WEBVTT - Making Sure You Don’t Buy the Wrong House 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:14.600 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. Welcome to Merin Talks 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.480 Your Money, the personal finance edition of Merin Talks Money. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.120 In these bonus podcasts, we talk about the best strategies 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.840 for making the most of your money. I'm Merin sumst Web, 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:25.840 Bloomberg UK Wealth Editor at Large and with me senior 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:31.360 reporter and author of the Money Distilled newsletter, John Steberg. Hi, John, him. So, 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:34.760 we are rattling through this housing business right So so 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.360 far we've been through the general state of UK housing. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:39.680 We've looked at where and how to get a mortgage broker, 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:42.920 We've looked at shared ownership properties, etc. And we've looked 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.839 at why new bills might or might not be a 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:47.680 good thing to buy. I think we know what we 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:49.800 think on that. I was going to ask you what 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:51.720 your favorite is so far, John, but actually you've been 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.040 kind of outraged at every step of the way. So 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.279 you haven't had a favorite. You've probably had one that's 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.960 made you most angry and most upset. Which one is 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:01.400 being so far? 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.040 I think I'm getting a reputation. 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:05.320 Here age John. 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.640 To be honest, I'm just a grumpy old mind. No, 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.039 it's the new build one. I mean, I'd heard the 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.320 turn fleecehold, and obviously I do a fair bit about leasehold, 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:20.600 but just the extent of the kind of badness and 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.600 how people are being coined basically just to just blew 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:25.800 my mind if I'm honest, which basically means it's my 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:27.720 favorite because I like it and angry. 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:32.640 Okay, So how do we avoid this kind of thing? 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.639 How do we make sure that no merin talks your money. 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.680 Listeners ever end up with a house that brings them 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.480 nasty surprises that turns out to be a liability not 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.480 an asset. Well, this podcast always has an answer, and 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.560 today we have the perfect guest to talk about this, 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.280 because what you actually need to make sure that your 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:57.360 life is not destroyed by buying the wrong house at 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.720 the wrong price is a buying agent. So today we 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:03.920 are joined by camilladel Kimilidell is managing partner and founder 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.400 of Black Brick Property Solutions and has worked in the 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.639 London property markets and it's two thousand and two, very 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.919 experienced meeting the needs of demanding domestic and international property buyers. 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:15.280 Welcome to the show, Camilla. 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.080 Thank you, Maren, thanks so much for having me. 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.200 Oh, it's a pleasure right, So you are a buying agent. 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.440 So first two questions, One what is a buying agent? 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:25.600 And two why do we need one? 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:31.000 A buying agent is a property professional that represents the 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.880 interests of the buyer on a property transaction. I think 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.200 the best way to think of us is the complete 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:40.920 opposite to an estate agent. State agents are there to 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.080 represent the interests of the seller. They're there to market 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.240 and advertise properties for sale, and they're there to try 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:51.040 and sell, primarily stock that they're directly instructed on as 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.919 a priority, and then to try and get the highest 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:58.080 possible price they can for their client, being the seller. Typically, 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:02.240 buyers have nobody represent them. I often love to use 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:05.880 the analogy that going into the property market without a 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:09.400 buying agent is a bit like going to court without 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.360 a lawyer. You'd never dream of representing yourself. And yet 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.400 when it comes to buying property, which is often one 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:22.160 of the most significant and largest financial commitments that somebody 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.200 will do in their entire lifetimes, people tend to do 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:29.920 that without proper representation. So the best way to describe 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.880 what a buying agent does is we are professionals that 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.960 are there to purely represent the interests of the buyer 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.680 on a property transaction, and that's everything from helping the 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.560 buyer to understand the market and identify and find the 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:49.200 right property for them, and then help to negotiate the 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.920 best possible price on their behalf and then manage and 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.520 oversee the whole legal process as well. 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:58.960 Okay, that's fascinating, and we've talked about this John and 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.120 I in the past. It is extraordinary that people go 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:06.920 into the one financial transaction that will in many ways 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.480 really set the direction of their financial life, and of 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.120 their domestic life, and of their home life, of their 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:17.000 family life, of everything. Go into this transaction that very 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.080 often means they have twenty twenty five, sometimes thirty years 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:22.160 worth of payments to make, etc. Do we know how 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.880 all this works? They go into that with absolutely nobody 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.240 representing them or helping them at all, even though they 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.039 may only have bought one house before or no houses before, 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:34.880 so they know nothing about this market. And they go 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.920 into effectively not fight, but come up against an a 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.520 state agent or a group of state agents who have 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.920 decades and decades of experience in this and do this 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.240 for a living. It's an extraordinary dynamic when you think 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:47.120 about it, like that. 