3 Questions That Real Estate Agents Don’t Want To Answer

Sales Agents are tasked to present the properties in the most favourable light, through highlighting the desirable attributes while disguising the unfavourable in order to achieve the best results. Consequentially this can lead to a blurring of truths especially where there may be more negative characteristics than positives. These three things below are topics that agents prefer not to be asked about as they can be easily blurred.

1.??????Is the parking on title?

For apartments in high-density residential areas, parking is an important consideration in any purchase and attracts a significant premium, especially where car spaces are hard to find. Agents will advertise that an apartment has one car space where in reality it has access to a car space on a first come first serve basis, also known as ‘scramble’ parking. The car spaces are reserved for residents of the building on the property but there is no guarantee that the car space is available for all residents.

This is a major concern because recently sold comparable properties with parking that are displayed at the inspections can distort a buyer's perception of value as technically the property does not have a car space as part of the title of ownership. Furthermore, there is no guarantee of the nature of the car space, whether it’s a lock-up garage, on the title, undercover etc? It's important to conduct your own due diligence around all recently sold comparable properties.

2.??????Does the Northern aspect face living and entertainment spaces without obstruction?

To the property novice, buyers understand that a northern aspect is an important aspect to consider in any property search but beyond that, they can be confused by what they should be actually looking for. In the southern hemisphere, a northern aspect allows for the maximum penetration of light throughout the whole year. Ideally, you would want the most light in the rooms where you would spend most of your time during the day. As agents can manipulate how an aspect is conveyed, they can often state that a property has a northern aspect even though that ‘northern aspect’ may not convey the best penetration of light for the property as there could be an obstruction such as the neighbouring property or a large tree that blocks light. Bring a compass and analyse the layout of the property.

3.??????What is the size and what does the size include? Car space, balcony etc?

The size or measurable area of apartments can fluctuate, but before employing the use of surveyor, it’s important to recognise that area figures are included and omitted depending on the given purpose of why the area is required. For example, floorspace ratios can exclude balconies as part of the overall development applications. Some apartment balconies have been completely enclosed to create extra internal space although records may not be up to date. Sometimes, apartment sizes would include the car space in their calculation of the overall space. This can lead to a distortion of value especially when buyers are calculating per square metre rates and using these rates to help appraise a property. It's important when finding the area of the property, that you cross-reference the figure across multiple publications to ensure consistency and if there are inconsistencies work out why that may be.

Alexander Gibson

Alexander is a Buyer's Agent with Trelease Associates, an independent and confidential buyer's agency