From our desk
Buying a home around Christmas on the Gold Coast and the Tweed
Most buyers switch off in December. We understand: there are prawns to organise. But some of the best conversations we have all year start now, so here is what we tell our own clients about buying around Christmas on the Gold Coast and the Tweed.
Is December a bad time to buy?
Not necessarily. There are usually fewer buyers looking, and a home still for sale in the middle of December often has a seller with a reason to get it done. That can make for a calmer negotiation. It does not make every December deal a good one. A home is worth what comparable homes have sold for, whatever the date, so the discipline stays the same: know the value, set your walk away number in writing, and be prepared to use it.
The dates that catch people out
Contract dates do not take a holiday. Finance and building and pest dates can keep running over the break, even when the people you need are away. Before you agree on any date, ask your solicitor, your broker and your lender exactly when they close and when they return, then choose dates that work around them. Settling just before Christmas sounds lovely, until the removalist has been booked out since October.
Storm season is a free inspection
Summer on the Coast and the Tweed will show you things no sunny open home ever will. If you are serious about a property, go back when it rains. Look at where the water sits, how the driveway copes and what the low corners of the yard are doing. Talk to the neighbours. Check council flood information before you make an offer, not after.
The holiday feeling
Every summer, someone looks across the water with a cold drink in hand and starts searching real estate on their phone. It is how a lot of people end up here, and some of them are very happy they did. Just come back on a wet Tuesday in July before you sign. Check the commute, what is open and who is around. If you still love it, you have your answer.
The Christmas test
Here is a slightly silly exercise that works remarkably well. Picture your next home on Christmas Day. Is there room for everyone at the table? Where do the cousins sleep? Is there afternoon shade in the backyard, and where does the whole family park? It makes you think about how you actually live in a home, on its busiest day of the year, and that is a good way to start a brief.
Buying in the new year? Start the conversation now
You do not need to inspect anything in December. But a clear brief, a realistic budget and a sense of which suburbs suit you will put you well ahead of everyone who starts in late January. We take on a limited number of buyers at a time, so nobody is waiting behind someone else's shortlist. A first call takes thirty minutes, with no obligation and no pitch.
General information only. It does not take your circumstances into account and is not legal or financial advice. Please speak with your solicitor and broker about your own contract and finance.