The importance of understanding the market

People probably get sick of hearing me say that prospective buyers must research the market. Well this time I will let independent property analysts Residex explain just how important it is to understand current market values.

An article in The Sunday Telegraph recently reported that “a quarter of Sydney homeowners who bought and sold their properties during the past five years lost money” and that these losses were attributed to a combination of factors namely “poorly informed buyers and over-the-top valuations”

The article was based on research done by property analysts Residex and highlights a few issues to note.

Firstly, if you don’t take the time to educate yourself about current market conditions then you can expect to overpay. Secondly, you can’t rely solely on valuations to set your price – they should only be used as an indicator. Many valuations are based on drive by inspections where the valuer doesn’t even see the inside of the property.

Sure, purchasing a property can be time consuming and at times frustrating. However, if you take shortcuts then you risk ending up with an overpriced and inappropriate purchase. As I always say – there are no small mistakes in real estate just expensive lessons.