At the beginning of the year, we moved to Sydney from California and after a few months decided that we wanted to look into buying a house and getting ourselves settled. The housing market in the San Francisco Bay Area is hot but we quickly found it is nothing compared to Sydney. In addition to the prices and competition, the concept of 30 minute home inspections and the thought of going to auction absolutely terrified us. It was such a different process from what we were used to. After a couple of months of looking and a few failed purchase attempts it became very clear that we needed help. …
I had read a couple of articles on Buyers Agents and we felt that this might be the best approach for us to take.
I had seen OH Property Group constantly recommended on the North Shore Mums Facebook page. As soon as I spoke to Henny it was very clear to me how they could help us and the competitive advantage we would potentially have over other buyers. After just the first weekend of working with Henny and Oliver we could see that they not only understood the property market on the Lower North Shore but also understood our brief. Six weeks in and we purchased a beautiful house in Cremorne that ticked almost all of our boxes (and ticked some boxes that weren’t even on our list!). We purchased the house off-market which allowed us to avoid competitive bids, having to go to auction and paying more than the house was worth. We could not be happier and cannot wait to move in.
I don’t think we could have done this without OH Property Group. It was so helpful to have someone who was out there every weekend looking at all potential properties that might meet our brief. Oliver and Henny are so familiar with the area and the real estate agents that they know about properties before anyone else which is a big advantage over other buyers. Real estate agents know that Buyer’s Agents are motivated purchasers and take them much more seriously.
As a buyer you are so emotionally vested in the process and it is so easy for this to get in the way of being objective and making a sound purchase. Having someone working for us who was completely objective and could keep us focused on our brief was very reassuring. They had never ending patience as we got familiar with the purchasing process in Australia, fluctuated on properties and got cold feet and seemed to know when and when not to push.
Buying a house is a huge investment and the money spent on a Buyer’s Agent was money well spent and a small amount in the whole scheme. I am hoping we have found our dream home and never need to move but if we do, I would not hesitate to use OH Property again.
G. & T. Kilfoil
Categories: Expats, First Time Home Buyers