Melbourne purchase need advice

[radelaide]

Looking to purchase a house in Melbourne, haven't purchased there before so have a few questions.

Can someone recommend a pest and building inspector?

Can someone recommend a conveyancer?

Are their any particulars I need to be aware of when purchasing in regards to the sale contract compared to say SA?

I am looking around Maidstone area.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Aaron_C]

The main thing in Melbourne is that we are auction-crazy. Make sure your finances are ready because you have to go unconditional.

 

[radelaide]

I am looking to put an offer on the property, not going to auction at this stage.

Are people still offering under advertised price or going in at what the RE agent says?

I am being told Melb market has had a 10% recovery lately?

 

[Aaron_C]

Some pockets of Melbourne have bounced since mid-2012. Particularly inner-city like Carlton, North Melbourne etc.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I am looking to put an offer on the property, not going to auction at this stage.

Are people still offering under advertised price or going in at what the RE agent says?

I am being told Melb market has had a 10% recovery lately?

It depends on where you're looking. Certainly inner suburbs have a lot of auctions, but the outer areas don't go to auction as much. There are also some properties that have had 10% growth, but at this point they're still limited to specific properties or locations. In general I'd say we haven't seen more than about 5% so far this year, but it's not realistic to apply generalisations to such a large and diverse market.

There's a lot of people making offers under asking price and succeding. There's also a lot of offers being made that are rejected because the vendor is willing to hold out for a better offer.

I'd say the overall market is fairly 'warm' at this point. Time will tell if this becomes 'hot'.

 

[CapnBloodbeard]

Well of course, even if it goes to auction you can still put in an offer, but it'll pretty much need to be unconditional.
Auctions can get expensive for buyers if you miss a few....inspection costs start adding up.

I used Sargeants Conveyancing from a forum recommendation on here. $88 for a verbal section 32 review which I found helpful, that's taken off the total fee if you buy the property. At that stage you'll get moved around to another conveyancer in the organisation, but that's probably normal for a large organisation.

I used Inspect Direct for my building/pest inspections (on 2 properties). A little pricey, but very thorough, and a good guy to work with.

I was looking close to Maidstone but more Altona North, footscray area. Quite a few auctions in my price range.
Offer what you think the property is worth, as they say. The worst an agent can do is say 'no'.