The brief was familiar enough. An interstate executive-level family, based in Sydney, had taken a coastal road trip with the kids and decided the Sunshine Coast was where they wanted to land for schooling, lifestyle, and, eventually, retirement. They knew the general area they wanted. What they needed was someone local who could find the right property and get it done without them having to be there at every turn.
For Bronwen Stacey of Home Scouts Noosa, this is bread-and-butter work. The flow of executive-level buyers crossing the border from Sydney and Melbourne hasn’t let up, and managing purchases for clients who can’t simply duck up for a weekend inspection is right in her wheelhouse.
The property she found for them was a beautifully renovated single-level home on a quiet, elevated cul-de-sac in Coolum Beach. It stacked up well but was poised to attract many buyers because of its price point. The home was also yet to have its first inspection.
Bronwen had arranged an early private inspection for her clients to see the property prior to the first open home, so they would have the opportunity to get in before others.
Her clients were booked on the first flight out of Sydney to make it in time for the inspection. But unreliable air travel threw a spanner in the works. A last-minute disruption left them stranded at Sydney airport, rebooked onto a later service, which meant they would miss the inspection.
Earlier in the week, Bronwen had completed a pricing analysis of comparable sales, listings, and contracts, as well as extensive due diligence, and had discussed alternative offer strategies with her client in preparation for acting quickly if needed.
So, with the private inspection window closing and the open home imminent, Bronwen walked them through the property virtually, streaming the whole thing live to her clients in the departure lounge.
They liked what they saw. They confirmed the offer strategy and instructed her to go for it.
By the time they landed on the Sunshine Coast, the deal was done. Bronwen picked them up from the airport with the news, drove them straight to the open home, and they spent an hour watching twenty other buyer groups walk through a property that was already under contract. A few hours later, her clients were on a plane back to Sydney with the signed paperwork.
But that’s not where this story ends.
Bronwen always attends her building and pest inspections personally. Not because something is always wrong, but because being there lets you see what the inspector sees and ask important questions on the spot.
On this occasion, the inspector flagged that the three bedrooms were below the minimum legal ceiling height for habitable rooms… by just two centimetres! The result of a substantial vendor-led renovation carried out without any apparent compliance checks. It appeared the issue had predated the vendors’ own purchase, too, but nobody along the chain had picked it up. This could have been very costly to rectify and could have opened a can of building-compliance worms that could have cascaded out of control.
Bronwen went back to the vendors with the issue, and they decided to present two options to the sellers. They could either reduce the price by $15,000 to cover the cost of rectification or fix the ceiling height before settlement. The vendors agreed to fix the height problem themselves, and the deal settled cleanly.
The lessons Bronwen draws from it are ones every buyers’ agent operating in a renovation-heavy, interstate-buyer market should already know but occasionally need to hear again.
Firstly, arrange for an independent building and pest inspection. Do not rely on the vendor’s report or even, in some cases, an inspector recommended by the agent.
Next, attend the building and pest inspection personally, because a written report doesn’t always answer your most pertinent questions. Plus, you risk not being there to see what the inspector sees.
Finally, remember that a signed contract is not the finish line. Some of the most important work you’ll do for a client happens in the space between exchange and settlement.
Two centimetres nearly became a very expensive oversight. It didn’t, because someone was paying attention.
Do you have an interesting, funny, educational, scary, or all-around rollicking tale from your day-to-day work life that you’d like to share with other members? Contact our eMag editor, Kieran, on kieran@bricksandmortarmedia.com.au and help us share your Door Knock Diaries story with others.
