From First Home Buyer to Buyer's Advocate
Buyers agents or buyers advocates is a real estate professional that acts as the buyer’s representative during a property sale; they help purchasers find, evaluate, and negotiate properties.
Engaging a Buyer’s Advocate may make a significant difference on your first home buying journey.
On this podcast, Will Bell Mortgage Broker collaborated with André Pereira of Bright Property Advocates to discuss his unique experience in buying his first home that eventually led him into becoming a Buyer’s Advocate.
His perspective and his experience of what happens with first home buyers and where they go wrong, or where they can make mistakes is rather valuable.
Buying your first home
Buying a home is a major decision – especially if it is your first home.
“There’s a lot of unknowns in buying your first home”, Andre said during the interview.
Andre’s first experience in buying his first family home was very crucial in becoming a buyer’s agent. Reflecting back, he admitted that he doesn’t know much about property.
“So, in a way, when we were looking for our first family home, I had this investment mindset, but I actually didn’t know what it means to buy a good investment”, he said. That’s when he and his wife started to read things, listen to things concerning properties and investment.
He learned a mistake that a lot of first-time buyers do – to always want to play safe, and a lot of times to play safe is to look on the cheap side.
“So that’s what I was doing a lot. I was looking on the cheap side of the market, and just trying to find a cheap deal. And one thing that I was doing because I knew that the value is on the land, I was actually calculating the price per square meter. So, when the price per square meter was good, I was like, “Oh, it’s a good deal”. But in fact, looking back, it wasn’t right”, Andre said.
“I think it’s very important to be clear what type of property you are looking. If you are looking for an investment, really look for an investment. But if you are looking for family home, look for family home,” he added.
Another first home buyer mistake he said he’d learned is when he and his wife were not very clear with what they wanted.
“So we were trying to buy a hybrid between a family home and an investment. And I think that’s also a mistake because we were not clear on that,” he said.
Andre also advised to look on something that you can live on the long term, and consider something that allows changes like having kids and upsizing.
With property prices going up time by time, it’s important that first home buyers think and plan ahead. But realistically, it sometimes depend on what your options are. That is why it’s crucial that buyers don’t look on just one angle from the limited options.
First home buyers usually look at the cheaper option.
“There’s nothing wrong in buying a stepping stone. If that’s what you can afford, buy the stepping stone. But if you buy the stepping stone, understand, what’s the exit strategy? What can you do to upgrade to your family home later on in the future? Can you renovate? Can you make a room? Can you make a living space an extra bedroom so your family can last long in the property. Is it in a good location that you like to live in? Understanding this exit strategy is very important in buying the stepping stone, which a lot of homebuyers will have to do,” Andre emphasized.
Hire good help – get experts on board!
Getting a good mortgage broker is very crucial in the search.
Andre shared that the wrong advice from a broker really set them back for a long time. The broker said they couldn’t borrow at the time, so they ended up renting. While renting, they found out that they are eligible to borrow with Commonwealth Bank, one of the main banks in Australia.
A good mortgage broker will give good advice from the start in terms of your borrowing capacity, or which lender will give you the right loan.
Another thing Andre believes that is very important for first homebuyers is to understand the process, to make it very clear what the process of buying your home looks like.
“And that’s something that we didn’t know. So the fact that we didn’t know the process, and what were the action steps in purchasing a home, made the whole process very stressful. We were always scrambling for things at last minute,” he said.
He also recommended to keep in touch with the agency inspecting properties, whenever you can.
With 15 years in the industry, the team at Will Bell Mortgage Broker firmly believes that if people don’t hire good help, like a good mortgage broker or a good conveyancer, then they are bound to rely on themselves to understand everything – and that can be very overwhelming.
And this is a very important point, because a first homeowner is not an expert in finance, is not an expert in property.
There are some sort of people who want to know everything to feel comfortable to try and control the situation. And that’s fine. But along the way, you should always acknowledge that you actually are not an expert.
And if you try and control it, then the probability that mistakes are going to happen is going to increase. What you really should do is put good people who are experts around you, so that if there’s something to worry about, you get told about it.
Clients that generally have a good first home buying experience are clients that just say, “We want to know what matters. We trust you. You’re on top of things. Tell us what we need to know so that we’re not making any massive mistakes”.
First home buyers can have a really bad experience because they don’t have the assistance to make good decisions. And that’s when the stress piles on.
“Understanding the process and understanding what professionals are responsible for certain parts of the process and understanding your limitation as a homebuyer or first home buyer, and wisely choosing professionals that you can rely on like Building and Pest Inspectors, Conveyancers, Mortgage Broker, or Buyer’s Agents, and just having that advice. And from that advice, you can make a decision. Because at the end of the day, it’s you that have to make a decision,” Andre expounded.
On becoming a Buyers Advocate
Andre’s experience really made him understand that there was a gap in the market.
It was very clear to Andre when he was purchasing the property that he was not the client, rather just the buyer – and the client of the real estate agent is the vendor.
When he realized that there’s a gap in terms of someone representing the buyer, that’s what really got him to study real estate, do the license and go through the process in understanding more how he could help first home buyers and guarantee a good result for them.
It has become his goal to represent first home buyers and negotiate on their behalf. He believes that because he is very familiar with the process and the negotiation strategies that agents use to bring more money to the table, he can ensure a fair game for both parties.
What’s the most important thing when buying your first home?
1. Get ready financially.
Know how much money you can spend. Understand your repayments, too.
2. Create a clear strategy of what you want.
If you want to buy your first home as an investment property, make sure to really understand the process, understand how it looks like, and what you must do to achieve that goal.
3. Narrow the search better.
Start identifying properties that would suit your strategy. If your goal is to have a cute little home and live there for the 10-20 years, that’s your strategy. Everybody has a strategy.
4. Understand the process.
Consult with professionals that are responsible for different parts of the process and rely on them to have good advice and clear information.
5. Have the courage to get started.
What a lot of people do is think “I’m not ready’, and that’s normal. But to get ready, you need to take the first step, and the first step could be anything – it could be talking to your parent, etc.
But generally, for most people, it’s getting in touch with an expert. And generally, that’s the Mortgage Broker because they are setting up the finance. To set up the finance, the broker needs to be there at the start and through to settlement.
You need to sort your finance out. Whether that’s with a bank or with a broker, that’s the first step you need to take. And quite often, it’s just momentum from there, because the broker will coach you what you need to do next. Suddenly, you’re just following directions. And the next thing you know, you’ve got a pre-approval, and it’s time to go shopping! It can happen amazingly quick.
If you are a first home buyer, take your first step by reaching out to Will Bell Mortgage Broker. Let us take the stress out from you by being there in your whole home buying process.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode of the First Home Owner Concierge podcast. If you’ve got any questions or you’d like to get into your own home, or you just want to stalk me online, you can search Will Bell Mortgage Broker on either Google or Facebook.
Will Bell
Will Bell has 15 years’ experience in the finance industry, the last 11 years he has owned and operated Will Bell Mortgage Broker. He specializes in residential home loans and over the years has carved out a trusted brand. This is proven by the reviews his customers have made regarding the service and the experience he has provided.
