One of the most common things we hear from buyers right now is: “Everything goes way over the quoted range anyway.” And honestly, it’s understandable why people think that.
Over the past few years, buyers have watched properties consistently sell above quote ranges, blow past reserves and achieve huge auction results. After a while, buyers become conditioned to think every property is going to do the same thing. So naturally, buyers begin adjusting their thinking before they’ve even inspected the property.
A home quoted at $1.0m – $1.1m suddenly becomes: “Realistically this is probably going to be $1.2m+.” And without even realising it, buyers start eliminating perfectly good opportunities before they’ve even stepped foot inside. Sometimes they don’t inspect at all. Sometimes the property never appears in their search because they adjusted their filters too high. Other times, they convince themselves there’s no point emotionally investing in the property because “it’ll just go crazy anyway.”
But here’s the reality — not every property goes over the range. In fact, in the current market, we’re seeing many properties transact at the bottom of the range, around the quote, or in some cases, below it entirely. That’s why when we scout properties for clients, we almost ignore the advertised price guide initially. Instead, we do our own assessment of the property and determine whether it’s worth considering.
Because valuing property is far more than just looking atnumbers on a screen.
Yes, comparable sales and market data matter enormously, but there’s also a very human side to property that buyers often underestimate. You’re dealing with emotional buyers, emotional vendors, changing market sentiment, campaign momentum, confidence levels and sometimes unrealistic expectations from sellers who are still mentally living in the peak market conditions of previous years. And this is where buyers can get caught out.
Ironically, in the current subdued and cautious market, underquoting often isn’t the biggest risk buyers face. Overpricing is. We’re seeing many vendors with price expectations that simply don’t align with where the market currently sits. In these situations, patience becomes incredibly important.
Over the past six months alone, we’ve had several negotiations stretch over multiple weeks before eventually securing the property either at the bottom end of the quoted range or below the vendor’s original expectations entirely. What’s interesting is that almost every time, our clients initially suggested significantly higher numbers because they assumed the property would inevitably sell well above the guide.
Part of our role isn’t just negotiating. It’s helping clients properly understand value.
Sometimes the best outcome in property doesn’t come from being the most aggressive buyer in the room. Sometimes it comes from understanding the market better than everyone else and recognising when a property is overpriced, when a vendor is unrealistic, or when patience is likely to create leverage.
Property markets move in cycles. Buyer confidence shifts. Stock levels change. Vendors react emotionally. And when you understand those ebbs and flows properly, opportunities start appearing where other buyers simply see fear or competition.
The buyers who perform best long term usually aren’t the ones throwing around the biggest numbers. They’re the ones who understand value best.
We take the stress and anxiety out of the
property purchasing experience.
