The Brokerage’s Managing Partner Josh Corley sits down with Jordan Navybox, Managing Director and Buyer’s Agent at Cohen Handler, to discuss the real competitive advantage of pre-approval and why the relationship between your broker and buyer’s agent matters more than most buyers realise.
Josh Corley: From the finance side, we see how powerful pre-approvals are for our clients when it comes to negotiations. Can you shed some light on how it helps from your perspective as a buyer’s agent?
Jordan Navybox: It is incredibly powerful. At the moment, especially when we are talking about investors in that $700,000 to $1.5 million price range, the competition is intense. You have investors, owner occupiers, and sometimes developers all chasing the same properties. Around the million dollar mark in particular, it is fiercely competitive.
If you can go unconditional with your offer, you might buy that property anywhere between $20,000 and $80,000 less than a buyer who is conditional. That is a significant difference, and it comes down entirely to how prepared you are before you make an offer.
Josh: To that point, how important is it for the buyer’s agent and the broker to be working in sync when a buyer is looking to purchase?
Jordan: It is critical. It is honestly why the relationship works so well. If I have a buyer who is not pre-approved, it is disadvantaging them, plain and simple.
I see brokers and lenders say to clients that they do not need to go through the formal pre-approval process, that they will handle it when the time comes. On the surface that might sound like efficient advice, but in practice it is really poor advice. That buyer is going to keep missing out on properties.
When the market is moving as quickly as it is, those delays are costly. If a buyer is targeting a $1.2 million property and they miss out on two or three in a row, the gap between their first attempt and their eventual purchase might be three or four months. In that time, they could have lost $40,000 to $50,000 in equity just through market movement. The cost of not being ready is real, and it compounds quickly.
The Takeaway
Going into the market without pre-approval is not a neutral decision. In a competitive price range, it is an active disadvantage. Buyers who are pre-approved can move with confidence, make stronger offers, and in many cases secure properties at a meaningfully lower price than those who cannot.
At The Brokerage, getting clients pre-approved before they begin their search is a core part of how we work. The sooner your finance is in order, the better your position in the market.
If you are planning to buy and want to understand your borrowing capacity and pre-approval options, get in touch with our team today.
About Jordan Navybox Jordan Navybox is the Managing Director and a Buyer’s Agent at Cohen Handler, one of Australia’s most highly regarded buyer’s agency firms.