I Negotiated $120K Off (But Missed This Red Flag)
- Mar 3
- 6 min read
I saved $120,000 on the purchase price.Then got hit with a pricey surprise two weeks later.
It’s one of the biggest fears I hear from first home buyers. They’ll often say...
What if I miss something?
What if something breaks?
What if there are hidden fees?
How will I afford the unexpected?
Can I own a property and still afford to live my life?
I get it. I really do. Because when we bought this particular property, I was determined not to be blindsided by any costs.
Prefer to listen? Press play on the podcast below.
The negotiation process actually went beautifully
There was back and forth, of course, but I felt calm, grounded, and clear throughout. We held strong and ended up purchasing the property for $120,000 less than what the sellers originally wanted.
One hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
I remember thinking, this is what happens when you negotiate well and stay strategic.
Then after the contract was signed, we did the building and pest inspection. I attended it, asked questions, and made sure I read that entire report line by line. Not skimmed, but read it and understood it.
I was especially cautious about the air conditioning and a few other items, but overall the inspector only had glowing things to say about the property. He told me it was one of the best-maintained homes of its age that he’d seen in years. So I felt reassured, proud even - like we’d done this properly and made a good purchasing decision.
There were some minor maintenance items flagged, and we actually went back and negotiated that those items be repaired as a condition of settlement. I had spreadsheets with every cost mapped… every figure was accounted for (yep, I’m that girl) - I was not going to be caught out on any costs.
And then there were the garage roller doors.
During the inspection, the inspector pointed out they were not working. The button wouldn’t lift them. He said it was likely an electrical issue with the remotes and probably an easy fix.
I asked the agent about it. The agent spoke to the seller. The seller said they had been told it was a simple fix too.
You would think that would have triggered something in me.
You would think I would have said, great, let’s get that confirmed in writing. Let’s get some quotes to confirm what’s actually going on and the cost to repair. Then let’s make it a condition of settlement that it has to be fixed or the purchase price be reduced accordingly.
You would think I would have followed that thread all the way to the end, right?
Normally I would.
But this time… I didn’t.
Everything else had gone so well. The report was strong. The negotiation had been a win. I felt confident. I let it slide.
Then fast forward a couple of weeks...
We settled. We moved in. Everything felt good. No dramatic surprises. No hidden structural nightmares. Although discovering that the driveway was steeper than we originally thought brought on a smidge of buyers remorse… Overall we were thrilled.
So much so that for the first two weeks, we didn’t even use the garage properly - and we didn’t care that we had to find a workaround. We’d park in the driveway, walk through the front door, go downstairs to the garage, and manually reach up to pull the roller door cord that hung inside to open them before driving in. Well, technically I didn’t reach up, I had to jump - I’m short. But that was okay. I found a stool after the first week (that saved me anywhere from 3 - 10 big jumps).
At first it was fine. Mildly annoying, but fine.
But after two weeks it was no longer fine.
I remember thinking, this is ridiculous. We need to get those remotes fixed asap!
So we called someone out to fix them.
And that was the moment.
Turns out it wasn’t an electrical issue with the remotes. The garage roller door motors were dead. No electrical glitch. A proper defect with not one, but both roller doors that needed new motors. Completely replaced. And it would cost $1,500.
I just stood there thinking, well bummer. This could’ve been avoided.
Now I know in the grand scheme of a property purchase, $1,500 is not catastrophic. We had just negotiated $120,000 off the purchase price. Objectively, we were still in a strong position.
But it was still $1,500 we had not planned to spend. It was still money that had to come out of our pocket, that in hindsight, could’ve been saved.
As much as it sucked and caught me off guard...
It was a good reminder - that even when you are careful, even when you read the reports, even when you negotiate well, things can still slip through.
At the time, I felt in two minds about it. I was grateful that this was the only issue, but also annoyed at myself for not following the red flag further.
Because that is what it was. A red flag. Not a massive one. But an inkling. A thread I could have pulled. I could have insisted on a formal quote before settlement. I could have negotiated it to be sorted as a condition of settlement. I could have asked our solicitor to push back harder.
But I didn’t. And that is the lesson.
When something feels slightly off, don’t shrug it away just because everything else looks good.
Follow it through to the end.
Buying property in Australia involves big numbers
Large purchase prices, deposits, fees, moving costs, house setup costs and then the ongoing owning costs.
When you are dealing in hundreds of thousands of dollars, $1,500 can feel small.
But unexpected costs do add up, and they can chip away at your sense of control and financial security.
One of the common fears I see with first home buyers is not so much fear around mortgage repayments (although concerns around affordability with other cost of living pressures is certainly there)... It’s more about the unknowns. The surprise expense that tips everything over the edge, and the fear of making a mistake you can’t undo, and then feeling trapped.
All of that is valid. Those fears are real. And the reality is that unexpected things can happen. Even when you are careful.
But there are ways to dramatically reduce the likelihood of surprises.
You can read every report thoroughly.
You can ask follow-up questions.
You can get independent quotes.
You can make repairs a condition of settlement.
You can build buffers into your plan.
You can budget for the unsexy costs that no one talks about.
You cannot eliminate all risk.
But you can minimise it by being calculated and prepared.
And when you do, you can feel a lot more confident stepping into home ownership.
That $1,500 lesson reinforced something for me.
Being strategic is not about being paranoid. It is about being thorough. It is about honouring the small red flags instead of brushing them aside because you are excited.
If you are worried about missing something, good.
Lean into that nudge and follow it through to the end. Get the support you need and take the necessary actions.
And if you are someone who doesn’t like being blindsided (especially when it comes to money), I have created the First Home Buyers Costs Checklist. It outlines the expenses most people budget for, and the ones that are easy to forget. It also includes reflection questions to help you think through potential red flags before you sign anything too.
If you want to feel more prepared and less anxious about the unexpected, download the free checklist here.
It’s a practical freebie that I created so you don’t buy a place with dud roller doors like I did (or at least, from this you’ll know to check them properly and get it sorted before settlement if you find a place that does). This cost checklist will help you walk into this home buying process feeling steadier.
Don't learn a costly lesson the hard way. Just learn from mine 😉
Until next time, enjoy the checklist!
Get in touch if you have any questions.
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