Do first home buyers need a buyers agent in Sydney? I sat down with Ailsa, a first home buyer I worked with, to hear how it went for her. She had been in her new home for nearly four weeks when we recorded.
I come across first home buyers all the time who start out excited, then end up with too many opinions and voices in their head and feel overwhelmed. Ailsa and her partner moved to Sydney about three years ago. When they got notice their rental was ending, they had about three months to find somewhere, and they decided to buy.
Ailsa talks about not knowing how auctions work or what a reserve is, and the opinions that came from every direction, including advice to pay $200,000 over. I share the moments that mattered from my side: a property that looked promising until we found it was next to a stormwater drain and was flooding, the advice that in a complex, big structural changes can cost a lot and you may not even be able to put them through, and that there will always be a better property, so don't compromise just because time isn't on your side.
We also get into the off market home they bought in the end. It took patience. You need to understand where the vendor is at and what the agent is trying to do, then fit it around your timeline.
When Ailsa gets to her advice for first home buyers, she says what mattered was having guidance from someone who knows the Sydney market, and that it doesn't have to be a buyers agent per se. My view is that most buyers don't need more opinions. They need the right clarity and a structure to follow.
If that sounds like you, Better Home Buying is my online course that walks you through the process step by step, from understanding what your brief and budget buys to getting the keys. It includes live sessions with me where you can ask your questions, plus downloadables and modules. Find it at betterhomebuying.com.au.
Chapters
0:00 Why first home buyers get overwhelmed
1:30 Why Ailsa and her partner decided to buy
3:17 Knowing the questions versus asking them
5:43 Too many opinions and the pressure to pay over
8:00 What got easier with a guide
9:21 The WhatsApp group and the stormwater drain property
10:14 Renovation plans in a complex
11:39 Finding the right property
12:25 There will always be a better property
13:36 Off market, patience and reading the vendor
14:12 Making the offer and negotiating
16:19 The most stressful part: auctions
18:45 Getting the keys
21:04 Advice for first home buyers just starting out
23:42 Clarity, process and patience
24:25 Most buyers need clarity, not more opinions
Listener FAQs
Do first home buyers need a buyers agent?
Ailsa's view is that what mattered was guidance from someone who knows the Sydney market, and it doesn't have to be a buyers agent per se. My view is that most buyers don't need more opinions. They need clarity and a structure to follow.
How do I know which properties are worth a closer look as a first home buyer?
Ailsa says the biggest difference was filtering. Before, they inspected a lot of properties without knowing how to rule them out. With my professional opinion, they could tell which properties had potential, and she remembers me telling them one would never outperform the market because of its position.
Should I buy a place that needs big renovations in a complex?
Ailsa remembers my advice on a property that needed internal restructuring to bring in natural light: in a complex, huge structural changes could cost you a lot of money and you may not even be able to put them through. For your own purchase, check with your solicitor.
What do I do when I keep missing out on properties?
Ailsa says they went to maybe two or three auctions and that it was disheartening each time a dream property slipped away. The advice she remembers from me is that there will always be a better property, so don't compromise just because time isn't on your side.
Is buying off market quicker and easier?
Not in Ailsa's case. She and her partner expected it to be easy because the vendor seemed keen to sell, but it dragged out. I say you need to understand where the vendor is at and what the agent is trying to do, then fit it around your timeline.
I'm an independent buyers agent in Sydney. I only act for buyers, never vendors.
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Questions or episode ideas: hello@buyyourside.com.au
Speakers in Today's Episode
Michelle May, Michelle May Buyers Agents
Ailsa
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Please note that any views or opinions presented in this podcast are solely those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent those of any business. These views and opinions are general in nature, and do not take account of your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Please consider whether it applies in your circumstances and seek professional advice wherever appropriate.
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Michelle May: Hi and welcome back to the Buy Your Side podcast. Now, you know, this property podcast is all about, um, helping you make smarter property decisions. And of course, I come across first home buyers like yourself, if you're listening right now, all the time, potentially getting really excited to start, and then too many opinions and voices in your head and feeling a little bit overwhelmed. So I thought, what a better idea than, uh, to invite one of my most recent clients, Ailsa, to the show, to, um, talk through how her experience was and how she came out the other, uh, side with her partner Jonas. Now, Ailsa, thank you so much for coming on. How are you?
Ailsa: Good, thanks. Thanks for having me, Michelle. Very keen to join. I'm an avid listener of your podcast as well, so it's very exciting that I had the opportunity to join you.
Michelle May: Well, and of course you are now on the other side, 'cause how many weeks has it been since you got the keys?
