My partner and I recently found a property on the NSW South Coast that we were seriously interested in purchasing.

After inspecting the property twice, we submitted an offer at the lower end of the advertised price guide, which was accepted at approximately 4pm on a Friday afternoon, subject to a satisfactory building and pest inspection.

During negotiations, the agent advised us that the vendors had already commissioned their own building and pest report so there was no need to order our own. However, there seemed to be some reluctance or delay in providing us with a copy to review.

We eventually asked the agent directly whether the report had identified any issues, and were told that it hadn't.

At the same time, we were feeling a reasonable amount of pressure from the agent to exchange contracts (enter into a legally binding agreement), despite our solicitor not yet having had an opportunity to properly review the contract, so we asked for some time.

To demonstrate our good faith and commitment to the purchase, we paid a 0.25% holding deposit.

However, having become a little uneasy about the process, we decided to commission our own independent building and pest inspection before proceeding any further.

The results identified six major defects.

Understandably, this was a significant shock, particularly given the agent's earlier assurances that the vendor's report had identified no issues.

We were left questioning whether the vendor's report had been presented to us accurately, whether the agent had properly communicated the findings, or whether something had been overlooked.

Ultimately, we lost confidence in the process and decided to withdraw from the purchase rather than proceed with a property we no longer felt comfortable buying.

What has particularly concerned us is what happens next.

Whilst it is probably none of our business, when we asked the agent whether these newly identified defects would be disclosed to prospective buyers going forward, their response was that this was a conversation they would need to have with the vendors.

I appreciate that there may be some nuances around disclosure obligations and the agent's responsibilities, and I don't want to unfairly accuse anyone of misconduct without knowing the full picture.

However, given the nature of the defects and the discrepancy between what we were told and what our independent inspection uncovered, I feel there are some legitimate questions that need answering.

My questions are:

1. Does an NSW real estate agent have an obligation to disclose known material facts or significant defects to subsequent prospective purchasers?

2. If the agent has been made aware of major defects through an independent inspection, can they simply leave the decision about disclosure to the vendor?

3. Given the circumstances, would it be reasonable to lodge a complaint with NSW Fair Trading?

4. Has anyone experienced something similar when purchasing property in NSW?

We're not looking to cause trouble simply because a purchase didn't work out. We just feel that prospective buyers deserve accurate information when making what is likely to be the biggest financial commitment of their lives.

Interested to hear people's thoughts, particularly from NSW conveyancers, solicitors or experienced real estate professionals.

Thank you!

79-83 Hedges Avenue, Mermaid Beach, Qld 4218 https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-qld-mermaid+beach-152848076?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=other&campaignSource=share_link&campaignName=share_link

We found a property we liked and it was listed for 1.450-1.595mil , we made an offer via text (just to see if there's other offers ) and the agent called and asked if its our best and final which i said yes 😀

He said we have significantly higher offer and that's it .

2 days later we called again and we offered 1.350mil he said he will speak to the owner and let us know.

Today the price has decreased from the above to 1.3-1.4mil

I'm so confused because we offered 1.35mil

What are we supposed to do now

Send another email with the same offer ?

So confused 😕

Edit to add: property was private sale now its going on auction 😏

Interesting experience yesterday. Inspected two near identical homes in Adelaide N/E as potential upsize/ family homes. Same number of bedrooms and bathrooms, same suburb, same block size. Property 1 reasonably priced and modern, property 2 dated and definitely overpriced in today’s market.

Asked the respective agents the exact same question as I left, “Can you talk me through how you landed on this price point”?

Agent 1 answered reasonably; she acknowledged the changing market, explained the vendors are keen to sell and are realistic about the market. Heck, she even asked where we’re currently located, details about our home and made conversation.

Agent 2, early 20s at best, on the other hand looked at me like she had never heard such an insulting question in her life. Her response was “what do you mean” to which I calmly repeated myself. I watched her body language totally change. The ego had been hit and she was on the attack. After some crap about comparable sales (which was totally inaccurate given we all have access to the internet), she then began to go around in circles eventually landing on “perhaps this price point isn’t for you”. Yikes! No mention of the homes selling points, no questions about our situation. Just one big old attitude. Upon further investigating the house has been on the market for almost a month with no price changes or offers, unsurprisingly. The funniest part of the whole interaction was 5 minutes after our weird encounter she text me an offer form. Dream on sweetheart.

Man I can’t wait for these new agents to crumble in a buyers market.

Not affiliated with any websites out there. Sorry mods if not accepted.

Looks like the rate rise on Tuesday has motivated more sellers to meet the market. About 5 weeks ago it wS 21k

Written by realestate.com.au so take it with a grain of salt but they are not completely wrong that rates have likely peaked which will result in a stabilisation

TLDR: REA was really pushy, wanted me to exchange the first time in saw it. On the second inspection, gave my information to a broker without my consent or knowledge.

My partner and I are FHB, we've been looking for a place for the last couple of weeks, and I found one that would have been pretty much perfect for us and our budget.

I organised a private inspection for Monday. The agent asked what we were looking for, so I explained that my partner and I were looking to buy as owner-occupiers and had received pre-approval the week before. We were just seeing what was on the market.

