Professionals Real Estate 
Deciding to buy a property is undoubtedly a major life decision. It’s important that aspiring buyers spend a bit of time doing research and looking carefully at things like property trends, home loan options and the neighbourhood they plan on living in.
Find out your home loan options
Before doing anything else you need to find out what you can afford to borrow and how this is going to impact your budget and lifestyle.
There are plenty of mortgage calculators available online to help provide you with a rough idea of your borrowing capacity, but you’ll also need to have a chat to a lender or a finance specialist like Professionals Finance.
They will be able to provide you with the research and a thorough understanding of your options and help you gain pre-approval so you’re ready to move quickly when the right property comes along.
Narrow down your property choices
There are a number of factors that buyers should consider before deciding on a property. These include things like proximity to work, transport infrastructure, schools and other amenities.
Also look at council overlays and building requirements if you think you might want to renovate or rebuild in the future.
All of these things can have an impact on your lifestyle and your long-term enjoyment of a property, so it’s important you invest the time to do some research of the area.
It can be hard to find a property that has the right balance of everything you want (especially if you’re limited by budget), so sometimes you’ll need to compromise on some things so you can benefit in other ways.
For example, it can difficult to find something in a popular school catchment zone that is also close to your work, so you’ll need to decide which is more important to you.
Researching a particular property
To really understand an area and the value of each property located in it, it’s well worth heading to local open homes and auctions and finding out what makes some homes more popular than others. It can be hard to figure out why some properties sell for more based on online sold data and property listings alone.
When you’ve found one property that you’re interested, the best research you can do is on the ground. Carry out a thorough inspection, including a building and pest inspection if you plan on buying, and get to know all the ins and outs of the property.
Also consider whether the property has enough space for you and if you can see yourself living in the area for a long time. Sometimes it helps to talk to neighbours before making a purchase, to get information and details about the property that you might not be able to find elsewhere.
Of course there is also plenty of property information you can find online, including past sales and rental history, so make sure you check this out to help you decide whether a property is right for you and is likely to sit within your budget. If you are looking for a place to start, CLICK HERE to check out our Free Property Report service on our website.
