Investor Grant Hubbard saved 19 per cent on a Marsden home purchase
SAVVY homebuyers are shaving hundreds of thousands of dollars off listed prices, with vendors in pockets across Queensland forced to come to the negotiating table to clinch a sale.
Exclusive PropTrack data shows bargain hunters are offsetting rising interest rates and their effect on borrowing power by snapping up properties at hugely discounted prices.
PropTrack’s suburb breakdown of sales over the past 12 months shows the biggest discounts were on the Gold Coast — $134,550 in Broadbeach Waters, and $121,758 in Surfers Paradise.
In greater Brisbane, sellers were knocking $61,950 off their asking price in Tamborine, $49,140 in Albany Creek, and $46,000 in Mt Gravatt East.
But the data reveals buyers will need to dig to find a bargain, with vendors in many other areas clinging to pandemic gains.
Median vendor discounts over the year sat below five per cent in most metro house markets.
Those discounts rose to about 20 per cent or more in regional areas including Hughenden in the outback and Tara in the Darling Downs.
33 Marmount St,Pelican Waters is for sale for offers of about $1.05m. The listing states, ‘huge price reduction’.
VENDORS MEET THE MARKET
PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said price cuts would become more widespread as sellers moved in step with the national market downturn.
“Vendors do tend to take a while to catch up to the market conditions, and that is particularly the case given how strong prices increases have been over the last few years,” Mr Kusher said.
“In a lot of instances, it is places further away from the city or lifestyle markets that are seeing relatively high discounts.
“But if people are serious about having to sell their properties, they are increasingly having to adjust their prices lower in order to find buyers for those properties,” he said.
The owners of 7 Cutwater Cl, Clear Island Waters dropped their asking price from offers over $2.25m to $1.75m
QLD’S TOP BARGAIN BUYS
Queensland’s top bargain buy of the month was a house and land package at 60 Richards St, Loganlea which was advertised for $681,000 but sold for a whopping 56 per cent less.
The listing displayed ready-to-build plans for a dual-occupancy holding on a 600sq m block, with a total of five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Discounts crossed all price points, with a Gold Coast buyer scoring a hefty $500,000 off a sprawling waterfront home at 7 Cutwater Cl, Clear Island Waters which was originally advertised for offers over $2.25m.
Marketing agent John Whiteway, of Astras Prestige Property, said the vendor had, “missed the market” due to delays carrying out extensive necessary repairs before the former rental property could be listed in May.
The price of this Wavell Heights property has been reduced for immediate sale, the listing states
“The vendor didn’t want to listen to the truth when we initially listed, and it was only over time that he accepted that the money he wanted just wasn’t there,” Mr Whiteway said.
“The market has definitely changed, and a lot of the offers now are subject to the buyer selling their own property first — not like back in December or January when you might have had four cash buyers ready to go.”
Mr Whiteway said the property had become a burden for the interstate-based owner, who had self-managed tenancy of the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home on a 1,143sq m lot.
In regional Qld, a five-bedroom original Queenslander listed for $255,000 at 20 Sirius St, Clermont sold last week for $165,000, while a two-bedroom Surfers Paradise unit on Peninsular Dr with an asking price of $450,000 went for $332,500.
94-100 Georgina Dr, Logan Village was advertised for offers over $1.1m and sold for $850,000
HOW TO FIND ‘EXTREME DISCOUNTS’
Buyers Agency Australia founder Dragan Dimovski recently purchased a house for an investor client in the Logan City suburb of Marsden at a discount of 19 per cent.
“Extreme discounts well beyond the usual price reductions in this market can be found for those who have the time to do the legwork,” Mr Dimovski said.
“This will include looking at the homes for sale in your price range and how much they are selling for to help you identify a good deal when it arises,” he said.
“If you ask the right questions, you can determine if a seller is motivated to sell due to finances or personal circumstances.
“In that case they will usually be prepared to sell for a significant discount if your offer is the first to come along, with the right conditions,” Mr Dimovski said.
Dragan Dimovski, Buyers Agency Australia founder
TOP TIPS
■ become an area expert
■ get to know local real estate agents to be notified of off-market or pre-listing opportunities
■ ask the right questions to determine if the vendor is highly motivated to sell
■ knock on people’s doors or write a letter, asking homeowners in the area if they’d be willing to sell
■ play the numbers game — “Don’t get frustrated if you don’t find a bargain immediately. Just keep looking, and the more homes you see the more likely a bargain will arise,” Mr Dimovski said.
Grant Hubbard worked with a buyer’s agent to secure a better deal Photo Steve Pohlner
INVESTOR SCORES $140K SAVING
Mr Dimovski’s client, Grant Hubbard, saved $142,000 on the six-bedroom, three-bathroom Marsden house, which was valued at $750,000.
The property on a 1,450sq m block cost $608,000 and will be rented for $650 a week, making it positively geared.
“The market itself is uncertain, but I was willing to pull the trigger to purchase in the right area and at the right price,” Mr Hubbard, 38, said.
“It was the fourth property we’d loooked at, and we’ve set aside all the usual contract clauses because I knew it was a very good buy,” he said.
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The electrician describes himself as a “beginner investor”, with the Marsden buy bringing his rental portfolio to three properties across greater Brisbane.
Mr Dimovski said the property was a “great find”, with home values in the area only slightly down amid the wider market shift.
“Other homes in the same street have recently sold at discounts of around five per cent from where prices were three months ago, not nearly 20 per cent,” he said
Source by www.realestate.com.au