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:50.760 Absolutely it is, you know, and I'm not quite sure 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.119 how it's played out like that. Fortunately, I think things 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.440 asked the tide is starting to change, and certainly in 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:59.719 the London property market. I would say the concept of 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.719 you and working with a buying agent now, if I 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:06.000 compare today to two thousand and seven when I first 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.960 set Black Brick up, yeah, I would say the concept 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.880 of working with buying agents is much better known today 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.480 than it was, you know, eighteen years ago. 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:17.159 People often think that if you are going to have 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.600 a buying agent, people know a little bit about the concept, 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.839 but they think this is for very very high end stuff. 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.320 You only need a buying agent if you're looking for 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:29.480 something huge, something unique, something particularly in demand, major townhouse 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.479 in Mayfair, a statelier six bedroom house in the Cotswolds, etc. 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.640 But it seems to me, based on even our conversations 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.520 so far, that this is something that everyone should have, 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:42.000 right down to someone buying their first small apartment for 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.479 two hundred thousand pounds, because if you get it wrong, 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.000 the long term expense is always going to be higher 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:49.320 than the fee you might pay upfront. 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.640 Absolutely, I firmly believe that anybody buying should have a 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.840 buying agent represent them. It's one of the reasons why 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:59.600 when I originally set the firm up, we actually set 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:01.960 on minute them to work with us quite low. We 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.560 sett it at five hundred thousand pounds back in two 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.719 thousand and seven. We're now at a million plus. But 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.520 there are plenty of buying agents out there that are 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.719 more than happy to look after buyers with much lower 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:14.320 budgets than where we start. 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:16.720 When you say much lower, what do you mean if 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:19.839 I'm looking to buy a flat for two hundred thousand pounds? 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:21.960 Is there anybody out there who would help me? 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:25.679 There is. There's one individual in particular who actually started 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.839 his career at Black Brick working with us, and now 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:32.440 whenever we get inquiries below our minimum threshold, we passed 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:34.840 them to him. He really saw, I think a bit 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.000 of a gap in the market to look after buyers 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.280 lower price ranges, and he's spilled his business around that. 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.600 So I think there's a lot of choice out there. 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:46.440 There's a lot of different buying agents out there. There's 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.480 not lots of them, but there are. There are a 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.000 few buying agents out there that are catered to looking 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.480 after clients with lower budgets. 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.360 And then there is Henry Pryor isn't it our old 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.840 friend Henry Bradjohn who has something called pocket agent, which 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:02.440 is not quite a buying agent in that you don't 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.240 go out, it'll go to look for a house for you, 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.279 but helps you through the searchers and negotiations, etc. And 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.680 that's that can come in at one thousand pounds. So 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:13.200 even something like that is better than nothing. Gives you, 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:15.040 gives you value to make sure you're not going to 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:16.240 make a webbing great mistake. 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.320 Absolutely. I think just having a sounding board somebody that's 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:24.640 totally removed from the transaction and then it's not incentivized 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.640 by selling the property give you that bird's eye view. 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:28.960 I think it is crucial. 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.000 Yeah, and that's the key, isn't it incentive? So let's 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.440 talk about some of the things that you would do 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.640 for a buyer that they wouldn't get if they were 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:41.000 using an estate agent. So things like the classics. You 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:42.680 might be able to find houses that are not on 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:45.800 the market yet, so get to them before the ordinary 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.880 buyer would, right. And then things like being able to 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.400 figure out what you should really pay based on prices 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.480 that people have paid locally or per square foot nearby, 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.200 and this kind of thing looking at things that maybe 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.680 an ordinary buyer wouldn't think of immediately, you know you've 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.120 fallen love the house, and you don't necessarily think, well, 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.520 hang on, what about the traffic flow nearby? What about 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.480 the crime? What about that hotel at the end of 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:08.880 the road, what about and in John's case, of course, 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:13.240 what about those flights going overhead? And that's the sort 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.120 of thing that I that I think about when I 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.520 think about a buying agent. Are those the main things 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:19.040 around my missing some things in there? 