. You're easy to find, so we have people from all over contacting us directly saying hey, I'm wanting to sell. I'm not necessarily wanting to use a sales agent. Have you got someone? So there's different avenues how I find them and how they come to us.

So they do come from sales agents. Also, don't don't forget that they do come from sales agents because as a bar's agent, I speak their language. I have qualified buyers, people who have pre approval in place, who are serious obviously about purchasing because they have engaged me and are paying for my services. So selling agents know this right. And there are some selling agents who predominantly work off market with bars agents only, so obviously I'm on speed deal with them. So as soon as I have a client with a brief, I will reach out to them and go, hey, what have you got? And don't forget the good selling agents they have been, you know, talking to owners over many many months, sometimes years, to say hey, are you ready? To sell. Oh I'm not ready yet. Okay, I'll get in touch with you in six months. So if they then have a bar's agent in front of them who has a client who's ready to act, they may then go, oh, actually I spoke to mister Johnson four months ago. Let me just call out to him and see whether he would be willing to show you through. So there's that aspect of it. I have been in my area in the Inno west of Sydney for quite a number of years now, so I have a local community and they all know that I'm a barer's agent, so you know, they will contact me directly and say, hey, I'm thinking of selling, have you got a client? All that kind of stuff. But also the marketing that we do, the social media, people know where we are. You're easy to find, so we have people from all over contacting us directly saying hey, I'm wanting to sell. I'm not necessarily wanting to use a sales agent. Have you got someone? So there's different avenues how I find them and how they come to us.

That's so interesting and as again as someone who just bought and didn't have access to that, it's fascinating that that that's out there, Mitchelle. Before we get into some buying tips, I've got two kind of fundamental questions left about buyers agents that I definitely want to run by you. And the first of these is how much should you know a prospective buyer you know, put away or how much should they expect it to pay for the service of a buyer's agent. And I assume that there's a bit of a spectrum involved in Yeah.

That's so interesting and as again as someone who just bought and didn't have access to that, it's fascinating that that that's out there, Mitchelle. Before we get into some buying tips, I've got two kind of fundamental questions left about buyers agents that I definitely want to run by you. And the first of these is how much should you know a prospective buyer you know, put away or how much should they expect it to pay for the service of a buyer's agent. And I assume that there's a bit of a spectrum involved in Yeah.

Look, there's three main ways on how buyers agents tend to charge. There is the fixed fee system, which is what we do, which I believe is the fairest. It is looking at your brief and your budget and looking at the complexity of the search and going okay, this is how much we're going to charge you. We do not have a time limit in our agency agreements because I do not believe that it's fair to put a ticking time clock above your head going you have to buy within three months. So for us, we only take on clients that we know we can actually help, and so we charge a fixed fee. And that sometimes does mean that for a first you know, a first home buy we bring so much education to the table, right which for us is more labor intensive. But we've got a baseline fee that we charge minimum for everybody. And then there are those BARS agents that will charge a tiered system, so depending on where your budget sits, the fee will be higher or lower. And then there is the percentage fee, which could be anywhere between one to two two and a half percent. Now to me, I think any BARS agents who charges that, I find it hard how they can justify this. I mean, to me, it's a complete conflict of interest because there's.

Look, there's three main ways on how buyers agents tend to charge. There is the fixed fee system, which is what we do, which I believe is the fairest. It is looking at your brief and your budget and looking at the complexity of the search and going okay, this is how much we're going to charge you. We do not have a time limit in our agency agreements because I do not believe that it's fair to put a ticking time clock above your head going you have to buy within three months. So for us, we only take on clients that we know we can actually help, and so we charge a fixed fee. And that sometimes does mean that for a first you know, a first home buy we bring so much education to the table, right which for us is more labor intensive. But we've got a baseline fee that we charge minimum for everybody. And then there are those BARS agents that will charge a tiered system, so depending on where your budget sits, the fee will be higher or lower. And then there is the percentage fee, which could be anywhere between one to two two and a half percent. Now to me, I think any BARS agents who charges that, I find it hard how they can justify this. I mean, to me, it's a complete conflict of interest because there's.

A percentage fee we're talking about right now.

A percentage fee we're talking about right now.

