How private inspections can benefit buyers

Gone are the days of open house inspections on a Saturday morning, yet real estate agents have never been busier.

Buyers are now able to organise inspections at a time that’s convenient to them and view the property in private and away from the crowds.

With the process now largely one-on-one, buyers can ask as many questions as they like and build up a relationship with agents.

Buyers can benefit from the changes, with more time and information to make the right decision.

Informed buyers

With the move to one-on-one inspections, buyers have the home – and the agent – all to themselves.

“They have the full attention of the agent,” says Adrian Wilson, principal and founder of Sydney real estate agency Ayre Real Estate. “Buyers can ask questions that they may not have felt comfortable asking in a group environment and also get an extended answer.”

Getting to know the agent can work in a buyer’s favour.

“You can build a relationship,” says Brad Straughair, director Domain & Co. Property Advisory in Melbourne. “Ask more questions and get the answers you’re looking for, as opposed to an agent giving a stock standard answer that everyone gets.”

Time saved

Buyers often overlook the advantages of building up a relationship with an agent. In the current climate, real estate agents are getting to know potential buyers and the properties they are looking for. 

Agents now have the opportunity and time to qualify a buyer. They can find out how long the buyer has been in the market for, if they have recently sold and their budget, potentially leading to quicker sales and less time wasted for buyers, vendors and agents alike.

Favourable terms

Straughair recently negotiated a settlement for a buyer in Melbourne who was going through a divorce and sold the family home in February, right before the virus hit.

Rather than having to unnecessarily visit the property, the agent walked through and made a video of its features for the buyer. A private inspection was then organised. 

“The terms negotiated were favourable for my client,” says Straughair. “They were more around settlement and access to the property before the settlement.

“This made the sale of the family home, which was forced upon [them] by a divorce, an easy one with decreased stress.”

Open facilities

Often a private viewing is the only real chance to see other facilities in an apartment complex, such as a pool, gym, private storage or parking. 

“There’s more ability in the buyer’s favour to go and see common facilities, to ask more questions about the building,” says Wilson.

“During an open house, that could be very difficult. You can’t man the property and take people through the facilities unless you have two or three agents.”

Sense of space

In an open house, the property will have a flow of people moving through it, and crowds can make a property feel smaller than it is.

“When you’re in the property on your own, you get a better sense of what the space is like,” says Wilson. “If you turn up at a friend’s house party and there’re 15 people there, you’re never going to get the same sense of what the space is like.”

Flexibility

Agents love open house inspections, which create an air of competition, and get as many potential buyers through in one hit – even some who just want a sticky beak.

Now that buyers are calling the shots, both vendors and agents have to show a property when the buyer is available.

“It’s become much easier to book private inspections,” says Straughair, who has found in that past that some agents have been too busy to organise private inspections. “Now, they are forced to be a bit more flexible.”