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.440 We help with all of those elements. I think initially 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.760 a buying agent can be quite helpful in helping you 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.040 to build a brief, to kind of work out what 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:30.960 it is that you're looking for, and then to look 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.160 at can you actually afford it? Have you thought about 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:37.360 things like getting finance? And if you haven't, then we 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:39.680 can help recommend and put clients in touch with the 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.880 right people. Have you thought about getting tax advice? Have 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:44.880 you thought about who's going to represent you on the 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.480 legal side of the transaction. What we like to do 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:51.720 with our clients before we start the buying journey is 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.440 to make sure that they've got all of their ducks 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:56.760 lined up in a row, because what you don't want 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.360 to happen is you go down this process and sometimes 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:01.439 it can be quite let and you end up finding 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:04.400 your dream property and then you try and sort everything 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:08.120 out your finances, finding a lawyer, etc. And another buy 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.400 who's more organized beats you to it. So what we 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:13.040 like to try and do with our clients is get 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.360 them really organized and thinking about all of these things 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.480 before they start the search with us. And then once 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.160 we've nailed their brief and we've got a good understanding 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.080 of what they're looking for, we then go out into 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.200 the market and represent them. And that is I would 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.040 say over the last eighteen years that process of searching 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:35.480 for clients has become more and more complicated and more 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:39.280 time consuming as time has gone on. In interesting statistic, 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:41.200 if you go on to Google and type how many 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:45.120 estate agents are there operating in London, the figure is 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:49.520 just over seven four hundred agents. There has been an 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:55.240 explosion of people selling properties in London over the past 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:58.800 few years. So you know, think of your big corporate firms, 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.280 your Night Franks, your A lot of great agents working 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.520 for those companies over the last few years have left 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:09.960 and set up much smaller, tiny independent operations. Sometimes one 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.960 man band's working from home. There's much more choice for 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.320 people into who are selling in terms of who they 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.600 want to work with. From the buyer's perspective, what that 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.200 means is it's so much more difficult now to find 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.680 because you can't just rely on the portals like right 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:29.280 Move for example, I would estimate that only fifty percent 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:33.199 of what's available for sale are on portals. There's a 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.199 whole other world of property that never makes the portals 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:42.679 for all sorts of different reasons. Sometimes it's confidentiality, Sometimes 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:46.080 it's because the property is so great, so desirable, that 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:49.080 it sells before it ever gets onto the portal. So 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:51.640 you know, as a buy you cannot you can no 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.360 longer just rely on the portals. You've got to also 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:58.600 be speaking directly to the stakeholders, to the agents who 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.160 have these instructions, and lots of those instructions will not 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:02.800 be marketed. 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:06.320 Okay. Interesting, So going back a tiny bit to what 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:07.800 you were saying about getting on your duct in a 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.040 row before you go and put an offer another house, 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.560 is it also the case there's another benefit possibly of 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.640 using a buying agent in a very competitive market is it. 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:20.959 The agent might suggest to the sellers that they prefer 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.720 a buyer that comes with the help of an agent 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:26.480 because they know that it's a real offer, the cash 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:28.040 is there, it will go through. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.760 One hundred percent. This is where professional representation I think 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.600 is just invaluable to buyers because you know, imagine you're 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.440 a state agent. You're trying to find a buyer for 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.520 a property that you're selling, and you're presented with two offers. 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:43.880 One is from a buyer that you don't know, and 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:47.079 then you're presented with another offer from a credible buying 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.680 agent who you've got a track record with that you've 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.080 transacted with on lots of other property transactions in the past. 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.320 Who are you going to recommend your client the seller 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:00.120 on the negotiation process, not just in terms of collating 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:03.400 all of the comparable evidence and helping to negotiate the deal, 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:07.120 but also just the relationships that we've built over these years, 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.400 and the track record means that often our offers are 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:14.040 preferred over and above unrepresented buyers offers. 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:19.160 Interesting, John, I'm sorry I'm hugging the questions again, not 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:19.679 at all. 