Damon Angelo +61 (0) 406 962 701

CoreLogic data now shows that over 30% of properties in the Inner West, Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches are purchased prior to auction by Buyer’s Agents like ourselves.

However, there’s way more to this headline statistic than meets the eye: At first glance, it tells us a third of the buyers in blue-chip suburbs are super time-poor, have limited access to Pre, Post, and Off-Market property, lack the experience and expertise to substantiate property values accurately and are sick of continually missing out at auction. Indeed, these are the three reasons people use Buyer’s Agents—ordinarily. But in Sydney’s most coveted and fought-over neighbourhoods, there’s something more going on: buyers are adopting the Buyer’s Agent model chiefly as an offensive strategy to leverage the relationships Buyer’s Agents have with sales agents and beat out other buyers. Astutely, they don’t merely see the Buyer’s Agent service as a professional and expeditious concierge-like advocacy that streamlines and manages the entire buying process from sourcing to securing and settlement; they see it as a competitive edge. And then, when you also consider that 40% of blue-chip properties are selling Off-Market (unadvertised and bought behind the scenes—by Buyer’s Agents), you suddenly have to ask yourself: In the great Australian property hunt, where are you in the running without professional help?

“Sometimes it’s not only what you know, but whom you know…”.

Where this axiom is never more accurate is in real estate. We at Ars Terram (Latin for: “The Art of Land”) not only possess significant market expertise but maintain unique peer-to-peer relationships with the vast network of seller’s agents in the Inner West, Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore, and Northern Beaches, allowing us to source and secure properties for our clients—ahead of other buyers. In short, our Corporate Real Estate Licence is an all-access, behind-the-scenes industry pass that affords us exclusive insider knowledge, insights, and privileges. In other words, we have the inside track.

In life, one can measure the difference between success and failure in mere millimetres. Like in the exasperating game of golf, the slightest adjustment in your process and execution can mean the difference between shanking the ball and hitting a hole-in-one. And it’s the same with buying property—the difference between floundering in the market for 12-18 months before settlement (typical for average buyers say statistics) and purchasing property in 4-8 weeks (as we typically do for our clients) lies in the fine details of our methods. When buyers enlist our services, we become their proxy. In effect, it’s as if our clients are engaging the market with their very own Corporate Real Estate Licence. This puts them not only on a level playing field with vendors, it even more critically gives them a colossal, and almost unfair, advantage over other buyers (their competitors). The market is a distinctly different place for those who come to it armed with a Buyer’s Agent.

Let’s take a moment to get our heads around what a Buyer’s Agent is and what they actually do.

On the surface of things, you could say; Buyers Agents are real estate agents who, instead of selling property, source and secure property for time-poor, inexperienced and exasperated buyers. Indeed, this is true, but it’s far from the complete picture. Think about this for a second: when you call your local restaurant for home delivery (the restaurant being your local real estate agent in this analogy), you only have access to the items on their menu. On the other hand, if you engage with Uber Eats, you have access to every dish, on every menu, in every restaurant in town. Like Uber Eats, Buyers Agents are independent and omnipresent industry insiders who blow the doors of the marketplace wide open for buyers.

Time and again, our prospective clients voice the same frustrations:

“We just can’t win. It’s like, every house we look at we hear pre-auction offers are “not being heard,” but learn later it sold prior to auction, or we get into a dutch auction, and our offers are always “way short of the mark,” or it goes to public auction and sells way passed estimate. And every week, prices are rising.”

Unfortunately, the single overarching problem lies with buyers severely underestimating the sheer level of competition for property in Sydney’s blue-chip suburbs and the depth of market expertise and industry relationships required to secure them ahead of other buyers.

Sydney harbour, with its Harbour Bridge, Opera House, wharfs and marinas, harbour skyline and sea views, picturesque headlands, and world-class beaches—epitomising health, lifestyle, and successful living—is the geographical jewel in Australia’s residential landscape. Jealously holding unshared access to her splendorous picture-postcard like waterfront and foreshore are the fashionable suburbs of the Inner West, Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore, and Northern Beaches. Geographically blessed, these exclusive blue-chip enclaves—encompassing “the true Sydney experience,” you might say—amount to the country’s most coveted, and thereby valuable, real estate.

DID YOU KNOW: around 50% of all properties sold in Australia sell outside of domain.com.au and realestate.com.au, in the form of Off-Market, Post-Market and Pre-Market property?

Pre-Market property: These are listed but pre-campaigned properties that are in preparation for sale. Also, properties, where a client may consider selling, should the right buyer come along.

Off-Market property: These are listed but never advertised properties where absolute privacy and discretion is a strict stipulation of the sale, as the vendor wishes to conduct their private business out of the public eye. In some cases, prospective buyers may even need to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get a viewing. Off-Market sales are becoming increasingly more prevalent in the Inner West and Northern Beaches and currently makeup close to 40% of all Eastern Suburbs and Lower North Shore property transactions.

Post-Market property: These properties failed to find a buyer, were delisted or withdrawn from the market, but are still for sale. A property can fail to sell for the most benign reasons: like lousy timing or poor weather.