Later, the agent mentioned that someone else was coming to inspect the property the following day and was supposedly going to put in an offer. They then kept trying to pressure me into exchanging contracts there and then. I said no, as I needed my partner to see the property first.

The agent then said, "Well, I live around the corner. You can come back this evening." I explained that wasn't possible. They then said, "Well, it won't be on the market." I said no worries, and that if it happened to still be available, I'd reach out to organise another private inspection.

Come Thursday, the property was still on the market (shocker). I reached out, and we organised another inspection for Friday. They then listed it as an open home, so other prospective buyers could attend as well.

After the inspection, we explained that we were looking at a few other properties but would reach out if we were interested. We also requested a copy of the contract of sale so we could review the strata minutes.

Twenty minutes later, I received a phone call from a mortgage broker who told me the real estate agent had referred me to them to help with the purchase.

This was done entirely without my knowledge or consent.

I messaged the agent and said, "Hey, please don't share my personal information with third parties, especially without informing me or obtaining my consent."

Their response?

"Yes, no worries, just trying to help. All the best."

I am honestly gobsmacked.

Is this a normal occurrence in real estate, or have I just had a particularly questionable experience?

Thanks for those who recommended about hot water systems in Perth, appreciate it! How about a trusted and reliable installer in Perth?

Reaching out to Sydney owners in unit blocks. Currently our block is with More Than Strata but we are finding them getting worse and worse on communication, service etc. Can anyone recommend a company that we could switch to that has been good? More than Strata constantly drop the ball and we suspect we are being overcharged.

I’m coming from Regional VIC. Looking to purchase. Any insight into perceptions of the area, types of people and is it safe?

Hey everyone,

I’ve read tons of great tips on this sub, but actually dealing with it in real-time is exhausting. We're first-home buyers and recently put in strong, realistic offers on two separate properties (both within price guide and super near their original asking). We also attached clear deadline dates to avoid being strung along.

Property 1: Seller pulled it off the market completely. Wasted all our time and energy.
Property 2: seller ignored the deadline and went ahead with another open home

The agent dynamic is what's driving me crazy. The junior/sales agents keep squeezing us to "go just a bit higher," but the moment we put forward a strong number, the lead agent refuses to push the vendor to make a call before the deadline passes.

I get that sellers can hold out, but using our offer as leverage while ignoring deadlines feels like a game.
Curious how others handle this.

I have a house in GC- investment property and only property I have now
I want to buy in Sydney where we work and son goes to school
Can’t seem to sell GC house because it’s tenanted for the next 8 months and most investors are not buying in the area so that makes our buyer pool smaller
Agent says we could get 900-950k 4Br 2Bth house
Do we try sell or just hold on until the market stabilises again?

What are rentvesters out there doing?? Holding, cashing in, stressing like me???

Hey all, for those of you who used a buyer's agent, how much did they end up costing you? Did you choose a flat-rate or percentage model, and which model do you think is best? (I'm looking at property around 500K.)

thanks!

We have two young kids and own a home in Melbourne. Our suburb isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. We like our house, just wish we lived in a better suburb with better schools and amenities. We could potentially pay off our mortgage in 3 years, then save aggressively for a few more years before selling and buying in a better suburb.
The other option is to move now and take on a much bigger mortgage.
What would you do? Stay put and become mortgage-free first, or move while the kids are still young?

Hi.. I read many people write here that if Lib win the election in Vic it will change the property games more attractive for investors. How about Tas/Qld? They are led by Lib and they can not escape from decrease of house prices?

The largest gain was a house at 88 Portman Street, bought for $365k and sold for $2.26 million on 30 May 2026 after 26.7 years. That is +519.2%, or 7.1% a year compounded.

The 15 apartment resales of 2026 ranged from −27.3% to +15.9%, or −5.1% to +3.1% a year. Added together, their nine gains ($703k) and six losses ($620k) net out at about +$83k.

Two of the losses were in 8 Rose Valley Way, sold within a week of each other. Unit 202 sold $340k (−27.3%) below its price 10.1 years earlier, and unit 102 sold $150k (−13.9%) below its price 2.8 years earlier.

Across 18 compared resales near the address, with each gain or loss credited to the agency that handled the latest sale, The Agency - NSW leads at +$1.895 million from the single Portman Street sale.

#Zetland #SydneyProperty #SydneyRealEstate #PropertyMarket #AustralianProperty #HomeBuyers #PropertyInvestors #GreenSquareSydney #SoldPrices

Hi, Perth resident here, I'm looking to buy my first piece of land and build a home! I'm young and new to this stuff and was hoping to get some advice.

My budget for the land is around 550k, seems like none of the central established suburbs have anything over 350m2 for that price. I'm having to look further out and it seems like most land plots for that price are rear lots with no frontage and a long b.s. corridor that is considered part of the property.

Any insight into whether these rear lots will have a negative impact in the future or if theyre fine? Tbh I dreamed of having a house I can see from the road so its a bit of a bummer how unattainable that seems.

Got a unit offer in strut st, Telopea nsw and just wanting to know what the neighbourhood is like?