Ailsa: Four weeks nearly now. So we've been here for nearly a month and it's been really great. We've been really enjoying ourselves here and we've met all the neighbours as well, because we live in a complex and everyone's been super lovely to us and our dog.
Michelle May: Yay. Oh, that's so good to hear. I'm so glad to have you here, but I wanna take you back to the very beginning. Um, you know, what was your situation like when you first started thinking about buying, and what made you decide that now was the right time to buy?
Ailsa: Yeah, so my partner Jonas and I moved to Sydney about three years ago and our experience with the rental market has always been quite challenging. Whether it is we pay for an air-con apartment and the landlord never fixed the air-con, or our most recent property, we were getting kicked out because they were turning it into an Airbnb. So from all those experiences, just really setting our mind that we wanna own our own property. And because Jonas and I are quite young, we wanna also start our own family one day and we have our dog. So giving her a bit of a backyard was also a big driver towards us buying a property. Um, so we had been thinking about it for a while, but the moment that actually drove us to start looking was when we received the notice that we were getting terminated from our rental. And so then we had about three months to start looking, which was extremely stressful. And it coincided with the time where the first home buyer scheme first came in, in October last year. So the property market was extremely hot, but both myself and Jonas's parents were like, well, if you're going to find another rental, we may as well try and buy you a property. So that's when we kind of embarked on the property journey and sort of started talking about it. And met yourself, Michelle, in the process as well.
Michelle May: Yeah. And of course, for a bit of context, you know, Jonas's mom works in the property space as well. She's actually, uh, one of my very first mentors as a buyers agent, but she's in a different state. So I mean, having her as your advisor in the background as well initially, um, I mean, it would've made you feel more confident, but did it still feel a little bit overwhelming at times?
Ailsa: A hundred percent. Very, very overwhelming, especially for a young person where I don't know how auctions work. I don't know what the reserve was, you know, all these definitions. I just thought you go, you bid and the highest price wins, no matter if you hit the reserve or not. And having Jonas's mom, Carolyn, was absolutely very helpful. She would always send us tips and questions that we should ask the real estate agent when we do go see a property. But at the same time, because she is based interstate, the Sydney property market is a whole completely different beast to Brisbane. And there's a difference between knowing the questions you should ask versus actually asking the real estate agent. That part I also found was really overwhelming. Like, I didn't know how to push the agent. I didn't know how to, like, cut through maybe the colourful language that they would normally use, um, and ask my questions. Also very daunting. My partner Jonas wouldn't ask the questions either. So I often found that I had to kind of ask all the questions, which was extremely daunting. And as well, we didn't grow up in Sydney. So that aspect of which suburbs were great, which suburbs were probably too expensive now, and which were the up and coming, because for young first time buyers, um, being able to get into the market at a reasonable price was really important for us, because we couldn't afford to pay three, $400,000 over our budget. So knowing the suburbs that were nice and trendy for young people, and also for myself, because I worked in the city, um, travelling to the city was a huge, um, tick in the box for me that I was looking for. But also we wanted somewhere that was quite trendy. So all of that tied together, it was extremely overwhelming. We didn't know which suburbs to start. The typical ones that we hear about, like Newtown or maybe North Sydney, were way too expensive and out of our range. So we kind of just felt like, we don't even know where to start at the beginning.
Michelle May: Yeah. And you were lucky to have an actual expert by your side, you know, in the sense of Jonas's mom. Um, but I imagine you working, you know, and telling people, okay, we're looking to purchase a property, did everybody pile in with their own advice that wasn't necessarily grounded in knowledge and, uh, experience like Carolyn's was?
Ailsa: Yes, absolutely. When I told my colleagues, having worked in the finance industry, obviously a lot of them had bought their own property as well as investment properties. Um, and being the social class that they're in, money probably to them wasn't a huge problem when looking at properties. So I would often get a lot of opinions like, just go for it, pay $200,000 over, that's so cheap. Or like, Marrickville, you can never find something for that price range. If you do, I'll come snatch it up. Things like that, which gave me a lot of pressure. Yeah. And it was like really dark. I couldn't see light. I just thought, oh my God, I'm never gonna buy in this property market in Sydney with the budget that I have. And then at the same time, I had your help and Carolyn's help, but also my parents were also trying to help, but not being in the Sydney market, obviously their opinion kind of just mixed up with everyone else's at the time as well. For me, working in finance, we look at a lot of data points. For example, auction rates. Like, Michelle, I know we've spoken a lot about consumer confidence, interest rate hikes, which are all the data points that I look at and try to forecast in my day-to-day job. Those also came in the mix, because I know I was saying to you, like, auction rates are coming down, maybe we can get this property for cheaper. But you kind of put some sense into me that, you know, the market is really hard, and we kind of had to give this a good go. So I think at the time there were so many voices in the mix, it was really hard to actually find the right direction and know how much to pay for a property, so that you don't just get swayed in the moment of things.
