Hey, property developers – do your buyers matter?
I’m trying to buy a wee house at the moment, the first one in quite a while. It should be easy. Funds are sorted. Property law is my game and I have plenty of time to look around. But my goodness. I’ve discovered buying a house is nearly impossible!
I’m trying to buy a wee house at the moment, the first one in quite a while. It should be easy. Funds are sorted. Property law is my game and I have plenty of time to look around. But my goodness. I’ve discovered buying a house is nearly impossible!
West Auckland was where I looked first. Perhaps it was timing, but I couldn’t keep up with the change in prices. Agents’ price indications were $100K, $200K too low. They couldn’t keep up either. So I ventured further north, to Hobsonville.
There I spent a day investigating, visiting show homes, sending emails, driving the streets. The theme was clear. I was too late. When I did get a reply to my enquiries it said, in stark black and white “Nothing is currently available”. Most agents didn’t even bother to get back to me.
I remember a guy – a potential buyer – in one show home I visited. There were only two properties available in this development, and they weren’t what I was after, but they clearly were of interest to him – and I needed to get out of his way! It felt like I was front line in a Black Friday sale.
I found one exception to all of this though – an engaging, low-key (I like them that way) salesperson. Sue had one place available that fitted what I was after. Someone had cancelled a pre-sale and she was in the throes of ringing potential buyers. One called back when I was there actually, and it was clear this place too would go very quickly.
So I put in an offer. There and then. Without the most basic information but with a 10 day due diligence clause. I took home the 77-page sale and purchase agreement and started to read.
Now, I know my way around these documents, and better than most. I know sellers need flexibility and control and uniformity. But I’d always designed my pre-sale contracts with a view to the end buyer, recognising them as a vital part of the project. This one was something different.
I asked for six changes. All reasonable. Here’s one:
“What brand of appliances will be installed?”
They couldn’t confirm.
Here’s another (I’m paraphrasing):
“Please agree not to unilaterally make changes to my house that are of such magnitude that they will materially reduce its value.”
No dice.
No changes were agreed. It was of no relevance whatsoever what I wanted. I needed to take what I was given. My other option was to bugger off.
Is this happening everywhere? Or did I strike a tough contract? Are people generally expected, (like I was), to spend $1million on a property that will be roughly like the plans shown – but may be different, in a location they should be able to figure out (I can’t quite, I know it’s one of two) that might be built and might not (they’ll tell me later), and might be finished in two years but might take longer, that might look like the pictures, but might not, that will have whatever restrictions on the title the vendor wants…
Are buyers actually expected to concede all consumer protection, thank their lucky stars they have found a place and wait because the developer will look after them? Despite the heat in the market, that’s an awful way to be treated. I know there’s a lot happening in the market right now. But in my book that doesn’t give licence to pay less care.
It leaves me wondering, dear developers – at what cost do you save costs?
But let’s see what happens because I am buying this place. I’m crossing my fingers, putting all legal judgment to one side and jumping in. And the worst part? I feel a huge sense of relief. Maybe I should just shut up and be happy with whatever I get.
© Debra Dorrington 2021.