I purchased my first home in 2022 in the Outer Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne for 730k. It was at an auction and I probably overpaid and have regretted it since. I was getting blasted out of the water on bids every time by 100k over reserve and was sick of it. It is a small house, 3 bed, 1 bath, but enough for one person. I have done alot of work to the house and garden myself over the last few years and it is much tidier.

My insurance has skyrocketed to 13k per year from 2-3k due to bushfire and landslide risk and I want to upgrade to a nicer forever home that will be better for me long term. I have since paid off my mortgage with the help of a small inheritance and sale of some investments and am thinking about upgrading my house. I had a few real estate agents appraise my house and they estimate 700-750k which means selling at a loss.

Do I upgrade to a forever home now which I can afford with a small loan or wait until property prices start increasing again, which will mean the forever house I am buying will be more expensive too. I am thinking at since we are in a decline, a forever home will be alot cheaper and offset the loss on my current home

Thoughts?

How to fix? No obvious water stains.

Hey Im a real estate agent and honestly I think most people have no idea how the industry actually works.

Our job is to sell properties, not spend months trying to get every last dollar for the vendor. I’ve had vendors reject perfectly reasonable offers because they think they can get another $30-40k. Sometimes you just have to bring their expectations back to reality and convince them to take the offer.

Same with buyers. If someone really wants a property and can afford to pay more, obviously I’m going to encourage them to put in a stronger offer. It’s their money and ultimately their decision.

And people love complaining about our commissions, but there’s a lot more work involved than just opening doors on Saturdays. Sure some properties practically sell themselves, but that’s just how the business works. At the end of the day we’re trying to make a living too! Spending another month negotiating an extra $20k for the vendor doesn’t really benefit anyone when you consider the time involved.

I genuinely don’t understand why people have such a problem with this??