Wakelin property advice
- Thread starter smartbuy
- Start date
Wakelin has been mentioned a few times before- this thread is good. But do a search, there are a lot of threads in the forum.
Hi smartbuy,
I have met with the Wakelin's twice. I subscribe to their theory in part - which is to buy blue-chip property in the inner suburbs. However I believe their strategy is very stringent.
I am sure their seminar would be informative though, but if you already have a portfolio of property don't let them talk you into selling it all and buying only in the areas they research. They tried to do this to me, and to others on here as well. Luckily I thought twice!
All the best,
Regards Jason.
I think she did a book called "Streets ahead". Its pretty comprehensive and probably covers the seminar and more. Basically she advocates buying properties which will always be in demand (due to scarcity). The demand will give steady growth and outperform the market.
- buy a good property (attractive building, nice floor plan)
- buy in a nice street (street appeal, water views, etc)
- buy in a good location (inner city, close to transport and amenities)
- avoid areas of oversupply (areas of land release, multi unit development areas)
Its debatable whether or not to be too dogmatic about the inner city (lots of people have done well in the suburbs) but the rest makes sense. In the current Melbourne iner city market I cant see them sniffing out any bargins for their $10k. Price is more dependant on what other buyers will pay, rather than your negotiating skills or market research. I'd personnaly use the 10k to increase your offer price. You'll probably need it to out bid the competition !
- buy a good property (attractive building, nice floor plan)
- buy in a nice street (street appeal, water views, etc)
- buy in a good location (inner city, close to transport and amenities)
- avoid areas of oversupply (areas of land release, multi unit development areas)
Its debatable whether or not to be too dogmatic about the inner city (lots of people have done well in the suburbs) but the rest makes sense. In the current Melbourne iner city market I cant see them sniffing out any bargins for their $10k. Price is more dependant on what other buyers will pay, rather than your negotiating skills or market research. I'd personnaly use the 10k to increase your offer price. You'll probably need it to out bid the competition !
G'day Jason,
Is this to say you don't rate them or their advice/policies ??
Or, if you do use them tread carefully?
I am aware of the name thru not only his site but API magazine and a few mentions in other sites/publications - are they worth their fees for the advice/service?
Tim
I think Jason is just saying that Wakelin have a very strong opinion on inner city 'blue chip' properties and that's pretty much all you would get. If that's also the type of property you want, that's fine. But if you also want to learn about other property types.....
Alex
I think BAs can easily pay for themselves in a private sale situation. The time I used one it was a private sale and advertised at a too low price, the BA snapped it up for me in the first couple of days it was on the market. I believe he saved me $20k on the purchase price so the $10k fee was a non issue. Subsequently it has had fantastic growth over the past 18 months
You are paying the Wakelins for property selection & hopefully therefore in above market capital growth, I don't believe they can save you anything off a purchase price in an auction situation.
You are paying the Wakelins for property selection & hopefully therefore in above market capital growth, I don't believe they can save you anything off a purchase price in an auction situation.
I've used their service and in my experience I found them be to OK. Not bad, but not great. To their credit, I used them at a time where there was little quality stock on the market according to them especially in the range I was looking (2 bedroom up to 400k). There was also staff turnover during my engagement (my assigned consultant left).
After 6-7 months (including an Xmas period) of searching I decided to look myself, found a place almost immediately (albeit outside my initial parameters) and engaged them to assess the property and attend the auction. I think I underestimated my search and selection skills, although it was a very valuable experience and I learned a lot. It was great to have my skill validated, although they did miss a huge issue with the property that I picked up.
If I were an overseas or interstate buyer this would have been missed. It was also not raised during the auction (even at my suggestion), and given the fact that other owners in the block were unaware of it prior to purchase I'd bet another $10k that some of my competing bidders didn't also. Raising this issue would have 'revealed our high interest in the property', although IMO it would have caused other buyers to hesitate in their bidding.
It's really hard to say how much they will save or gain for you - you just never know under what circumstances their experience can pay off. Would I have been able to read the body language of the competing bidder and have known the best time to put in that knockout bid? (for example).
In the end, nobody cares more about your own investing than yourself, and if you've got the time and the skill, I'd go it yourself. This is what I will be doing next time. If you don't have the time, have never bought in inner Melbourne before nor feel you have the skill yet, I'd consider them.
I've written up a summary in another thread if you care to do a search.
FYI - The Wakelins charge a $9xx commencement fee and then 2.75% of purchase price on purchase.
After 6-7 months (including an Xmas period) of searching I decided to look myself, found a place almost immediately (albeit outside my initial parameters) and engaged them to assess the property and attend the auction. I think I underestimated my search and selection skills, although it was a very valuable experience and I learned a lot. It was great to have my skill validated, although they did miss a huge issue with the property that I picked up.
If I were an overseas or interstate buyer this would have been missed. It was also not raised during the auction (even at my suggestion), and given the fact that other owners in the block were unaware of it prior to purchase I'd bet another $10k that some of my competing bidders didn't also. Raising this issue would have 'revealed our high interest in the property', although IMO it would have caused other buyers to hesitate in their bidding.
It's really hard to say how much they will save or gain for you - you just never know under what circumstances their experience can pay off. Would I have been able to read the body language of the competing bidder and have known the best time to put in that knockout bid? (for example).
In the end, nobody cares more about your own investing than yourself, and if you've got the time and the skill, I'd go it yourself. This is what I will be doing next time. If you don't have the time, have never bought in inner Melbourne before nor feel you have the skill yet, I'd consider them.
I've written up a summary in another thread if you care to do a search.
FYI - The Wakelins charge a $9xx commencement fee and then 2.75% of purchase price on purchase.
