This is my first post on these forums. I am very new to the world of property investing and I’m hoping someone can give me some advice about my situation.
I have been renting an apartment in the inner suburbs of Melbourne for the past three years, and I would like to approach the owner and put in an offer to buy it. Note: it’s not currently on the market, and I’ve got no idea if the owner would be interested in selling or not. But I believe this particular apartment would be a great investment for me, for various reasons. I would like to buy the apartment by private sale, live in it for 18 months and then lease it out while I live overseas.
My problem is that I don’t know how to approach the owner. He or she rents it out to me through a real estate agency, and so I think my only option is to approach the agent and ask them to pass on my offer. This raises a few issues. Firstly, how can I be sure that the agent will pass on my offer? If they do, it might result in the sale of the property, and the agent will lose the rental business. I know it sounds like I’m being overly suspicious, but I have heard rumours about this particular agent doing some dodgy things in the past. Secondly, as I understand it, one of the advantages for the owner in selling the property to me privately, is that they would have no agency fees to pay- but if my offer came via the rental agent, would this still apply? Would the owner incur a sales fee from the agent, if my offer to purchase came via the agent?
My other problem is that I’m not sure about the best way to approach making the actual offer. Do I come up with a figure first, offer it to them, and then wait for a reply? Or should I first ask them if they might be interested in selling, before I put in an offer?
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Hi.
Finding owners gonna take your PI shoes , I've asked the same thing . Someone here suggested somewhere in a post , ring the shire , say your the neighbour of that place and you need the owners contact for fencing problems.
Give that a try. Or ask around casually, someone around there will know them , don't tell them what it's about though .
But you'd have a lease too and they often the owners name and addy are on them , stray bills also sometimes have the owners details .
Forget the RE , even if they do do a deal it's gonna cost ya and be a big song and dance , much easier and much better chance of a good deal if you find the owner yourself .
But while your tracking down the owner have a really good think about your price though and look around too because his gonna be greedy with you just coming to him out of the blue .Good luck
Cheers
PS , also something I've only just discovered myself but it costs ya 14 bucks. The Vic gov land channel land search have a free report with the land details , just type in the addy but they also have a paid report which includes the owner.Just give the REA a letter for the owner. If the REA asks why, say it is not related to anything that concerns your current rental agreement. The REA doesn't have to know anything else and would be breaking the law if they opened the letter. If the REA doesn't want to pass it on, ask for the owners postal details.
If the REA shoves you off, ring the water supplier for your sate and request the postal address for the account holder of the property you are renting. Say a bill was sent to you by mistake or something, if they need a reason…
I recon it is more prudent to ask them if they are interested in selling first, before putting an offer in. Otherwise you might seem too agressive and it gives you an oppurtunity to judge if the owner is really interested in selling or not be the response.
Also – your lease agreement lists the landlord's name – as a starting base for your investigations
If you aren't sure you can trust the agent, try to find a way to get to the owner on your own. Ask around and do some research. Do you at least have a name to get you started?
If you haven't heard from the owner not once in 3 years, then it is probably going to cost you some work, so be patient.
Find a site website called RPData. For a small cost you can get all sorts of information on the property.
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