Buying a Prestige or Luxury Home in Brisbane?

Many people dream about buying a prestige or luxury home in Brisbane. Fancy yourself living on the riverfront in New Farm, Teneriffe or Bulimba? How about a grand old Queenslander in Ascot, Hamilton or Chelmer? Would you prefer city views and a café lifestyle – Paddington, Wilston or Windsor may be more your style? Need a bit more space? Consider buying acreage property in Brookfield, Fig Tree Pocket or the Samford Valley?

Get ready for some unexpected  challenges!

Undoubtedly there are many amazing luxury and prestige homes in Brisbane. Inspecting and purchasing these homes should be an exciting and pleasurable process, however many find the experience daunting with many unexpected challenges along the way.

Brisbane Buyer’s Agent Matt Reeves explains some of the challenges that purchasers face when buying prestige or luxury property in Brisbane:

1. Low stock levels

One of the greatest challenges buyers encounter in the luxury property market is actually finding suitable properties to inspect. Prestige homes tend to have unique features making them ‘one-of-a-kind’.   This may be by virtue of their position (e.g. riverfront properties); the lot itself (large block sizes; city views) or features of the home (character or historic homes; or architect designed properties). This can make the search process frustrating and protracted, particularly if negotiations are unsuccessful when the right property comes along. Buyers need to remain patient, yet ready to take act as soon as a suitable property becomes available. Securing the right property at the best price takes confidence and experience in the market.

2. Off-Market Sales

In Brisbane’s luxury property market many sales occur ‘off-market’. An ‘off-market’ sale means that properties are exchanged between buyers and sellers without them ever becoming available to the open market. Buyer’s agents, who are employed by the purchaser to source, evaluate and negotiate a property purchase, often facilitate these off-market sales. Buyer’s agents source off-market listing using their professional networks or by contacting property owners directly. Unfortunately this means that buyers who rely on Internet listings to source suitable homes, will often miss out on opportunities to secure these properties

3. No list price

Many high-end Brisbane properties are listed for sale without a price or are being sold by auction. This can make it difficult for buyers to determine whether or not the property is within budget, and at what level they should begin negotiations. For unique homes it is often difficult to find similar properties to compare them to, making it more difficult to establish the value of these properties. Prestige buyers need the support of an experienced and independent negotiator to assist them in the purchase, rather than rely on the sales agent for advice. This can potentially save hundreds or thousands of dollars on the purchase price.

4. Bidding at Auction

Many prestige homes in Brisbane are sold by auction. This can be an enormously stressful, and emotional experience for many buyers. Not only do they need to determine what the property is worth, they need to formulate a bidding strategy, and participate in the auction itself! It is important that buyers remain cool-headed during the auction and it makes sense to seek professional help.

5. Anonymity

Anonymity is important for some Brisbane prestige homebuyers. Whether this is because they are high profile identities in the business, media or sporting fields, or wish to remain anonymous because of concern about personal security, family matters, or because they have an existing relationship with the sellers that may impact their ability to negotiate. In these situations a buyers agent can help to facilitate private property inspections, and work with their solicitor through the contract process to ensure that their personal details are not disclosed during negotiations.

Your Property Hound works with buyers in the luxury property market to secure homes at the best possible price. The service includes inspecting and evaluating suitable properties, negotiating the purchase price and/or auction bidding and managing the contract process through to settlement. Some recent purchases are included below:

Clayfield

• Colonial Home with Pool
• 6 bed, 3 bath, 2 car
• 810m2 block
• Purchased in 2017 for $1,942,000
• $153,000 discount was negotiated from the list price

Indooroopilly

• Contemporary Home with pool and tennis court
• 6 bed 3 bath 3 car 2431m2 block
• Purchased for $1,800,000
• Was listed without a price guide. Purchased for $100,000 less than  bank valuation

Kelvin Grove

• Colonial Home with Pool
• 4 bed 2 bath 2car
• 801m2
• Purchased in 2016 for $1,302,000
• Purchased at auction – No guide price provided.

Bardon

• Contemporary home with pool
• 4 bed 2bath 2Car
• 470m2
• Purchased in 2016 for $1,060,000
• Purchase negotiated following unsuccessful auction campaign

If you require assistance with the purchase of a luxury home please do not hesitate to contact us, or visit our website for more information. Information on our auction bidding service can be found here.