Real Estate Questions

My contribution is to suggest that before you ever submit an offer it is wise to try and find out the vendors reason for selling.

Experience has taught me that matching your offer with the vendor’s need for selling helps to get a deal done quickly.

Another question to ask is ‘is the price negotiable?’. Almost always tha answer is ‘yes’ and this gives you the opportunity to submit a lower than full asking price offer.

What other questions do people ask?

All the best,

Hi cjay11,

Here a few good questions for you to ask about Buy and Holds. These are a few I use myself as I am a buy and hold investor, but you need to also establish whether you are in it purely for cap gain, or for cashflow (rent return), or if you need good tax benefits etc, or all of the above. I am in it for all of the above so there are different quiestions to satisfy each strategy.

Keep in mind that agents need to sell properties to make money. They are sales people – not experts. Very few agents are investors and therefore many can't answer investor type questions. They will quite often try to tell you what you want to hear, they tell half-truths and are known to inflate or deflate figures as the need arises. It is a good idea to still do your own research and ask the questions already knowing the real answer. Then you can test the integrity of the agent and you will know how to handle them during a sale.

1. why is the Vendor selling (are they motivated)
2. is the price negotiable (can you put in a low offer)
3. how long has the property been on the market (you should already know this answer from your Due Diligence)
4. what year was the building constructed (for on-paper deductions)
5. how much will this property rent for (already know this answer)
6. is there much demand for this type of property to rent in the area  (as above)
7. does your office manage rental properties, and if so, how many do you manage and how many are vacant right now.
8. what is your management fee and would you be interested in managing the property should I buy it.
9. what sort of people are renting properties in this area – singles, families, students etc
10. has the area seen much infrastructure improvements and/or plans for any in the near future.
11. how many sq/m is the building and what size is the land lot. (these should be in the Section 32)
12. are the terms negotiable

There are several more to ask for buying sight unseen, but if you are just starting out this is not a good thing to try until you have some experience.