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.320 Thanks, Thanks quite good to take tons well. What I 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:24.600 wanted to ask you was from the I guess the 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.840 perspective of people perhaps at the lower end of the 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.600 market or first time buyers. So you've been doing this 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.920 for over twenty years now, so you must know a 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:38.720 lot about buying properties. So let's say I'm not quite 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.400 at the stage where I'm able to employ a buying 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.800 agent yet, or I'm too worried about the amount after 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.560 reason for my deposit is. Then you would say to 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.920 an amateur buyer, if you like that, the what's your 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.240 maybe your top three tips? What are the things that 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:57.480 normal people focus on that they are mistakenly focusing on, 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.440 and what should they be paying much more attention into 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:02.920 whenever they're buying a house. I'm looking for the host. 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:05.240 The first thing is get your docks in a row. 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:07.920 I've said that already, but I can't emphasize the importance 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.480 of that, because if you're not organized, if you don't 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:12.880 know how you're going to buy the property, none of 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:14.720 the agents are going to take you seriously. They're not 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:16.400 going to want to take your own viewings, they're not 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.680 going to take your offers seriously. So I think making 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:21.720 sure that you've got your docks lined up in a 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.160 row and I think this was on a previous episode 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:28.240 on this series. Not taking the recommendation of the state 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.360 agent when it comes to financing, when it comes to solicitors, 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.200 when it comes to surveyors, always make sure that you 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.400 are just independently finding your own advisors on the transaction 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:43.160 and you're not using the preferred broker or solicitor of 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.320 the agent that you're trying to buy the house. Film 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:47.880 that's really important, I think in terms of my other 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:52.800 top tips for people embarking on this process is don't 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:55.120 just be driven by the deal. I think often a 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.000 lot of clients come to me and the first thing 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:59.080 they say is they want a deal, they want to bargain, 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.120 And I say, look what you trying to achieve here. 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.040 You know you're trying to buy a forever family home. 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.720 The most important thing is that this is a property 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:09.840 that is going to work for you and your family 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:12.920 for the foreseeable And I think when you look at 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.679 the associated costs of buying today, they are so high. 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.560 Stamp duty rates have never been higher, so the stakes 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.480 have never been higher. You cannot afford to get this 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:26.240 decision wrong. And whatever you end up buying needs to 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:29.840 serve you for the long term. I think we're seeing 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.600 buyers now take fewer jumps up the property ladder and 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.400 make fewer moves, And so when you are moving, that's 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:38.720 got to be your home for the next ten years 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:42.440 or longer. So don't focus on the wrong things. Don't 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.400 focus on is it cheap? Is it a deal? Focus 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.880 on is this right for me and my family for 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.680 the long term. Often I see buyers just get so 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.680 totally sidetracked with whether it's a good deal or not 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:55.840 when they're trying to buy a family home. I think 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.960 other good top tips are make sure that you walk 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.680 the neighborhood at different times of the day, look at 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:05.440 how things change during peak traffic periods, have a really 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.160 good look at who the neighbors are, have a look 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.200 at what your commute looks like from the property. If 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.120 you've got children involved, what does that journey look like 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.160 for the kids to school. Just looking at the practical 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.440 elements and then actually physically going and doing them to 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.240 see how it all works, I think is really really 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:24.040 useful as well. 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.600 Getting down to the kind of grim practicalities of money, 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:30.480 because I know that obviously whenever you're I can allan 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.880 kind a buyer negotiating with the sale out of the 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.400 state agent always feels like quite a fraught process from 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:40.160 a professional point of view, What would you see at 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.320 the kind of best things to do, as you know, 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.240 can alan buyer if it comes to try and make 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.080 an offer that perhaps is lawer than the asking place. 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:50.960 Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing that you 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.960 need to do as a buyer is understand is the 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.200 asking price realistic. What we do as buying agents is 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.280 we look at that asking price, and we look at 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.560 at price square foot, and then we look at we 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.680 try and find as many comparable sales that we can 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.160 of similar properties that have sold recently and look at 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.440 what they achieved on a price per square foot basis. 