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Secrets of property understood by buyers’ agents
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
A BUYERS’ AGENT knows the property market better than most.
Sydney-based buyers' agent, Michelle May, principal from Michelle May Buyers Agents, said buyers’ agents had the advantage of understanding people, including what was driving vendors and agents. Property buyers have no idea about this sort of stuff.
She said the property market is not one market. It’s many micro-markets.
Unless you understand what’s going on in particular suburbs and the types of property you are after, she said, you could be wasting a lot of time. That’s where a buyers’ agent comes in.
Growing up in North Africa due to her parent’s job, Michelle travelled the world from an early age. Moving to the UK at the age of 20 she held down a ‘normal’ job for 12 years, while also renovating and ‘flipping’ properties, starting with her first project at the age of 22. That’s when she discovered she had a passion for the property market. 
Landing in Australia in 2007 gave her the opportunity to transform her property passion into the well-respected business it is today. She educates her clients into making better property purchasing decisions, through her business.
She claims to have an 80 percent success rate at auctions.
“Going into auctions, people assume the people with the most money will get the job done and there is a certain truth to that,” Ms May told Talking Business.
“But I do think going in with an action plan will actually serve you very well and hiring someone like me who is not emotionally involved and who does this every weekend almost multiple times year in year out, I can certainly teach my clients a thing or two.”
Ms May said the property market was now 24/7 – “I don’t really have a life” – and more sales agents are putting properties on the market on Sundays because buyers are free, as there is no work or sport going on.
She said these days people had “an emotional connection with property” particularly owner-occupiers who happen to be most of her clientele.
“We do joke in the office that we are part buyers’ agents, part-psychologists/marriage counsellors,” Ms May said.
“There is a reason why people are reaching out to buyers’ agents like us because they realise it’s not a simple transaction. It’s not like walking into a Volkswagen dealership and saying okay, I’m going to have that one.
“Funnily enough, people do more research into what kind of car they’re going to buy than what kind of property they’re going to buy.
“So we can break it down and also tell them some hard truths. We cut through the wishful thinking, the bad advice they’ve received from the hairdresser’s brother’s cousin’s sister, and also all the headlines in the media as well.”
Ms May said buyers’ agents offer different types of services.
“We could be just the hired gun for the day,” she said. “You give me your budget, I show up at the properties, I use my strategies and bid on your behalf.
“It’s all the way through to a fully comprehensive service where we sit down with you, and if there’s a partner involved, we sit down and break down your needs and wants list.
“And we project manage it from there. We take you by the hand, we search off market properties, with what’s on the market, we inspect, we evaluate, we do a lot of due diligence.
“We co-ordinate all the different parties involved. We talk to your broker, we talk to your solicitor, we put you in touch with the right people as well.” 
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
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