Take advantage of online buyer tactics

To take advantage of property listings, buyers need to fine-tune their online approach.

A smart way to find your next property is to adjust your online search habits. If location is high on your list of priorities, it can help to sort properties by distance to amenities and places of importance to you, such as a best friend or family member’s home.

Many listings portals offer map view features, which help to home in on your desired location.

The map view shows you all the properties that are available in your targeted zone — regardless of how long they have been on the market. This saves time by streamlining the search process, rather than scrolling through countless pages of listings.

Adopt the filtered approach

Astute buyers use online filters when searching for their ideal property.

At any given time, there are literally thousands of good properties sitting online waiting to be discovered.

Most properties in the Australian and New Zealand markets generally sell within 40 days of being listed.

If your main aim is to pinpoint potential properties that may have languished in the listings rotations, you should change the listing format from ‘most recent listings’ to ‘older listings’.

Cutting through listings that languish

Listings that remain on the market longer than anticipated usually do so for a good reason.

The buyer’s role is to assess why the property remains for sale.

Bottom line: is the vendor’s price expectation simply too high for the property type and neighbouring median values?

Or is it the fault of the home’s features, its tenuous history or an unfeasible renovation that initially seems like too much hard work and expense to amend?

Finding out the answers to these questions, particularly if the property is still of potential interest, provides a powerful bargaining chip in renegotiating price and settlement details.

In some areas, you should also check the fine print in the online preview to see if there are any state government incentives to entice buyers to choose older listings.

Get to know your local agents

Another smart move is to acquaint yourself with local agents in the areas you’re interested in.

The best real estate agents will always inform you about listings you might have missed in your online search.

Of equal value, they can also keep you abreast of potential listings that haven’t yet made it online, but might well make an appearance in the near future.