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.480 That will give you a really good understanding of whether 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:19.760 this asking price is realistic or whether it's sky high 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.080 and back in two thousand and two territory. So that's 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.840 always a good basis. I think for mortgage buyers the 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:27.480 end of the day, what we say to a state 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:29.360 agent's you know, if we're putting in offers that are 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.000 significantly below the asking price based on evidence, is look, 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.240 you know, you need to feed this back to your seller. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.560 You need to make them aware of the evidence of 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.600 things that are happening in the market. We're not putting 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.560 this offer forward because we're trying to be cheeky or 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.000 we're trying to do a deal. We've put this offer forward. 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:50.160 It's very carefully considered, it's based on market evidence, and 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:53.080 because the buyer is taking funuts, there's going to be 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.560 a bank valuation anyway, so it's pointless to get a 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.880 deal agreed at an inflated price that will then just 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.280 fall out of bed when the valuer comes along for 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:04.480 the bank and values it and it's a lower value 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.840 than the agreed purchase price, and everybody gets upset at 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.400 that point, and then the deal doesn't go through. Look 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.159 a good A state agent will be having these conversations 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:14.879 with their sellers already, and I think in the current 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.840 market we are seeing much more realistic pricing. As buying agents, 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.159 when we see properties that are on the market for 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:26.560 very inflated levels before suggesting one of our clients comes 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:28.680 and has a look at it, we'll have a conversation 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.320 with that a state agent saying, look, is this just 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.560 wishful thinking? Are they serious sellers? Because an unrealistic selling price, 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.000 particularly in the current market, suggests that the seller is 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.439 just not serious about selling, and we don't want to 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:42.840 waste our client's time taking them to see properties and 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.720 getting them excited about something when the seller is just 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:49.760 not really that serious or motivated. I think also understanding 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:53.600 the motivation of the seller is really important in the 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:57.119 negotiation strategy and the psychology of it. We always like 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:01.080 to understand the seller's situation. Why are they selling, what's 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:03.760 the reason? How all they own the property, what did 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.320 they buy it for? Do they have a mortgage on it? 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.280 So really understanding that whole background as well, I think 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.360 is important to help with the negotiation process. 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.040 It's interesting, isn't it how having a buying agent can 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.800 take some of the emotion out of that, because negotiating 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:21.159 directly is really hard and John's right that, you know, 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.480 sellers in particular can get really upset if the house 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.840 that they love is not valued by buyers in the 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:29.359 way that it feel it should be. Shout out to 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:31.320 the person we bought our house from, who took out 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:33.480 all the shelves, all the titles, and every single light. 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:36.840 We always like to sort of, haven't you know, put 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.160 a little bit of a bio in with our offer? 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:41.240 Letters as well, because I think it is emotional and 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.200 I think if you are buying from somebody and it's 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.520 been the family home for many, many years, you know, 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:47.520 So we loved on our offer letters a bit about 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:50.120 our clients. Our clives are looking for there forra a home. 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.200 They really love your property, They can see themselves living 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.760 there for the next you know, ten years or plus. 0:18:56.240 --> 0:19:01.159 Giving the seller some information about yourself as the buyer 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.600 and why you like their property, I think can often 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:05.880 soften the blow if it's a slightly lower bid as well. 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:09.200 Who does our buying agent's fee typically work? 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.000 So most buying agents tend to work on a similar 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.639 ish model. You know. We charge clients and initial registration 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:19.280 fee to make sure that they're serious about working with 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.160 us and to start the relationship, and then on success, 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.800 we charge whatever works out to be the greater of 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.719 either two point five percent of the purchase price or 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.320 twenty percent of what we managed to save our client 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.520 from the asking price as a result of our negotiations 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.280 on their behalf. So that's what we charge. I think 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:38.760 there are, as I said, there's lots of buying agents 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.359 out there catering to all sorts of different budgets. So 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.040 you will find a range of fees out. 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.280 There, and you'll find that there are a few fixed 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:47.960 fee arrangements, are there? 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.359 Some do fixed fee? I mean for us, you know, 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:52.400 once we start to sort of you know, get into 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.439 the kind of twenty thirty forty million pound budgets, some 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.560 of our clients we might agree with some sort of 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:01.040 fixed fee on those kinds of searches. We're flexible. We 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.040 never want fees to get in the way of working 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:06.000 with really great clients. That's kind of very much our 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:07.080 ethos at Black Brick. 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.560