Transcript
If you’re searching for long enough, you’ll realise that the sold price of properties are far, far higher than the guide price? Why is that? It’s because price guides are fake. And once you understand why, you'll never look at a listing the same way.
Here's what's actually happening:
The price guide is often set lower than the target sale price to attract more inspections and interest. As a selling agent, the goal is always to build what they call "momentum". The bigger a pool of prospective buyers, the tougher the competition can feel, which can drive up the price.
We expect most properties to sell higher than the guide. But most homebuyers search online using their budget maximum, which means you are pretty much guaranteed to spend months looking in the wrong price range without realising it.We use lots of ways to value properties, but a simple approach is to set your budget on online property searches ten to twenty percent lower than your maximum purchase price. If you have one million to spend, search for properties listed at eight hundred to eight-fifty. You’ll be looking at properties that you can realistically buy.
And gut-check it. Go to the sold section on Domain or REA and filter to the last two months. Not six months, not a year. Two months. If properties matching your brief have sold within your budget, you're in the right range. If nothing's coming up, better to know now than after six months of wasted weekends.
Key takeaways
- Price guides are deliberately set below the expected sale price to drive more interest. Most properties sell above guide
- Search 10–20% below your maximum budget on Domain and REA to find properties you can actually afford
- Check the sold section filtered to the last two months to gut-check whether your budget matches your brief
