Buying or selling a property is not something most of us do often. Here are some tips to help the process be smooth and enjoyable

5 Tips to Buying a New Home

1. Know what’s important to you.

Make out a list of the essential features of a home. Make a second list of desirable features, i.e. those features you’d like the home to have but which you can cope without or fix up once moved in. Buying a home can be full of emotion; the list will help you keep focused on what features you really need.

2. Know the property values in the area.

Ensure you know what other homes are selling for. Free online tools, such as www.myRPdata.com gives good free suburb profiles showing historical values of the area. Attending open homes and auctions is invaluable research.

3. Put plenty of time aside.

Don’t be impatient to find the right home immediately, sometimes it can take months (or even years).

4. What’s your “Walk Score”?

Want to know how close a new home is to the post office, schools or shopping? You can drive around the area to scope out the local facilities or use a free online tool such as www.WalkScore.com to get a feel for the local facilities.

5. Get a Pre-Purchase Building Report

Know what you are buying. It may look solid and sound, but looks can be deceiving. Talk to your solicitor about an independent Building or Pest Report. The small fee could save you thousands in the long term or even save you from buying a disaster. Reports should cover every aspect of the property including roof, walls, floors, plumbing, electrical wiring, structural defects, termites and borers and asbestos.

If you are buying a property at auction, we recommend you ask for a copy of the contract to be sent to CMC Conveyancing for review prior to bidding, because you can’t negotiate changes to the Contract after the auction.

5 Tips to Selling your Home

1. Prepare your Contract for Sale

The sale Contract needs to be prepared by your solicitor before your property is placed on the market. At this time you will add any special conditions to the sale such as fittings and fixtures or settlement conditions.

2. Getting the paperwork together

Along with preparing the Contract for Sale, you will need to provide your solicitor with all the relevant certificates to be included with the contract.

  •         Certificate of Title
  •         Copy of the Deposited Plan and any special conditions attached to the Title
  •         Zoning Certificate
  •         Sewer Diagram

3. Pick your agent

Interview agents until you find one that you are comfortable with. Ask how they would sell your home – by auction or private treaty? Why? You want an experienced agent who knows your market and your area.

4. Be realistic with your price

Don’t assume you can pay for the years of renovations or upgrades to your house when selling. Be realistic to what properties in the local area are selling for. Research sales in your area through weekly newspaper reports or utilise free tools such as www.myRPdata.com which gives free suburb profiles including historical values of the area.

5. Appeal to your potential buyers

It is important that you present your property to appeal to the widest possible market. Ensure it is neat and clean from the inside out and don’t try and show your personality in each room. Anything that detracts from a potential sale should be removed from display or even put into storage during the selling process.

As your conveyancing representative, CMC Conveyancing will liaise with the buyer’s representative throughout the process and keep you informed of developments as they occur.