Buyers Advocates / Buyers Agents
What is a Buyers Advocate / Buyers Agent?
Buyers Advocates (often know as Buyer Agents) are specialised property purchase professionals – who work exclusively for the buyer. They are usually skilled in the processes of searching for, negotiating on, and purchasing both owner-occupier and investment properties.
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What percentage of people use a Buyers Advocate / Buyers Agent?
There are no clear statistics for this in Australia, but in a 2006 National Association of Realtors study done in the United States of America, an incredible 64% of all property purchases were handled by professional Buyer Advocates / Buyer Agents.
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Why should I engage a Buyers Advocate / Buyers Agent?
There is an amazing amount of work involved in purchasing a property – not to mention potentially a dozen different parties involved in the end-to-end process.
If you are a busy person – without the available time that it takes to search out and negotiate on property – then a Buyer's Advocate is ideal for you. Equally – you may have the time, but lack the patience or experience to handle this often involved and drawn-out process. Even if you are happy to do the searching and are skilled in the negotiation, a Buyer's Advocate can add considerable value to the selection and coordination of all the property purchase specialists that are involved in making your purchase a success (including mortgage brokers, accountants, solicitors / conveyancers, valuers, insurers, building inspectors, pest inspectors, landscapers, quantity surveyors, property managers and more.
Most people only buy or sell property on average once every 7-10 years. This does not provide an opportunity to gain experience in the critical area of negotiation. A professional buyer’s agent is an experienced negotiator – able to achieve prices and conditions that most property buyers could only dream about.
The bottom line is that a Buyer's Advocate can save you time, money and stress. A professional Buyer's Advocate will ensure that the most expensive purchase you will ever make is handled professionally and carefully every step of the way.
For further details – refer to our TOP 5 Benefits of Engaging a Buyers Advocate.
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When should I engage a Buyers Advocate / Buyers' Agent?
A Buyer's Agent can help you from the moment you consider purchasing a property – right through until the time you settle on your purchase. The earlier the engagement – the greater the benefit to you the buyer. Whether it be an investment or a home to live in – it is an expensive and significant decision, so you should ensure that you gain all the professional support and assistance that you can.
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About SNAP Property Buying Support
What makes someone choose SNAP as their Buyer's Agent?
SNAP has several distinctive qualities that set it apart from many other buyer agents. Here are our TOP 10 reasons to choose SNAP Property Buying Support as your buyers agents:
- Our Director – Scott Caddaye – is a successful property investor with real-world experience. He doesn’t just buy properties for clients – he buys them for himself too.
Scott’s passion for property began with his first investment at age 26. In the 16 years since then, Scott has gone on to amass a personal portfolio that includes one, two, three and four-bedroom houses, units and tourist accommodation and places him in the top 0.2% of Australians.
- Our Practical Knowledge – Scott is a published author, having recently written the title “The First Timer's Guide to Australian Property Investment” (release date – Sep 2008). Some people have experience, others have the theoretical knowledge – Scott has both.
- Our Solid Professional Project Management background – The process of finding, selecting, negotiating on, and purchasing a property is a complex and difficult one – often involving the coordination of a dozen or more parties. This is where the skills of an experienced project manager pay dividends.
Prior to focusing full time on property investment, Scott had a 10 year history running complex projects (from $1m to over $80m) as a Senior Project Manager within the Coles Myer organisation. His professional qualifications in project management have now been tailored and honed to produce optimum outcomes in the property purchasing process. In addition to being a member of the REIV, Scott is also a full member of the Australian Institute of Project Management.
- Our Focus – We don’t try to be experts in accounting, valuing, conveyancing, mortgage broking, insurance, building inspections or any of the other specialty areas associated with the purchase of property. We focus on the one thing we know best – Searching, Negotiating And Purchasing residential property, and project managing the entire process seamlessly.
- Our Unique Tools – We have developed a unique “Total Cost of Ownership” property analyser tool that can help calculate the real cost of your purchase. It is particularly useful for investors looking to compare multiple properties to see which is the best for their needs. This tool is not available anywhere else and provides yet another reason to choose SNAP as your Buyers Agents.
