The questions property buyers and sellers don’t ask – but should

By Jarrod McCabe

We speak with clients every day about buying and selling property. The common questions are well-rehearsed: what’s my property worth, which agent should I sell with, where should I buy, what type of property suits my budget? These are all important. But some of the most consequential questions are the ones that never get asked.

Sometimes it’s because the question hasn’t occurred to you. Sometimes it’s because you didn’t realise the answer mattered. Either way, knowing what to ask – and what to do – can make a material difference to the outcome.

Questions to ask your buyer’s agent

Is there a time limit on the service?

This one rarely comes up, but it reveals a lot about how your buyer’s agent operates. If there’s a fixed time frame on the engagement, you need to understand what happens as that deadline approaches. Is there pressure to get something – anything – bought before the clock runs out? 

A time-constrained service can shift the agent’s motivation from finding the right property to simply completing a transaction. It’s a similar dynamic to a selling agent’s authority period. The question establishes whether the service is structured around your interests or theirs.

How often do you turn clients away?

This tells you whether the firm takes on every client who walks in or is selective about who they work with. The answer matters because mutual fit directly affects the quality of the outcome. 

Common reasons we’ve declined to proceed include unrealistic expectations around budget and location, motivations that don’t align with our approach – such as a pure yield focus or interstate purchasing – and clients who want advice but aren’t open to receiving it. 

Cultural fit matters too. None of this means we don’t want to be challenged. We welcome that. But the relationship needs to work both ways.

How often have you told a client not to buy a property?

Any buying service can tell you that the property you’ve found is the right one. The more revealing question is whether they’ve had the confidence to say no – and explain why. 

A firm willing to push back, even when the client is initially unhappy about it, demonstrates credibility.

In our experience, clients who are told a property isn’t right for them are almost always appreciative in the long run. Having the conviction to say no is as important as knowing when to say yes.

How much should you actually spend?

This is a question investors rarely ask, because most many arrive with their finance sorted and a number in mind. But just because you have a budget doesn’t mean you should spend all of it. There may be a sector of the market offering better value – less competition, stronger supply dynamics, or a price point where quality blue-chip assets are more accessible.

Spending less doesn’t mean compromising. It might mean buying a strong asset at a more favourable point in the market and using the remaining capital for a second property or diversification into another asset class. The sweet spot shifts over time, and it’s worth asking the question rather than assuming your maximum budget is your target.

Questions to ask when selling

Who is my likely buyer?

This is one of the most important questions a vendor can ask, and one of the least frequently raised. Most sellers focus on what their property is worth and which agent to use. But identifying your most likely buyer profile unlocks a cascade of other decisions.

It shapes when you should sell. A family home campaign that runs through school holidays or public holidays risks losing the buyers most likely to pay a premium. It determines what work you should do. If the buyer is likely to be an owner-occupier, presentation and condition matter. If the house is dated and the land is the asset, your buyer may be a developer – in which case spending on cosmetic improvements is wasted money.

It influences the method of sale. First home buyers are notoriously uncomfortable with expressions of interest – they lack transparency and feel opaque. A private sale or auction may better suit that buyer profile. And it directs where you spend your marketing budget. The channels that reach downsizers are not the same ones that reach first home buyers.

Getting the buyer profile right at the outset means every subsequent decision is better informed.

Who is actually doing the work?

This applies whether you’re buying or selling. One of the most common frustrations in real estate is signing up with a senior, experienced operator and then being handed to someone more junior for the duration of the campaign.

That doesn’t mean you should expect a single person to do everything. We work as a team – there will be one or two main points of contact, but a broader group of advisors covering the market on a client’s behalf to ensure no opportunity is missed. The key is transparency about how that works from the outset.

On the vendor advisory side, we’re firm that the lead agent should be involved from start to finish – not just at the listing presentation and on auction day. They don’t need to attend every open inspection personally, but they need to be across what’s happening throughout the campaign. Choose the individual, not just the agency.

The actions clients forget to take

Attend your owners’ corporation meetings

This comes up constantly with apartment, unit and townhouse investors. We’ve seen properties that looked excellent at the time of purchase gradually deteriorate over years – not because of neglect by the individual owner, but because no one was actively engaged with the owners’ corporation.

If you’re not in the room when decisions are made about maintenance, expenditure and building presentation, you have no influence over the direction your property takes. As an investor, your priorities will differ from those of owner-occupiers. They may want lifestyle improvements. You want the property maintained, presented well and increasing in value. Both perspectives are valid, but yours won’t be heard if you’re not attending.

Stay in touch

If you’re an existing client, don’t wait until a problem has escalated to get in contact with us. Circumstances change. Questions arise about whether to renovate, hold, sell or adjust your approach. It’s far easier for us to help you prevent an issue than to resolve one that’s been building for years. Prevention is always better than cure.

Take home message

The questions you don’t ask can matter as much as the ones you do. Whether you’re buying or selling, understanding who you’re working with, how they operate, who your likely buyer is, and whether your budget matches the best opportunities in the market will sharpen every decision that follows. 

And once you’ve bought, stay engaged – with your owners’ corporation, with your advisors and with the market. The best outcomes come from active, informed ownership.  

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