Pre-planning your property purchase with Paul Garson Ep.45

For the latest episode of this bonus series of the property investing journey, Mike is joined by Paul Garson, Licenced Conveyancer and Owner of ACG Stonnington Conveyancing in Melbourne. In addition to conveyancing, Paul also acts as a Buyer’s Agent and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this insightful discussion about what typically trips people up when it comes to buying property.

With over 20 years’ experience as a Licensed Conveyancer, Paul has seen it all when it comes to buying property. Here he shares with Mike the common traps that people fall into and why he believes it’s important to talk to a Conveyancer and get expert advice on the sales contract before getting too far down the track.

Paul’s clients have the added advantage of having him act as a Buyer’s Agent and applying his conveyancing knowledge to the entire transaction. He believes the key to a successful purchase is in the pre-planning and due diligence and in this conversation he walks Mike through the elements of a “perfect” process.

Mike and Paul dig into the reality of penalty clauses and why they can be detrimental to the vendor, even when they are supposedly in the vendor’s favour. They also explore the more problematic contract clauses and complications such as easements, and highlight recent issues such as flammable cladding and remediation.

This highly practical discussion is sure to have you thinking before rushing into your next property purchase. If you’ve ever wondered how to streamline your property journey, this is an episode you can’t afford to miss.

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Mike is joined by Paul Garson, Licenced Conveyancer and Owner of ACG Stonnington Conveyancing in Melbourne. In addition to conveyancing, Paul also acts as a Buyer’s Agent and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this insightful discussion about what typically trips people up when it comes to buying property. With over 20 years’ experience as a Licensed Conveyancer, Paul has seen it all when it comes to buying property. Here he shares with Mike the common traps that people fall into and why he believes it’s important to talk to a Conveyancer and get expert advice on the sales contract before getting too far down the track.

• What gets people into trouble when buying a property
• The naïve exuberance of a “Monday client”
• Why buyers are sometimes reluctant to sign on the dotted line
• The impact of harsh penalty clauses on vendors
• What the perfect transaction looks like
• Paul’s tips for purchasers when navigating the process

“Probably only 50% of (clients) let us know a week before that they’re looking at a certain property and can we check this and that out. I wish it was more but I reckon it’s probably only half” Paul 5:45

“There’s some fairly harsh penalty clauses doing the rounds particularly in Melbourne. I’m not qualified to comment in your home state of Sydney or NSW but certainly in Melbourne there are some very offensive default and penalty clauses. The standard general conditions in Victoria provide for penalty interest at 12% so that’s a pretty healthy penalty rate anyway. The state penalty rate is 10%. Most contracts provide for 12.”   Paul 10:08

“You think you’re looking after your vendor by putting in these “we will shaft you at every opportunity” clauses, pro-vendor clauses, but if you’re losing buyers you’re actually doing a disservice to your vendor by trying to be too clever” Paul 13:53

“A perfect transaction for us is also a perfect transaction for our buyer so it’s very much in their interests as well” Paul 15:25

“Agents obviously profile buyers as they go through open inspection so I always tell clients it’s like a football premiership ladder and you don’t want to be the number one buyer, you don’t want to be on top of the ladder in the agents profiling of buyers, because it will cost you money” Paul 16:39

Links mentioned

https://www.acgol.com/vic/vic_conveyancing.shtml

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