- Our Honesty and Integrity – In an industry that has more than its fair share of dishonest operators, SNAP prides itself on complete honesty and integrity in all of our dealings. We are always happy to refer you to previous clients who will testify to this fact.
Refer to our recent testimonials for further details.
- Our Fee Flexibility – If you prefer the certainty of a fixed price fee for our Buyer's Agents services (as opposed to a fee linked to the purchase price of the property) we are more than happy to agree this with you. Fees are a small part of the overall equation of buying you the ideal property.
Refer to our fees page for further details.
- Our Discounts – Some Buyer Agents will penalise you for late payment – charging interest and other penalties. We take a different approach and instead offer you the reward of a discount for paying on time.
Refer to our fees page for further details.
- Our Fee Caps – If your purchase takes you into the territory of homes above $800,000 – you can be comfortable knowing that our fees are capped at this level. Once your purchase exceeds $800,000 a cap is put in place that ensures you will pay no more – regardless of whether the purchase price is $801,000 or $2m.
Refer to our fees page for further details.
- Our Pre-Property Purchase Team – Over the years, we have been able to cement lasting business relationships with a number of high performing property purchase specialists – ranging from Solicitors and Pest / Building Inspectors to Accountants and Mortgage Brokers. These professionals all share SNAPs honesty and integrity principles – and offer incredible service and value for money. We will happily liaise with these or any other professionals you care to appoint.
- Our Free Initial Consultation – We offer a free “initial consultation and needs assessment” before you need to decide whether using our services is right for you.
Your SNAP Buyer's Agent will come to you (at work, home or anywhere in between) at a time that is convenient.
Contact us for further details.
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What are SNAP's main service offerings?
SNAP offers a range of Buyer's Agent services including:
- SEARCH - includes a detailed analysis of your property goals and purchase criteria, followed by a comprehensive property search in your target area(s). Short-listed properties are presented to you and made available for inspection to enable selection of a candidate for negotiation. A full Search report (including digital photos) is available to you via email or printed form.
- NEGOTIATE - includes a thorough assessment of your selected property and comparing it to other similar properties for sale/recently sold. Armed with this information we agree a target price range and your SNAP Buyers Advocate then proceeds to negotiate the optimum purchase price and conditions.
- PURCHASE - includes the selection and efficient coordination of professional property purchase specialists including accountant, mortgage broker, solicitor/conveyancer, insurance broker, pest and building inspectors, valuer. SNAP has formed strong business partnerships with expert professionals in all these speciality fields.
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- SNAP - our premium package includes all elements of the ‘Search’, ‘Negotiate’ and ‘Purchase’ services – linking them seamlessly together. It provides end-to-end management of the process of securing your property.
SNAP also includes a detailed costing report with comparisons between shortlisted properties and an interactive total cost of ownership report.
Refer to our homebuyers and investors pages for further details.
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What professional affiliations does SNAP Property Buying Support have?
- Affiliate member of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV)
- Member of the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM)
- Member of the Australian Society of Authors
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What areas do you cover?
SNAP has executed searches and purchases in areas ranging from Phillip Island in the south east to Apollo Bay in the south west – and in a variety of Melbourne metropolitan suburbs in between. Our Buyer's Agent services are also available to interstate investors looking to buy residential properties in Melbourne and surrounding areas.
Recent metropolitan transactions have included areas such as Hawthorn East, Camberwell, Carrum Downs, Narre Warren South, Sandhurst, Chirnside Park, Croydon and Boronia.
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What is a “typical” client?
There is no such thing. Our clients can be younger or more mature, first time homebuyers or multiple time investors, spending $200,000 or $2m. Our service offerings are tailored to each individual client – you don’t need to fit our mould – we fit yours.
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How much will you cost me?
Depending on the buyers agent services you choose, your total service fees will range between 1 and 2 percent of the property purchase price. Fees can be linked to the purchase price or fixed and agreed up front.
