How a First Home Buyer Secured a Quiet Newtown Apartment for $140,000 Less Than the One Across the Road

A first home buyer wanted a light-filled two-bedroom apartment in Newtown or Alexandria with parking and low levies. After a ten-week search and 28 off-market options, we secured a quiet Newtown apartment for $1.1 million, $140,000 less than a comparable sale across the road.

The Client

This client came to me in mid-April as a referral from a past client. She was renting in the eastern suburbs and ready to buy her first home, but her heart was in the inner west, where she had lived before. She was clear about the pocket she wanted: north Newtown or Alexandria, away from the flight path and never on a main road.

The Brief

Coming from the east, natural light and airflow were non-negotiable. She wanted an apartment where you could leave the doors open through the day and still feel a breeze moving through. Beyond that, her brief was refreshingly specific:

•      A good-sized two-bedroom apartment with secure parking, partly so she had somewhere safe to lock up her bike

•      A decent kitchen, because she loves to cook

•      A balcony big enough to have a few friends over for a drink, and maybe grow some veggies

•      A small strata block with no pool, gym or lift, to keep levies down

•      Nothing needing renovation

•      Great walkability and easy cycling access

We were working to a budget of $1 million to $1.3 million.

The Search Challenge

The biggest hurdle in this pocket is not finding nice apartments. It is finding nice apartments in healthy strata schemes. A number of the buildings constructed in the last 20 years are still recovering from the cost of removing cladding, and many carry waterproofing and fire safety issues. There were plenty of great apartments we were never going to buy because of the strata schemes they sat within. That made the pickings genuinely slim.

Our search spanned ten weeks. In that time I presented her with 28 off-market properties that were close to the brief, and we inspected a couple together that were not quite right.

The One That Got Away

Before the apartment we bought, we tried hard for another: a three-level, two-bedroom apartment in Lawrence Street, Alexandria, with an absolutely amazing rooftop terrace. It was off-market with a single open home, and only five groups went through because the agent had previously sold two other apartments in the block. Of those five groups, three of us tried to buy it within the next 48 hours.

We got pipped at the post on price. It sold for $1.32 million, which was beyond my client's budget. Disappointing at the time, but staying disciplined on budget is exactly what protects buyers from regret later.

The Property

What we ended up buying is in a fantastic pocket of Newtown, less than a five-minute walk to the King Street hub but on a quiet street. You can sit on the northwest-facing balcony in beautiful afternoon sun and hear none of the King Street noise, despite being only a few minutes away.

The apartment had been held by an investor with a tenant who had genuinely looked after it, so it presented neat and tidy throughout. It ticked the brief comprehensively:

•      An oversized balcony, the feature that mattered most to her

•      A kitchen around 10 years old but well maintained, with no need for immediate renovation

•      A bathroom around 20 years old, again very neat in its presentation

•      A genuinely large second bedroom, which is hard to find, plus a very large master

•      A smart floor plan with the bathroom dividing the two bedrooms rather than the bedrooms sitting side by side

•      A secure car space for the car and the bike

•      A second-level position with lovely light and airflow

The Negotiation Strategy

This one was on-market, so strategy mattered. I work with this agent often and I know they like to run everything to auction. I stayed in close communication about our due diligence, where we were at, and where the owner was at. The owner needed to sell and was motivated, but I knew the agent would want at least two Saturday open homes before seriously considering an offer.

So we got ourselves organised and waited for that time to pass.

We then came in at the point where we believed there was only one other buyer in a position to make an offer, and they had put in quite a low one. We had no appetite to get dragged into a bidding war, and I did not feel we needed to. We made a bid designed to knock them out. They came back with a very small increase, we promptly matched it, and we secured the property.

The Outcome

We bought the apartment for $1.1 million, comfortably within budget. A few weeks earlier, an apartment directly across the road had sold for $1.24 million. That one had a renovated bathroom and a more modern kitchen, but it faced the street, was quite noisy, and had a far less practical balcony.

Ours cost $140,000 less. Even if you factored in a full bathroom and kitchen renovation at around $50,000 in total, my client is still well ahead, in an apartment that is quiet, private, off the street, with a genuinely functional balcony and a much better floor plan.

Ten weeks, 28 off-market options, one near miss, and a disciplined negotiation. That is what it took to land the right first home at the right price.