When we decided to move from Barwon Heads to Melbourne, obviously we had to take into account the distance involved in travel looking at houses. As neither of us is in the first flush of youth, it became increasingly obvious that we needed help! We had been told that buyer’s agents were a useful adjunct to the property market; so we duly headed in that direction.
This new house was to be the fourth we had had in Melbourne, so obviously we knew a little about real estate agencies in the area. We had heard about Michael Ramsay and when we met him in Barwon Heads, it was not a difficult decision to ask for his help. We did find also that The Advocates was well respected by local real estate agents, so we were ready to buy….
Some overall thoughts: For us, this whole process was new; I guess we expected a suitable house to drop into our laps. Very wrong! We had neglected the following: the amount of money we were prepared to spend, the area where we both wanted to live, the kind of house, the size, a garden or not, parking … and so on and on. After a week or so, it soon became clear that our options were increasingly limited. Through all this indecision and mind-changing, it soon became clear that a buyer’s agent had to have inexhaustible reserves of patience, a sense of humour, empathy with other estate agents, and a thorough knowledge of the area and (most important) the true value of the houses we inspected.
Obviously without The Advocates’ advice, we would have been much worse off. Finally, a house came up that we both wanted, was within the price range specified and ticked most of the other boxes. Michael then went the extra yard or two to ensure we were the successful bidders. So to sum up, we would say that in our circumstance, a buyer’s agent was essential. Michael was patient, good-humoured, understanding and knowledgeable. We are greatly indebted to him and his company.