A ‘pre-auction’ or ‘prior-to-auction’ sale: This is where a property has sold before its scheduled auction. These deals are the sole domain of Buyer’s Agents; as we come representing pre-qualified and vouched-for clientele, and are seasoned negotiators and property buyers, able to correctly substantiate a property’s true market value, drawing on our in-depth marketplace knowledge. But above all, it’s because mutual, peer-to-peer trust exists between ourselves and the seller’s agents to inevitably achieve a smooth, timely, and favourable outcome. For these reasons, unsolicited and unqualified pre-auction offers from the layman public are regarded as fickle, clumsy, unknowledgeable, and thus rarely entertained or considered.

Your ‘Search Cost’: This is the rise in values in your target suburb between the time you engage the market with finance and the time you Exchange Contracts. The median search time in the Inner West, for example, is 12 months. At 8.7% annual historic growth on a $2mil property, that could represent an additional outlay of $174k. Time is money.

Call me if you’re ready to get serious about your search, and wish to…

Snap up the best properties prior to auction or Off-Market and beat other buyers to the punch.
Be the sole party in a Private Treaty sale negotiation, as opposed to attending literal auction street fights where your competitors make wild $100k bids against you.
Bring your exhaustive and fruitless, not to mention mentally and emotionally harrowing, search to a timely and favourable end.
Avoid getting price pushed out of your ideal suburb as values in the Inner West climb steadily upwards at a rate of thousands per month, and many thousands more per month in the Eastern Suburbs and Lower North Shore.
Purchase quickly in your ideal suburb to head off climbing values that would otherwise cost you many thousands of dollars in the Inner West, and many thousands of dollars more in the Eastern Suburbs and Lower North Shore, for every month you are not in the market.
Get relaxed, private viewings, sidestepping pressurised cattle-round-up-like open homes.

Savvier, motivated buyers are waking up to the power of Buyer Agents. Rather than leave the largest and most important purchase of their lives to fate or mere chance, they’re enlisting Buyer’s Agents to hack the marketplace and give them an uneven advantage over their rivals—other buyers. Call me today (Damon Angelo) on 04 0696 2701 to join the smart money.

“It goes without saying that smart money would never be seen dead in the financial markets, for instance, without the prior guidance of professional market analysis and advocacy from a marketplace expert; so how, by the same token, is it prudent to invest in the property market, to the tune of millions, in the absence of the same?” – Damon Angelo.

Confidentiality.

Our client’s privacy is not merely a matter of professional discretion; we also arrange private viewings, can bid for you at auction in your absence (being licensed auctioneers), and, on request, can implement non-disclosure agreements for all parties in the sale.

Representation.

We are our client’s vigorous champion throughout the buying process: exempting them from rushed and impersonal public viewings, mitigating the perils of auctions, and acting as their intermediary and advocate in all dealings between them and real estate agents.

Transparency.

We think it not simply enough to be open and honest with clients about our practices; we deem it also essential to explain every step of the buying process along the way, giving the client peace of mind and ultimately the power to make informed decisions.

The key to understanding and hacking the market as a buyer:

To hack the marketplace from a buyer’s perspective, one must first examine its fundamental workings. And in doing so, we must address some widely-held fundamental misunderstandings and untruths about real estate agents (seller agents) and their role in the marketplace.

The first problem comes from the unquestioned belief that real estate agents (seller agents) are all things to all people, whether they are buyers or sellers. But this is a wholly incorrect assumption.

Expecting a seller’s agent to help you buy, source and purchase property is akin to using a flat-head screwdriver on a Phillips head screw. Sure, at first glance, you think you’ve selected the right tool for the job, but God is in the details, as they say.

Let’s take a closer look. No real estate agent can lawfully sell or, in turn, as a consequence, collect any sales commission on any property without holding an ‘Agency Agreement’ with the vendor of that property. Just let that sink in for a second. Now ask yourself, whose interests are they actually serving, you (the buyer) or the vendor?

And this contract/commission-bound relationship real estate agents (seller agents) have with vendors is why they have such limited access to the market from a buyer’s perspective and hence can only show you the properties that sit on their books alone.

However, in stark contrast, we Buyer’s Agents have no vested interest, nor are we contractually tied to any particular properties. Our Agency Agreements and, thus, our obligations and interests lay solely with you (the buyer). Consequently, we are free agents with access across the entire marketplace, with zero commitment to any vendors or seller agents—meaning, we find the property that best suits you, not us.

And then, when you take into account slick and alluring Vendor Paid Advertising campaigns, cattle-call-like open homes, and pressure cooker auctions, it’s clear that vendors have all the market’s expertise, resources, and leverage (outside of conveyancing) to themselves — heavily skewing the playing field in their favour.

Who then works on behalf of the buyer?

Sadly, up until recently, no one. A fact that soon becomes soberingly apparent to buyers, especially to those who are 30 days from yet another expiration of their 90-day finance facility and approaching 12months (or more) of searching without a result.

