The Inspection and Offer Process

You can follow the prompts and send an email to the agent. Alternatively, you can get the agent’s phone number and give the agent a call.  A tip is that realestate.com does not put the agent’s whole phone number on the website and you have to click on the phone number to get the whole phone number (a trap for young players!).

Generally the agent will call you back and either answer any questions that you might have or to arrange an inspection.  It is important to remember that if there are tenants in the property the agent has to give them 24 hours notice of any inspections.

You now have a time to inspect the property.  Try and arrive on time.  Sometimes the agent might have arranged more inspections either before or after you.  Sometimes the agent might have to travel to the next inspection, so being late could not only put out the agent, but the next buyers inspecting the next property.

If you are purchasing a property with your partner, try to arrange a time and day that you can both attend to inspect the property.  That way you both get to experience the property at the same time and ask any questions that you might have in relation to the property.

You should take your time when inspecting the property.  If the property is tenanted you are not allowed to touch any of the tenants possessions, so before you do anything you should check with the agent to confirm you can.

During your inspection do not hesitate in asking any questions that you may have of the agent.  Generally the agent will have the answer to those questions but sometimes they might need to follow up with the owner and get back to you.

When you have finished your inspection you should go home and have a think about the property.  The agent will follow up with you a couple of days later.  I like to give buyers an offer form when they leave the property if they are considering the property, so that they can also consider their offer if they are thinking about making an offer.

If after thinking about the property you want to make an offer, you should first talk to your Solicitor.  They will help you determine how long you need for finance and/or building and pest, whether you need any special conditions and how long you need for settlement.  If you don’t have a Solicitor speak with the agent who would be able to recommend one for you.  You need to appoint a Solicitor for the conveyancing, so the earlier you engage one, the easier the process can be.

Once you have settled on the terms of your offer, you need to send that to the agent.  I accept offer forms in the form of a photo that is sent by SMS, but you can scan and email if you have that capability.

Then it is negotiation, which will be the topic for another blog!