Refer to our fees page for further details.
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Are there any additional costs I need to allow for?
There are only two possible categories of additional cost.
One relates to a negotiated travel allowance (where your target area is outside the Melbourne metropolitan area) - but this is discussed and agreed up front.
The other is those costs incurred between yourself and the various professionals you may choose to engage (for example, a property valuer or a quantity surveyor). SNAP Buyer Advocates will coordinate and project manage the work of these professionals – but payment is always made directly from the buyer to the professional providing the service (payment is NEVER via SNAP).
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What other commissions/rebates/kickbacks do you receive?
None.
As Buyers Agents we work 100% for you – the buyer – and receive no form of compensation from any other party.
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How much will you save me?
The savings vary infinitely and are unique for every property, but just as a skilful selling agent can add tens of thousands of dollars to the sale of a home, a professional Buyers Advocate can save similar amounts through their experience and impartial negotiation skills.
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What does my “Free Initial Consultation” include?
A Buyer Advocate will come to you – at a time that is convenient – to discuss your property purchase needs and provide an insight into which of our Buyer's Advocate services may be right for your circumstances. There is no obligation – and no fee for this initial consultation.
Contact us for further details.
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Do you have professional indemnity insurance?
We have full professional indemnity insurance coverage to $2 million per claim and $4 million in the aggregate. This offers you protection in the unlikely event of a problem arising in the course of your dealings with SNAP and your property purchase.
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Are you appropriately registered?
Yes. SNAP Property Buying Support operates as a proprietary limited (PTY LTD) company under the trading name “SNAP Property Buying Support Pty Ltd”. We are professional Buyers Agents.
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General Questions
Is buying at auction the way to get a property for the best price?
Generally no. Auctions exist to extract the highest sale price possible for the seller – they are not there to save money for a buyer. The theatre and emotion that auctions bring are exactly what you don’t want to when buying – why should you pay a “hyped up” premium on your property purchase when it can be quietly and efficiently negotiated by your Buyer's Advocate as a private sale.
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So buying at auction is never a good idea?
On occasion, a good buy can be had at an auction. More often though, the buyer is best served via an offer to buy before auction, or better yet after an unsuccessful auction where the property was passed in.
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What research do you do for me?
The Search phase of our service is particularly rich in research. Your Buyer Advocate seeks out viable properties in your target suburbs and performs deep research to present back to you including:
- Suburb demographics – current and future predictions
- Recent similar sales in the street / suburb
- Properties available for sale
- Details (including digital photographs) of viable properties that match your purchase criteria
- Auction clearance rates in your target area
- “Average days on market” statistics in your target area
- Median price trends in your target area
- Rental vacancy rates and more
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Do you have access to “off-market” or unlisted properties?
Absolutely. These properties can present a significant buying opportunity – without the sometimes heated competition of an open listing.
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What special extras do you provide for investors?
The one area that is paramount for a property investor is the financial viability of the purchase. There should be no emotion here – just raw numbers to show whether a property stacks up – or not. At SNAP, our years of property investment experience, coupled with our detailed “Total Cost of Ownership” property analyser tool – allow us to model the potential future costs of this significant purchase you are about to make. Importantly, we are able to model and compare multiple properties in order to assess which will come closest to meeting your personal investment strategy.
Contact us for further details.
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Is there anything you can do to help me with all the paperwork?
Absolutely. As Buyers Advocates we are experienced in all aspects of the property purchase process and understand the frustration that can come with reviewing high volumes of complicated documentation. This is another place where the support of other professionals pays dividends eg. with a mortgage broker available to help with your loan documents, and a solicitor to help with review of the Section 32.
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What other help can you bring to the table?
Our pre-purchase team of property purchase specialists (including Solicitors, Mortgage Brokers, Insurers, Pest Inspectors, Building Inspectors, Accountants, Valuers and more) are always available to help smooth the way forward towards a successful property purchase. Some are free (as in the case of a Mortgage Broker) and others will charge you a low negotiated fee that always represents terrific value for money.
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