Buying Your Home

Searching for your dream home can be exciting. But it’s a choice you’ll want to make carefully since you’ll likely be living with it for years to come. Consider the following:

Location plays a big part in determining price – and the potential resale price. You know the cliche about the three most important factors in real estate; location, location, location! There’s a lot of truth to that.

Most people start small with their first home. You might not be able to afford your dream home straight away – but once you’ve on your foot in the door so to speak, it’s easier to start moving up.

Some things to consider:

• Is the location close to transport, schools, shops and lifestyle facilities like restaurants.
• Noise issues: Make sure you consider the noise generated by nearby busy roads, railways or flight paths.
• If an area is zoned commercial, there could be businesses around you later – even if there aren’t now.
• What is the crime rate for the area?

Finding the perfect property will be a lot easier if you do your homework and don’t rush the process. It’s important to see a variety of properties in order to get a feel for the market so you can make the right decision when the time comes.

1. Obtain your finance first before you begin house hunting. What’s more, should you successfully bid at auction without having your loan approved, you could lose your deposit if you can't obtain finance.
2. Talk to real estate agents to get a better idea of properties available and prices in the area.
3. Keep a property checklist. When you visit a lot of properties, individual features can begin to run together in your memory.
4. It’s a good idea to take snaps of various properties, inside and out, particularly details you wish to remember.
5. Once you’ve found a potential home, arrange for property and pest inspections before exchanging contracts.

Perform further research by visiting the major Internet property web sites like;

http://www.realestate.com.au
http://www.domain.com.au

Next Step: The Buying Process