It's been a hell of a long time since I did my last update, but quite a few people have been asking about it so I figured I'd work on finishing it within a few more parts. Since my last update was basically one year ago, I'm going to try to keep on the same feel.
Part 4 - Unexpected Surprises
The first house I found didn't seem too bad on the surface. It was big, in the area I wanted, the price range I wanted, and had the mod-cons I wanted - aircon, big lounge, big kitchen and so forth. I felt pretty confident in it so Haley and I made the decision to put an offer down on it, pending inspection.
The real estate agency, who I will continue to not name, decided they would be especially assholish in this case and handed me what looked like a standard contract but that was anything but. See, the contracts are usually pre-printed, but there is a spot to add certain conditions. Most agencies won't add any, since most owners aren't fuckwits and if there is a good enough reason to pull out of a contract, they probably will let you without penalty.
That is, of course, if they aren't hiding anything. This house was hiding a fucking doosey - it was covered in asbestos. Outdoor sheeting, indoor sheeting, a bit fucking drainage pipe from the backyard to the front yard. It took 2 inspections to confirm it all. But guess what? The contract actually had provisions to stop you pulling out because of this. Yes, the only way you were able to get out of his contract was if you couldn't pay for the house.
This, ladies and gents, is the first lesson when dealing with REs. Get a good lawyer. Get him/her to read all of this before you sign it, even if it "looks" legit. Luckily, I had a good broker who basically stopped my application mid-processing so I could get a "declined finance" letter and get my arse out of the asbestos pit. I was furious with the RE. The sneaky bitch knew the place held $30,000 worth of asbestos removal and was snakeoil-salesman enough to cheat people into buying it.
Lets just say I was very careful after that. Very, very careful. I had basically already lost faith in Real Estate agents being remotely ethical and treated them all like the pricks they were. The guy who ultimately sold me my house was a real asshole, like the rest, but at least he didn't try to hide it behind a fake smile and reassuring nods.
I might take this point to take about Stratas and Body Corporates.
If you are buying a townhouse, unit or house in an estate, its likely that you will be under the guise of a strata title. Basically, strata title means you are part of a community arrangement, where any additions or modifications to the public area, outside or sometimes even inside of your house must be approved by a central management - like a board of directors represented by home owners.
You will be required to tithe money to the strata each month, and they'll make decisions on what to do with it. My personal experiences with BC's has been awful - usually, they are power hungry assholes and in most cases, the home owners board will group up against other owners they dont like to veto their requests or make their lives difficult. This isn't always the case, but ask anyone who's ever wanted foxtel in their unit or has wanted to paint their roof titles and they'll have a few stories for you.
While we're off-topic a bit, we'll over Auctions too. Auctions are basically public sales where you are bound by law to purchase the house if you bid on it. Some auctions require you to register before hand, others don't. In both cases, if you signal a bid, you must follow through. Auctions tend to be much better for buyers then sellers, as you are in control of the purchase price. In a traditional sale, a seller can veto any offer they don't like, but in an auction, any offer above the reserve must be accepted.
There is a cooling off period for Auctions, but its not as flexible as buying tradional and its accepted that all inspections need to be done prior to bidding. So, don't get excited and just rock up to buy, you could be in for a surprise if you don't inspect the property within 3 days.
Private Listings are another interesting thing I came across in my searching too. Basically, these are those brave folks to list and market their own properties, fucking off RE's altogether. While I find this admirable, based on my hate for RE's, private sales can be dicey since you are dealing with the seller directly, thus the responsibility for handling contracts, and negotiations are purely on your back and the sellers back. Thus, if not done properly, a sale price might not be correct or an offer may be withdrawn.
You could be Gazzumped, where another buyer just comes up with a better offer and the RE takes it instead of yours. Be warned.
That's all for this post - for my final two parts, I'll finish off the story of my search and ultimate purchase, as well as some reflections on home ownership for the past 2.5 years.
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