SELL FIRST, PAY LATER

Agents say buy before selling to be safe

UPGRADING to your next property could add thousands in unexpected changeover costs resulting from a hot Geelong real estate market if people follow the usually safe route of selling first.

Despite a 26 per cent surge in property listings in September, buyers still face a pool of available homes that’s 40 per cent smaller than before the pandemic, a new PropTrack report shows.

Unprecedented demand for property in Geelong has sparked a boom in house prices, while the time it takes to find a buyer has been slashed, in some cases by months.

Newtown agent Dale Whitford said if there ever was a market to buy before you sell, this was it.

“What we’re hearing from would-be sellers is ‘what do I buy if I sell?’” Mr Whitford said.

“It’s a log-jam in the market. If you buy first and you get the right terms, if anything with the way the market is going, you’re going to go better on your sale than you did on the purchase.”

Buxton agent Ben Riddle said it was a sellers’ market, but educated buyers were moving faster the longer they searched for a property.

The instant impact of digital marketing and the amount of information available to buyers meant that selling quickly didn’t mean selling cheaply, he said.

Midweek inspections were rising as people worked from home.

“Throwing in a high demand for property means that most suburbs are taking somewhere from two weeks to sell a property and there is anywhere from 30 to 50 people viewing the property within those two weeks as well

“The buyer that wants to buy the home is already searching for it and the moment the property hits online they’re already engaging,” he said.

Mr Riddle said sellers could get caught out in a market where it’s harder to get back in.

“Because there is less to choose from, you’re either pressured into buying something that’s not quite right or you’re buying into a rising market where if you don’t buy for three to six months the changeover costs can be more than you think.”

New PropTrack data shows the median days on market had more than halved in 20 suburbs, with sales taking longer in only three suburbs — East Geelong, Newtown and Geelong.

The fastest-selling suburb is Thomson, at 12 days, with Waurn Ponds, Herne Hill, Breakwater and Whittington selling in less than two weeks.

Maxwell Collins agent Eugene Carroll said longer settlement terms would give buyers more opportunity to sell up.

“I think if you get the right advice and allow enough time, in this market you can buy one and then sell yours with some sort of confidence that there is enough buyer activity out there for the property to sell and to have all your conditions met and you move on.”