The foundation of buying a home: understanding your brief
What really matters to you when buying property?
Whether you’re buying your first home, family home, up-sizer, down-sizer, holiday home or investment property, understanding what you like and dislike and, what is a need rather than a want will set you up for success.
Cohen Handler’s extensive experience as property buyers’ agents means we will work with you to drill down into all the detail to understand what’s truly important to you. Your buyer’s agent’s skills to refine your brief is the foundation in setting you up for a successful property purchase.
Creating a successful property buying brief
The Cohen Handler team will work with you to understand exactly what you are looking for in a property. The initial step in our process is to refine your needs, and understand what is a “nice to have”.
Knowing your budget and how many bedrooms and bathrooms you need is a good start, but we dig deeper when refining your brief. Understanding where you are now and where you’re going in life will help refine your brief.
What are the benefits of having a well-defined property buying brief?
Property buyers agents have access to thousands of properties around Australia, on-market, pre-market, off-market and post-market, that might suit your needs. But like you, every property is unique, so in order to help you purchase the right property at the right price, it’s important to understand exactly what you are looking in a property, and how that property will assist your lifestyle and financial goals.
Cohen Handler’s buyer’s agents have helped thousands of clients set and refine briefs to buy property, so we know the questions to ask.
HOW TO SET A PROPERTY BUYING BRIEF
Property buyers agents have access to thousands of properties around Australia, on-market, pre-market, off-market and post-market, that might suit your needs. But like you, every property is unique, so in order to help you purchase the right property at the right price, it’s important to understand exactly what you are looking in a property, and how that property will assist your lifestyle and financial goals.
Get started by creating your own buying brief
Your initial meeting with a Cohen Handler buyers agent will focus on setting your brief. Some helpful questions to think about in order to set up your property buying experience for success with a buyers agent might include:
✓ What type of property are you looking to purchase?
✓ Where would you like the property to be located?
✓ How many bedrooms, bathrooms, living spaces and garages do you require?
✓ Do you require any outdoor space such as a garden, terrace or balcony?
✓ If you are looking to buy an investment property, do you want to buy in an area you know, or are you happy to look in areas you may not have considered, including interstate?
✓ If you will be living in the property, what kind of lifestyle factors are important to you? For example, do you like a to cook, so you need a big kitchen with a lot of storage? Or perhaps you plan on expanding your family, so you need additional bedrooms, or the ability to easily renovate the property to add them on.
✓ Are you happy to undertake renovations? Perhaps you’d like to build your dream home and knock-down an existing property. Or, would you like to move into a turnkey property that you simply need to move your belongings into?
✓ Are there any accessibility requirements for the property? For example does the property need to be all on one-level?
✓ What is your maximum budget?
✓ How does this property fit in with your long-term financial goals?
✓ Are there any architectural styles or features that you particularly like or dislike?
FAQ
Scanning real estate listing sites can be fun, but without a very clear idea of what you need in a property you risk wasting time looking at and evaluating unsuitable properties, and getting frustrated by the property search process. A well-defined property brief acts as a guide, helping you focus your search on properties that meet your needs, and will save you time and energy.
It’s important to understand how much you can spend on a property. Think of these expenses as upfront costs, and the ongoing costs. We recommend that you speak with a financial planner to better understand your circumstances, but also a mortgage broker to understand your borrowing capacity and the cost of repayments, particularly as interest rates change. Cohen Handler has an extensive network of experts around Australia we can refer you to, and work collaboratively, in order to making the property buying process as seamless as possible.
Researching locations for buying a property is crucial. Understanding property values, school catchment areas, public transport is all key. But so too are issues like future development in the area, zoning requirements, council rates. A buyer’s agent will collate all of this information and more, to help you make informed decisions about your property purchase.
A buyer brief defines all the key tangible and intangible requirements a buyer expects to attain when purchasing a property as their home or as an investment. Examples of the common key requirement may include price, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garages, specific proximity to shops, parks and schools, build quality, aspect, view, renovation potential, rental yield, capital growth target and so on. The more elaborate or unique a buyer brief is, typically the longer it can take to find a property if there is little flexibility or compromise. Ultimately, a good buyer brief is aimed to guide you to successfully sourcing and buying the right property sooner.
Yes, If there is a need to revise your buyer brief, Cohen Handler will adapt accordingly and optimise the brief. We will look for opportunities or make recommendations that aim to exceed your needs so that you have more of the the “nice to haves” outlined by your brief. For example a family looking for a 3-bed house in the lower-north shore of Sydney may realise that their brief is not suited and are getting priced. We optimse the brief’s budget towards similar surrounding areas. Later, they buy a 5-bed house with a pool at lower price in the upper-north shore instead. Before making substantial compromises, we can source and recommend properties in similar areas that will tick all or more of your boxes, optimising your brief to give you greater value.
Buying a home or buying an investment property can be a complex process. A reputable buyers agency can leverage their expertise, market knowledge and negotiation skills to secure you the best possible deal on a property that aligns perfectly with your brief.
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