When we bought our first PPOR we were willing to pay over $270k for it. We put in a bit of a silly offer that we never thought would be expected, but after only one round of negotiations we paid $20k less than what we thought was a fair value for the area. The agent obviously couldn’t be bothered negotiating further and pushed the sellers to take the offer. Made us very happy.
Even for your own home you shouldn’t just pay the highest price you are willing. There are always other nice properties that come about.
When did this property settle? Your friend has 12 months from the settlement date to move into the property. If he/she does not, then they jsut hand the $7k back prior to 365 days passing, and I don’t think the state revenue will ask too many questions. He/she has a pretty decent explanation anyway.
However, no matter the age of this person, if they are a tenant they are subject to the tenants act. I’m not saying put her out in the cold, but we are in a renter’s market, so it won’t be too difficult to find another place for her to go. It’s not like the rental market is highly priced at the moment!! I’m sure your friend could even waste a day helping her move.
Does your friend have a real estate agent managing the property?? That would help.