Michelle May: Hmm. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. Um, that the emotional side of buying a property is usually underestimated, how much it can actually, uh, cause you to do things, right? Move really quite fast, or actually hold and sort of sit and, um, you know, what is it called? You know, this overwhelm sort of bringing you down, and then all of a sudden it's three weeks later and you still haven't done anything and you haven't bought, and the market's kept moving. Right. Um, do you think that once we started working together, was there anything that started to feel easier? Or, you know, what did you feel was the biggest difference moving forward once we started holding your hand through the process?
Ailsa: I think definitely filtering and identifying which properties had aspects that were good for us. So previous to starting working with you, we were going to all the properties and a lot of them just weren't good enough for us, but we didn't know how to filter them out. But with, say, your professional opinion and helping us navigate the property market, you could tell us which properties had a lot of potential. Maybe that's something that we didn't realise that we could add value to, or you told us some properties were near, like, social housing that we probably didn't want to be near, or that would impact the future value, or other properties that we thought had potential. But you said, you know, maybe it's just, um, we would put some renovations in, but it would never outperform the market because of the placement, the position it was in. So I think that aspect, we felt like there was a lot more guidance and we were a lot more clear on what we should be looking for, um, given the goals that we had communicated with you.
Michelle May: Hmm. I do remember at the beginning, uh, 'cause we always have a WhatsApp chat group, don't we? And I always encourage people to just throw in any doomscrolling from late at night on Domain, just throw it in there and tell me, you know, what do you like about it, and why we should or shouldn't go for it. Um, as the process went on, that actually got less and less, didn't it? Because I think you got a clearer understanding, okay, this is what we should be looking for or not. And, do you remember that one property in, I think, in Newtown, that we thought, oh my gosh, it's got great potential, and then we found out it was next to a stormwater drain and it was actually flooding, and how much it ended up selling for, to
Ailsa: Oh.
Michelle May: an unsuspecting buyer. Yeah. I mean, I always feel bad for those people. Um, yeah.
Ailsa: I always say to my friends, like, young people or first time buyers in this market are at such a disadvantage, because you're having to fork out, like, $1.5 million for something that you still need to put a lot of money into renovating before you can actually move in. And one of the examples that I remember when we were working with you was the Leichhardt property, which we thought there could be potential, but there was a lot of, like, internal restructuring we would've needed to do in order to bring more natural light into the property. At the time I said to my partner, and yourself, let's just buy it, we can deal with all those renovations afterwards. But then you talked some sense into me and you said, look, you're in a complex, doing huge structural changes like that could cost you a lot of money and you may not even be able to put it through, which in hindsight was one of the best pieces of advice that you had given us at the time. Um, so also helping us avoid those, like, potholes or easy mistakes that first home buyers who've maybe never owned a property before, who don't have experience dealing with complexes and strata, which I've never dealt with, because growing up my parents always lived in a house. So I think navigating those and having someone there who has experience dealing with them before was also really helpful for a first time buyer like myself.
Michelle May: Hmm. And how did it feel when you found the property that you knew you wanted to buy?
Ailsa: Well, throughout our property buying journey, we definitely found more than one that we were very keen on. And I think, speaking to everyone, that's everyone's experience. Most of the time you're not going to be able to buy the first property that you fell in love with. And that's our experience as well. I think we went to maybe two or three auctions throughout our time. Every single one, we were very, very excited. Every time we saw the property we were like, this is the one. But you know, Sydney being the hot property market, it's very disheartening every time your dream property slips away from you. But the current one, so the most recent one that we actually did end up buying, I remember we were, like, dried out of inventory for a solid two, three weeks leading up to it. And at the time we were like, our rental's coming up for expiry, like, we are not gonna get something. And we didn't want to compromise on the property that we buy just because we wanted to move into a home. And as you said to me at the time, Michelle, there will always be a better property, don't compromise just because time is not on your side. Right. So I felt that was a great piece of advice as well. But when we did finally look at this current property, and it was off market, we immediately fell in love with it. And we knew this was a great opportunity and we wanted to snatch it up before it went up the market, because from our experience, every time it goes to auction, it would get our bid and be above our budget and the fair value, um, of the property. So when we saw this one, of course after all the due diligence that was done, um, and nothing was wrong, we were happy with everything. We just went ahead and, um, tried our best to purchase the property.