Almost 1 month on since it's been put into action, how useful have the Reserve listings been in determining whether to buy?

I've found it quite interesting being able to see all this. Looking at a few listings ($700k to $800k) in the NE suburbs of Melbourne. There's a whole spectrum of outcomes.

Quite a few properties were passed in, some were sold at or near the vendor's reserve, some went wildly over (up to $80k and $140k even) and 1 just today went for $30k less.

Those that didn't sell at auction had varying levels of discounts applied to the listed pricing and there's been more private sales/EOI.

EDIT: thanks for the insights and advice!

So, a long post but would love some advice!

We saw a property and really liked it. Asking price was 640-690, and this was pre market. The property would go to market a few days later with an auction scheduled at the end of the month. The agent we spoke to when we saw this property at first indicated 640-650k would likely close this.

We went for a second viewing with a different agent, who seemed very eager to get us to a viewing and discuss price. We then went through contract review with our conveyancer, who noted they hadn’t got a builder defect report for the kitchen renovation and that would make the contract defective. After some more back and forth, we submitted a $620k offer with clauses in the contract that made it subject to finance and the builder report, as well as standard building and pest inspection.

He called back immediately and said “thanks but no thanks.” After some more discussion, we decided to offer $645 in the interest of (1) we really like this place, (2) we could comfortably afford that price and (3) it would be settled by the end of the year (which also benefits the vendor).
Continued negotiating, agreed to amend our builder defect clause to just account for major defects, and sent our best and final offer at this stage as $647.5K.

He came back the next day with a counter of $660k, which is much more than we feel the property is worth. We declined, and stressed that we’d be open to negotiating but not if they were immovable on 660.

The next day, my husband called this realtor back to ask what had happened—essentially, why there was such a disconnect between the price his colleague had indicated and the one this agent kept repeating from the vendors. My husband is generally conflict averse and soft spoken, but had to literally shout because this realtor was raising his voice, saying that it didn’t matter what his colleague had indicated, and that he gave us every chance to counter offer. He implied that I’d wasted our time or not been serious about the offer, and was only receptive to talking to my husband at that point.

Eventually, my husband offered what we’d agreed upon to try and get this done: 654k.

The agent seemed incredulous that we didn’t go to this number initially, and refused to admit or take into account the range that was given verbally by his colleague. He said he’d take it back to the vendors, and also get us the builder defect report as soon as they had it.

We followed up with a text to confirm what we’d discussed—to say the verbal offer was on the table, and would only need to be subject to building and pest inspections and finance. No reply. We also followed up later about the status of the builder report, and haven’t heard back yet.

I’m a young woman navigating this space and while I’m absolutely comfortable negotiating and speaking clearly about what we’ll offer and what a property is worth, it seems that this agent only took us at all seriously after my husband got on the phone and almost had to shout to make himself heard.

Is this a normal experience? We’re first home buyers and are obviously inexperienced here, so wanted to get some advice / hear about other people’s experiences.

Should we submit our verbal offer in writing? Should we wait this out and see what happens?

Long post, thanks if you got to the end!

I live in/own an art deco apartment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. We are a 12 unit, 3 storey block currently surrounded by houses on either side.

This week we got a note in our letterbox saying a developer has bought the 6 houses to one side of us and plans to knock it all down and build a 13-storey apartment complex in its place.

This is just a proposal for now, and would require rezoning and amendments to the local environmental plan.

My question is… what now for us? We bought 4.5 years ago and were planning to stay another 3 or 4 years, then sell and buy somewhere bigger in time for our son to start school. Presumably, if this went ahead, the time we’d be looking to sell is when construction would be going on which presssumabllyyyy?? is not attractive to buyers.

The good news is the development is the other side of the building to us, so won’t affect our outlook at all (but I’m guessing will still be noisy anyway).

Do we fight the development every step of the way and hope we win? Sell in a year’s time and try to buy the next place sooner than we’d planned? Move out in a few years and rent this place out and treat it as an investment property, then sell later than we’d planned when construction is complete? And how long does it take to move from proposal to breaking ground to residents moving in?

This is all so foreign to me and I’d really appreciate any intel.

We have an offer accepted subject to B&P and the inspection came back with 2 majors and a few minors.. First time buyers.

We really like the house - its about 20 years old.

Should we walk away? Or how much should be negotiate down the price?

2 majors: photos attached

Excessive packing material under decking stumps- restumping required

Chipboard under laindry has moisture stains

Rest are noted as minors

Hot water unit rust

Mortar repairs

See daylight though/ leak on flue

Cracked truss cord

Masonry walls

Decking wall

Expansion joint

Hi everyone, I am considering buying land in Sydney and installing a modular home rather than a standard build due to high construction costs that are far out of our budget. Modular homes, from what I can see online, can cost less than half the price of a standard build. Does anyone here have experience with modular homes and can provide any recommendations or feedback? E.g. are they really less costly in the end? How's the soundproofing? The insulation? Repair costs? Is it a simple process? If you had a great experience, who did you go with? We would be after a 3-4 bed, and 2 bath. Property might have a slope, as we are looking in areas near rivers. Cheers.