Waterfront apartment sells for $12 million in Manly. (As reported in the Manly Daily on 10 March)

I believe this sale demonstrates how buyers can easily be influenced by asking prices in any market. The developer was looking for $13.1m for this property and achieved a $12 million dollar sale.

Whilst this is obviously an outstanding result for the vendor and sales agent there is little doubt that this is an inflated sale price. Even taking into account the fact that the value for ‘a view’ varies from buyer to buyer, the $30,000 psm price tag is very high for a property of its size and position compared to others and would have been hard to justify 12 months ago before the market dropped around 20 percent at the high end.

This is a clear example of why it’s necessary to do adequate research when buying a property so you don’t get caught out paying too much.

A few tips that I always encourage buyers to do when purchasing property include the following:

• Conduct independent research to determine the true current value rather than relying on asking prices as a guide.
• Remain emotionally unattached from the property so that decisions are based on facts and figures, not emotion.
• Develop a clear understanding that the selling agent works for the seller not the buyer.
• Don’t rely on advertising photos - take the time to view the property in person to get an accurate understanding of the property and its surrounds.

It would be of no surprise to you that in my opinion everyone should have a trusted representative evaluating prospective property for them especially if they cannot view the property in person. This way they are dealing with accurate facts and figures rather than relying on selective photographs and sales information.