Michelle May: Yeah, and we were lucky with this one, weren't we? 'Cause you guys were the only ones to see it. Um, and we managed to, um, we had to be quite patient as well, didn't we? Um, it didn't go as quickly as we perhaps would've liked it to have gone, but sometimes that's the case. You know, you really need to understand the dynamics of, you know, where the vendor is at, what the agent's trying to do, and then make it fit around your timeline as well. And you guys were also fortunate that your landlord allowed you to stay longer, uh, in that process as well, so that worked really, really good. So when it came to actually, okay, we found this off market property, we're really excited about it, did you feel more confident at that stage to move forward on it, make an offer, uh, as opposed to when you first started looking?
Ailsa: Yeah, definitely. Um, I think before we went to look at the property, I really liked what I saw in the images, to the point where I was happy to not even come look at the property. And I said to my partner, look, if you like it, just buy it, I'm happy to move ahead. But um, in the end I did come see it. Yeah. Which is
Michelle May: We don't do that.
Ailsa: Um, but yeah, when we actually came to see it, we really liked the property. Obviously we came a second time just to see it at different times of the day, see how the sunlight hit it at different angles, et cetera. And after we had done all the due diligence as well, getting the strata sorted, all that stuff, we still really absolutely loved the property. Um, and when we decided to go for it, it was full steam ahead. We were really keen to get it. Obviously there were a lot of delays with the vendors themselves and during that time period we had to be very patient, which is actually really hard for young people who've found the right property, it's in a great price range, and you just wanna buy it. You just wanna snatch it up. And I feel like if I had to go back and forth with a real estate agent, I wouldn't be as cool and collected as you were at the time, Michelle. I would be like, come on, what's taking them so long? Et cetera. Um, so in hindsight that was also really good, like you acting as the intermediary and the wall, sort of, um, especially towards the end when we were negotiating. That part was also very tricky to navigate and something that I don't think I would've done as well myself, or been able to handle that pressure, um, of whether we should add more money, whether we should hold our ground, et cetera. So throughout that process, we were always very keen on the property, but it was definitely a lot harder than we thought just given it was off market. And we thought, you know, they were keen to sell so it would be really easy. They actually ended up dragging out a lot longer than we thought.
Michelle May: Hmm. So what was, I guess, overall the most stressful part of the process for you? Looking back, did you ever feel like giving up? And, yeah, what
Ailsa: A hundred percent. Um, I think the whole buying process. Everyone told me Sydney's crazy, but I've always thought, because working in finance, you know, we would have enough budget to buy. We are not looking for a huge mansion or anything. We're happy to have a complex just as long as it wasn't an apartment, because our goal was to give our dog a backyard. Um, so it actually struck me how difficult it was, and it was extremely stressful when we had a property that we really liked and wanted to go either off market or move quite fast, that the negotiations with the vendors wouldn't get there. And then there was the whole thing where we have to go, um, to auction. And luckily we had you, Michelle, to go to auction for us. Otherwise I had no idea how to go to auction. Even on the day, standing on the side watching you, I was so stressed. Um, but then of course when the bid would go out of our price range, it felt very disheartening, and that whole process was always extremely stressful.
Michelle May: Okay, so the funniest thing just happened. Ailsa and I were talking about the process, and then there was a knock on the door. Ailsa, just talk me through what just happened.
Ailsa: So I just saw my neighbour from across the complex come up to my door and I was like, hey. And then I said to Michelle, gimme two seconds. And he actually came and gave me some free limes. It was so sweet. They grew in his own backyard. He's got a whole box. He's like, take. I'm like, that's so nice, thank you. I just took a few. I don't have that many people living here anyways, but they're honestly the sweetest neighbours ever, and they look after my dog as well whilst I'm gone at work. So
Michelle May: Oh, it's mutually beneficial, um, society. That's so good, because you live in a small, um, townhouse complex, so it's really nice that you found the right community as well. And I think that's
Ailsa: A hundred percent.
Michelle May: as important as finding the right, you know, unit, apartment, house. It's really important to find a good complex. So obviously you did so, I'm so happy for you. Well, that's
Ailsa: I wanted to say.
Michelle May: So, hey, now that it's all done and dusted, um, what did it feel like actually getting your own keys?