Thankfully, however, buyers are now able to counter this huge expertise and resource imbalance (rooted in the contract-binding vendor-real estate agent partnership) by enlisting the services of their very own professional insider and advocate, known as a Buyer’s Agent.

When selling a property, you can have no greater and more powerful asset in your corner than a real estate agent, but when purchasing property, one requires a distinctly different tool for the job–you need a Buyer’s Agent.

In summary, that’s why we at Ars Terram (Latin: ‘The art of property’) say: “Anyone, nowadays, not using a Buyer’s Agent in their property search is, by default, operating in the old vendor-centric marketplace and thus, automatically, on the back foot”.

^{Time poor?}

Time poor, and not professionally experienced in sourcing, valuing, negotiating on, and buying property?

We at Ars Terram are fully licensed corporate real estate agents and auctioneers, expert in all areas of sales and acquisition. To get started, before we bring our market insider knowledge and resources to bear on delivering your solution, we first build your Unique Property Acquisition Profile to create a detailed and accurate sight picture of what you’re looking for—whether home or investment.

Missing out on property?

Sick of missing out on properties, and worried about overpaying?

We at Ars Terram have access to the real estate industries’ most sophisticated macro data and analytics in terms of current, up-to-the-minute market prices, prevailing price movements, and prevalent trends at a suburb-by-suburb and street-by-street level.

Unfruitful experiences with seller agents?

Feel you’re not getting access to all the available property in the market?

We at Ars Terram get you industry insider access to the marketplace by leveraging our trusted peer relationships with real estate agents; whilst at the same time acting as the intermediary between you and the agent in all interactions and your advocate in all negotiations.

What a Buyer’s Agent can ALSO do for you.

Give you back your time, and in particular your weekends.
Remove the harrowing anxiety, taxing stress and demoralising frustration that normally go hand in hand with purchasing property in highly sought after and fought over suburbs.
Get you access to more property by leveraging our peer relationships with vendor’s agents.
Reduce the risk of overpaying at auction by securing you a property prior to auction (Pre-Market), Post-Market or even Off-market.
Reduce the risk of buyer’s remorse that can come from panic buying when uninformed and inexperienced buyers go it alone in highly sought after and fought over suburbs.
Get you unhurried private viewings in your ideal suburb.
Find you the right property and at the right price point by leveraging our insider access to the marketplace and accurately substantiating market value using most sophisticated macro data and analytics in terms of accurate, up-to-the-minute market price comparisons, prevailing price movements, and prevalent trends at a suburb-by-suburb and street-by-street level.
Create a detailed ‘sight picture’ of the property you’re looking for by building your unique Property Acquisition Profile, addressing the 4Ps: Price (your budget), Position (desired location),Property (type of dwelling) and Proportions (room & land size, expansion or development potential), to quickly narrow and focus our search.
Provide you peace of mind by gathering and analysing detailed property market data, empowering you to make informed investment decisions.
Project manage the whole buying process through all its pivotal stages; from the initial property search, right through due diligence (including Building & Pest Reports and on-sight pre-purchase property inspections, etc.) to valuations (if required) conveyancing and the ‘exchange’ of the Contract of Sale.
Be your advocate in all negotiations, including conditions of sale and the final sale price.
Be a comprehensive intermediary between you and the vendor/real estate agents.
Act on your behalf in the marketplace—as your personal Corporate Real Estate & Auctioneer Licence holding proxy—putting you on a level playing field with vendors, and more crucially giving you a colossal, and almost unfair, advantage over other buyers (your competition).
On request, provide you total confidentiality and anonymity with the implementation of non-disclosure agreements.
Analyse the feasibility of claiming tax depreciation and thus the necessity of ordering a ‘tax depreciation schedule’.
Bid for you at auction if required; accompanying you, or in your absence with power of attorney (phone bidding).
Personally conduct a thorough on-sight pre-purchase property inspection, as part of our detailed and multifaceted professional due diligence checklist.

FREE, no-obligation discovery consultation offer:

To ALL motivated buyers, I offer a free, no-obligation discovery consultation: whereby I sit down with you and build your Unique Property Acquisition Profile (a professional analysis of your requirements and situation) which will not only crystallise your thinking but yield a very accurate sight picture of your next property that, when overlaid against the marketplace, will dramatically narrow and focus your search.

This free, no-obligation discovery consultation will also provide a snapshot of your marketplace knowledge and buying strategy, which will highlight exactly where I can help you and, at the same time, ascertain whether or not we’re a fit to work together. How does that sound?

The endgame is to get you into a great property, at the right price point, before your mortgage facility expires and you’re back to square one again. Engagement to settlement in approximately 6-8 weeks, typically.

Get In Touch

Call today and let Ars Terram—with our unique knowledge and perspective in reference to our industry insider access—put you on a level playing field with vendors whilst simultaneously giving you an overwhelming advantage over other buyers (your competition).

We specialise in Residential Homes and Investments, Commercial, Industrial and Retail property, as well as Rural property (up to 20 hectares).

damonangelo@arsterrambuyersagency.com
+61 (0) 406962701