Yes, correct, I mean the more you pay as my client, the more I get paid. You certainly take away the incentive to negotiate hard when it's probably the most needed, right because why would you try for the last ten percent because you know it's actually cutting your income. So I would be I would be weary of of stepping into the barer's agency, you know, bolt with someone who does that. Same with the tiered system, because it would imply that the bigger your budget, the more I should get paid, which actually it's quite opposite. You know, Usually the opposite is true. The bigger budgets are usually easier to satisfy, and it's a different type of client as well. So yeah, those are typically the three different kinds of charging.

Yes, correct, I mean the more you pay as my client, the more I get paid. You certainly take away the incentive to negotiate hard when it's probably the most needed, right because why would you try for the last ten percent because you know it's actually cutting your income. So I would be I would be weary of of stepping into the barer's agency, you know, bolt with someone who does that. Same with the tiered system, because it would imply that the bigger your budget, the more I should get paid, which actually it's quite opposite. You know, Usually the opposite is true. The bigger budgets are usually easier to satisfy, and it's a different type of client as well. So yeah, those are typically the three different kinds of charging.

Makes a lot of sense, Michelle. We are fast running out of time today, but before I let you go, I really want to kind of tap into your experience and the knowledge that you have that you've accumulated over the past and trying to do the mess down two thousand and eight to twenty twenty four. What's that? Sixteen years?

Makes a lot of sense, Michelle. We are fast running out of time today, but before I let you go, I really want to kind of tap into your experience and the knowledge that you have that you've accumulated over the past and trying to do the mess down two thousand and eight to twenty twenty four. What's that? Sixteen years?

Don't say it out.

Don't say it out.

Loud, I know.

Loud, I know.

Sorry, sorry, So I guess on that note, do you have any tips for buyers about the buying process in general? I guess, especially as you've been talking about for people looking to enter the market for the first time.

Sorry, sorry, So I guess on that note, do you have any tips for buyers about the buying process in general? I guess, especially as you've been talking about for people looking to enter the market for the first time.

Yeah. Absolutely, Look it's not everyone starts it off all fun and games and they love going to inspections and it's you know, exciting. But and I get that. I understand that because it's you know, buying a property is a very emotional experience and it usually goes hand in hand with the life experience. You know, a new job, a new city, potentially baby, et cetera. And you get lured in by the pretty pictures and the salespiel and you know all that kind of stuff. So it's really important to take the emotion out of it initially and do your due diligence upfront. So make sure you go to a broker, get your finance approve before you start shopping around. Really, you can do your research before, but don't fall in love with something before you have your pre approval in place. I recommend looking at the soul section of the big portals and the agent's website as opposed to what is for sale, because you and I both know that guides can may or may not be accurate. Let's leave it at that, yes, So rather than getting lured in, go to the sold section and then put in say the address the area that you want to be in, and see and put in your max budget. Right, so say it's eight hundred whether you know five hundred two mil, and see what you could have bought in the last two to three months, because then you'll see a real pattern arriving right, you'll see it's our all two bedrooms. If it's a three better, it's on a really main road, you know, big busy road, So then you'll see, okay, I can actually only afford it two better. If you need a three better, do the map search and see where three betters are all falling within your budget, because then you can start your search with so much more focus rather than giving into that wishful thinking, which actually will work so against you because you'll get to a point where you've been, you know, let up garden paths. So you go to a couple of auctions, you miss out, you spend money on strata reports, you spend money on building a pest, and you never really had a chance in the first place. Then you get burnt out, you leave the market. You come back a couple of months later, the market has gone up, and in that time there was something you could have bought, but you didn't see it because you were over it, you know. So you really got to ensure that you don't get to that point, because the other risk is that you'll end up buying something that you never would have bought at the beginning of your search, but you're so over it you this will do. It's a little bit like the rebound boyfriend or girlfriend. You know, it's like, nah, this is never gonna this is not a good idea. So that's you don't want to do that with the property because obviously the costs are huge to get out. You know, you think of stamp duty's selling, moving, all that stress, so you got to get it right. So do that a little bit upfront. It'll help you.

