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Purchasing a property is probably one of the biggest investments, if not THE biggest investment you will make in your whole life. It still surprises me how seemingly intelligent and educated buyers will attend an Auction with the ‘I’m just going to see how it goes’ plan.

They may have inspected the property a few weeks earlier and liked it, but were too busy to follow up, and in the final days before Auction, were convinced by the persuasive selling agent to attend the auction, with comments like “The owners are very keen to sell, and have bought elsewhere, they will take whatever the market offers on the night, if you have at least $x ( x = lower than it will really sell for) , you should definitely be there or you will miss out on a great buy!”

The Sydney median property price has risen by 14.87% in the 12 months to March 2014 (source RP Data)

This equates to $2159 per week! (Based on a median priced property of $755, 000)

This sounds quite unbelievable when you break it down, but if you talk to people who have been looking to buy, or you ask a Real Estate Buyer’s Agent, they will be able to give you specific examples of properties selling for even more than the above percentage, than what they were selling for 12 months ago.

Is this price growth sustainable?
Is this price growth normal?
Is there a ‘property bubble’ forming?
Should I wait to see if prices drop first, before I decide to purchase?

These are questions most property buyers are asking me daily, so I thought it best to respond in an article.

Up until the late 1980’s people used to simply buy property on their own. Buyers Agents didn’t really exist in Australia.

Occasionally, people would get advice from their Accountant, or sometimes their Solicitor on what type of property they should buy, and where are the best areas, and some other general buying advice. Then they would go off on their own, grab the local paper (this was just before the internet, Domain and realestate.com) and dive straight in.

So you have found a property that ticks all your boxes, and you want to buy it, so what next? how much should i offer for this property

The most common question I get asked by clients is, "How much should I offer for this property?"

This is a difficult topic and understandably of great concern to most buyers. The difference in offers can vary by an average annual salary. We are talking about a serious amount of money.