Ailsa: Oh, felt so good. I think for me, or for my partner as well, it's just the stability. Like when we were first told we were getting kicked out of our rental, 'cause we moved interstate, we had no family here. So that fear of, where are we gonna live, right? I never wanna be in that situation again. So that was one of the biggest drivers for me to own my own property. It wasn't like I could just move back home, you know, wait until the property market had died down a bit before coming back out again. It was, we have to either buy something or rent somewhere. And to me, buying somewhere just made so much sense. Right? And so when we eventually did get this place and when we got the keys, it was just like, whoa, we've settled, we've settled down in Sydney. We have our own little place. And the best thing so far within the last month is just being able to make those small changes around the house that feel more homely to us. Because with a rental it's like, oh, can I put up a nail? Can I not? Can I put up some wallpaper? Do I have to, like, repaint before I move out? Just things like that just don't make it my own home. Whereas here I could put some grass down for my dog, which she has never had grass in her life, being an apartment dog. And I just remember the first day we put grass down, she played by herself on the grass for a solid hour, just by herself. She was rolling around, I was cooking and then I noticed, where's my dog? 'Cause she's never left my side when I'm at home in the apartment. And then I looked out of the kitchen window and she's just been playing on her grass and she's so extremely happy. And that just made me feel like, this sounds really bad, but buying this was so worth it.
Michelle May: No, that's great. That's
Ailsa: But a lot of first time young person advice these days is buying for their dogs. So,
Michelle May: Well, listen, I mean, it's someone, you know, someone part of your household. Um, you know, and it's really important that you yourself are happy, but also your pets are enjoying the environment you live in. For sure. Like, yeah, totally understandable. So now that you are a proud homeowner, is there something you would say to someone who's just at the start of this whole process? What would you say to them? Like, is there something you wish you'd known earlier, or, you know, yeah, tell me some piece of advice for them.
Ailsa: Well, I actually think at the start it is very hard to know what you don't know, right? Just because you're so new to everything. But I think having the right guidance, having someone there who actually does know property, is very, very important. And it also prevents you from falling into those loopholes, or prevents you from buying excessively above what the fair value is, which is something that I felt like I needed a lot of guidance on. Um, so having someone there who could help you, a professional such as Michelle maybe, or if you have family or friends who are well versed in the property market to tell you, because when I talk to colleagues who are my age and I go, oh, we bought this off market, they'll go, sorry, can you just, like, explain to me what off market is versus auction versus private treaty? And that's so valid, because six months ago I was also asking those exact same questions. Instead of using ChatGPT to tell me which suburbs are increasing the most in pricing, you know, I'd rather talk to a professional who could, you know, guide me along the way, do all that due diligence for me, as well as go to auction for me, which I think, because my family and my parents aren't here, is not something that I would've had the confidence to go to auction myself on the day. So, um, yeah, I think my biggest piece of advice is to go source out those people who could give you some sort of guidance or teach you about the property market. It doesn't have to be a buyers agent per se, just someone who knows the Sydney market who can help you navigate it. In my case, I didn't have anyone like that, but luckily because Carolyn, my boyfriend's mum, knew Michelle, we were able to get really great help from you. So at the end of the day, you know, we felt very guided throughout the process and we ended up in a property that we love without having to pay excessively over the fair value, which in the long run, as you say, Michelle, you make your money when you buy, right? So I really think, yeah, having that guidance is extremely important for first time buyers.
Michelle May: Yeah. And I guess it's the clarity through the process, you know, this is here, this is where we're gonna start with your brief and your budget, and there is an actual process to doing this right. And sometimes that means being really patient and walking away from the wrong thing. Um, yeah. And sometimes you have to move extremely fast in order to do that. So, yeah. Well, thank you so much, Ailsa, for your time. I'm so glad we found you the right place to call home.
Ailsa: Likewise. Thank you so much. I've really enjoyed working with you as well and, you know, we love our new property. Couldn't be happier. Our first property in Sydney.
Michelle May: Yay. Well done. Well done. Well, hey, if you are listening to this, you've been listening to Ailsa and you think, oh my gosh, that sounds exactly like me, well, that's not a coincidence. Uh, it happens all the time. And most buyers don't need more opinions. They just need the right clarity and the structure to be able to successfully purchase in the Sydney market, particularly in a market such as right now, which is really confusing because there's so much happening in the world. There's so much happening in Australia, um, which renders a lot of buyers unable to make a decision. Um, they're sort of sitting on their hands and not knowing what to do. Now, I know this is why, you know, I started this podcast a long time ago, exactly to help you, uh, get some clarity and confidence in buying by yourself. But I've also got, as you may know, the Better Home Buying course, which is a step-by-step process that will walk you through everything from understanding what your brief and budget buys you all the way to, like, Ailsa getting the keys. Um, it's an online programme, uh, course, with me, with live sessions with me, you can ask me all your questions. Uh, we can go through everything. Uh, there's downloadables and handy modules to talk you through the whole thing. So it might be something you're interested in, but otherwise, keep listening to the podcast. Give us a like and a follow. Um, share it with your family and your friends so they get to find us as well.