Yeah. Absolutely, Look it's not everyone starts it off all fun and games and they love going to inspections and it's you know, exciting. But and I get that. I understand that because it's you know, buying a property is a very emotional experience and it usually goes hand in hand with the life experience. You know, a new job, a new city, potentially baby, et cetera. And you get lured in by the pretty pictures and the salespiel and you know all that kind of stuff. So it's really important to take the emotion out of it initially and do your due diligence upfront. So make sure you go to a broker, get your finance approve before you start shopping around. Really, you can do your research before, but don't fall in love with something before you have your pre approval in place. I recommend looking at the soul section of the big portals and the agent's website as opposed to what is for sale, because you and I both know that guides can may or may not be accurate. Let's leave it at that, yes, So rather than getting lured in, go to the sold section and then put in say the address the area that you want to be in, and see and put in your max budget. Right, so say it's eight hundred whether you know five hundred two mil, and see what you could have bought in the last two to three months, because then you'll see a real pattern arriving right, you'll see it's our all two bedrooms. If it's a three better, it's on a really main road, you know, big busy road, So then you'll see, okay, I can actually only afford it two better. If you need a three better, do the map search and see where three betters are all falling within your budget, because then you can start your search with so much more focus rather than giving into that wishful thinking, which actually will work so against you because you'll get to a point where you've been, you know, let up garden paths. So you go to a couple of auctions, you miss out, you spend money on strata reports, you spend money on building a pest, and you never really had a chance in the first place. Then you get burnt out, you leave the market. You come back a couple of months later, the market has gone up, and in that time there was something you could have bought, but you didn't see it because you were over it, you know. So you really got to ensure that you don't get to that point, because the other risk is that you'll end up buying something that you never would have bought at the beginning of your search, but you're so over it you this will do. It's a little bit like the rebound boyfriend or girlfriend. You know, it's like, nah, this is never gonna this is not a good idea. So that's you don't want to do that with the property because obviously the costs are huge to get out. You know, you think of stamp duty's selling, moving, all that stress, so you got to get it right. So do that a little bit upfront. It'll help you.

I think that's excellent advice, and I think it really kind of emphasized is the bit that I was talking about up top, about the emotional kind of toil that the search process takes on people. You know, I've experienced that first time quite recently and can attest to the fact that the more realistic you are going in, the better it will be and the less likely, as you said, that you're going to to dip out or find the process to overwhelming. Michelle. I think that's an excellent place to end things today. So thank you so much for joining us on Friends with Money. It's been a pleasure, and I one want to get you back on to chat about auctions and other bits and pieces in the future, so if you're keen, we'll definitely have you back before too long.

I think that's excellent advice, and I think it really kind of emphasized is the bit that I was talking about up top, about the emotional kind of toil that the search process takes on people. You know, I've experienced that first time quite recently and can attest to the fact that the more realistic you are going in, the better it will be and the less likely, as you said, that you're going to to dip out or find the process to overwhelming. Michelle. I think that's an excellent place to end things today. So thank you so much for joining us on Friends with Money. It's been a pleasure, and I one want to get you back on to chat about auctions and other bits and pieces in the future, so if you're keen, we'll definitely have you back before too long.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Absolutely, it's been my Fletcher. Thank you so much for the great questions and yeah, I mean, once I get started about talking about property, you'll never shut me up. So for you, thank you so much.

Absolutely, it's been my Fletcher. Thank you so much for the great questions and yeah, I mean, once I get started about talking about property, you'll never shut me up. So for you, thank you so much.

That's it for this episode. Of the Friends of Money podcast, but don't forget to jump on our website moneymag dot com dot Au for your daily dose of financial news, or you can go grabe yourself a copy of the led US edition of Money Magazine in all good news agents. As always, Frends of Money will be all right back in your podcast feed next week, so until then, I am Tom Watson. Goodbye for now.

That's it for this episode. Of the Friends of Money podcast, but don't forget to jump on our website moneymag dot com dot Au for your daily dose of financial news, or you can go grabe yourself a copy of the led US edition of Money Magazine in all good news agents. As always, Frends of Money will be all right back in your podcast feed next week, so until then, I am Tom Watson. Goodbye for now.

Thanks for listening to the Friends with Money podcast. For credible, independent and easy to understand financial commentary, visit moneymag dot com au. Please remember that the views and opinions expressed in this podcast are general in nature and further independent advice and research based on your personal circumstances should be sought before making an investment decision

Thanks for listening to the Friends with Money podcast. For credible, independent and easy to understand financial commentary, visit moneymag dot com au. Please remember that the views and opinions expressed in this podcast are general in nature and further independent advice and research based on your personal circumstances should be sought before making an investment decision