The Easy Wins When Buying Property

Eventually most Aussies will be looking to purchase a property, either as their principal place of residence or as an investment.

There are always pitfalls when buying and whilst some of them are easy spots many can be overlooked, especially by purchasers who have either never been in the game (First time purchasers) or for those that it’s been a while between drinks.

Some of the key data can be confirmed by a competent solicitor or conveyancer, or provided as part of the marketing material of the property, however, the responsibility always falls back onto the purchaser to make sure that they have satisfied themselves that the information is correct. Engaging a property buying agent can also help navigate these complexities, ensuring that nothing important is missed.

Below is a table of some of the initial items we check as part of any desktop investigation into a property of potential interest. If the answers to these enquiries are positive then we start to look more closely at the property’s suitability for a client. This is by no means the ultimate checklist for a complete Due Diligence process, but this information is available at little or no cost, is often publicly available and can be done from the desk/phone.

Address	Make sure it’s the correct property
Title Details	The last word in correctly identifying the property
Zoning	Is the property being legally occupied
Land/Strata Area	Does the marketing match the DP or SP area
Flooding/BushFire	Is it in a flood or Bush Fire zone – can the property be insured or is insurance expensive, does the property need to be upgraded to meet building regulations, and does this impact or limit access to site.
Heritage/Conservation area	Does this impact the property, it could impact on use, ability to renovate or redevelop and dictate the potential use of the property
Current Owners	Who are they and does that name match the contract of sale
Why are they selling	Vendors motivation may give you the edge in negotiation
Sales History	Does the property have regular or irregular sales history – what does this mean if it does?
Contamination	Does the property have a history of potential contamination usage, has it been identified or rectified, could this limit the potential future use of the property or add hidden costs in the future.
Surrounding DA’s and planned developments	Review these, as they may impact your property directly or indirectly in either a positive or negative way
Site Slope/natural features	Will this potentially limit or enhance the use of the property
Site Access	Is vehicular and pedestrian access easy or hard (busy roads, steep sites, narrow street, height limits into car parking area etc)
Lease Details	If there is a tenant, are they in legal occupation, do they have occupancy rights that may delay your occupation of the property
Current Rent	Is it at market level, is it being paid in full and on time,
Local Vacancy Rates	When the property becomes vacant will it take long to re-tenant?
Commercial WALE	Is it high or low – or what even is it and why does it matter?
What’s the exit strategy	It’s often easier to buy then sell – what can be done to make this property stand out when the time comes to sell it?

Spending the time to answer these questions alongside your “wish list” (Client Brief), may save you time, money and emotional stress by ruling properties in or out based on their fundamentals before you get too attached to the property itself.