Are you auction ready?

Get the groundwork done before you fall for a place. It saves you chasing a property you cannot fund, or losing one because you were not ready to move.

• Know your numbers. Speak to a broker and understand your borrowing capacity, so you know your maximum spend before you walk into a single open.
• Line up a conveyancer. Have one ready before you get serious. They review the contract and tell you go or no-go, fast.
• Write your must-haves and compromises. A must-have might be three bedrooms for a large family or being off a busy main road. A compromise might be a carport instead of a garage. Know the difference before emotion takes over.

See a property at least twice before you get serious.

• First visit is to work out whether you actually like it.
• Second visit, bring an unbiased friend. They will spot things you miss once you are emotionally attached to the place. The midweek open is usually quieter, which makes it easier to look properly.
• Look past the styling. Furniture and presentation are there to sell. Check the bones: signs of damp, the actual condition, and whether it genuinely works for you. Does your furniture fit, is the third bedroom big enough for bunk beds, is there a space that works as a home office.

Your job at the open is to gather as much as you can about the property and the situation.

• Guide price if it has been listed recently, and the reason for selling. You may not get the reason, but ask.
• Level of interest and which week of the campaign you are in. A first-week open feels very different to a fourth-week one.
• Auction or offer. Is it going to auction, or will they take an offer early. Ask what number would take it off the table. Deceased estates often go to auction, but where early offers are accepted there can be a chance to avoid one.
• Settlement preference. The vendor may want a shorter or longer settlement, which can shape what you offer and who you are competing with.
• Bushfire or flood concerns, if the area looks like it might have them.
• Paperwork. Ask for the contract of sale and any building and pest reports already done.
• If it is a unit: ask for the strata report. Check the sinking fund, any recent or pending major works, outstanding bills that could drain the fund, and any special levies coming up.

Reading the room. Get a gauge for the level of genuine interest. It helps you understand where you stand and how hard you may need to push.

• Contract of sale to your conveyancer. This is their job. They look for red flags and tell you quickly whether it is a go or no-go.
• Building and pest. If these have not been arranged already, they come at a cost. The agent can confirm the figure, and you decide based on how serious you are about the property. If you are serious, they become a must-have.
• What is included. Understand the fixtures and fittings, what stays and what goes. It is a common source of disputes later.

If you plan to renovate, or add a second dwelling, do your homework on what is actually possible before you buy.

• Check whether planning permission has been submitted or approved already.
• Find out if a development application (DA) is being sold with the property.
• Understand any zoning restrictions that affect your plans.
• Consider a second visit with a builder or architect who can tell you what is realistic.

Start by deciding what you are buying for: capital growth, rental yield, a future home to live in, or a mix of these. That shapes everything else.

• Rent and outgoings. Understand the expected weekly rent and the costs of holding the property.
• Strata costs. Quarterly rates climb with the facilities. A lift, pool, concierge or gym all add to what you pay.
• The rental market. Especially outside a major hub, check how many properties are sitting vacant. A high vacancy means you could be paying the loan with no rent coming in.
• New builds. Add at least three to six months to any completion date, delays are common.
• Tenants in place. An existing tenant can be a plus, income from day one. But if they are leaving, budget for a few down weeks where you cover the repayments yourself while you find new ones.
• Management. Know who will manage it and what they charge, usually a local agent taking a percentage of the rent.
• Title type. Company title, strata and leasehold each change the picture. Keep it high level for now and get advice if a property is not standard.
• Land tax can apply once you hold higher-value investment property. Worth being aware of.

Say you see a place on a Saturday morning and like it. You get the contract and reports from the agent, then work out what it is worth to you compared to what else you have seen, and your ceiling. You should already know your borrowing capacity and maximum spend by this point, that is the broker conversation.

The agent will typically ring around early the next week to gather impressions and interest. If you have not spoken yet, this is your moment to say you like it and ask what they would accept, and what would take it off the market immediately.

From there it usually goes one of two ways:

• Offers. The agent goes back and forth between you, the vendor and any other interested parties until a figure is reached that the vendor is happy with.
• Auction. There is usually a reserve, the price the property must reach to sell. Heavy interest before auction day can pull the auction forward, or prompt the vendor to accept an early offer, which is why it helps to know what number takes it off the table.

If a property is passed in at auction, it did not reach the vendor's satisfactory figure. Usually one interested party then negotiates with the agent and vendor to try to find a number that works.

• Deposit. Usually 10%, but it is negotiable. With prices rising, 5% deposits are common right now. On a new build you often pay a small deposit first (somewhere around $1,000 to $5,000) with the remainder due at a later stage.
• Cooling off and finance depend on your state and how you buy. Depending on where you are, you may get a cooling off period, or none, you may be able to buy subject to finance, or you may go straight to unconditional.
• Subject to finance typically means you have a set number of days to get formal approval. That approval needs a valuation on the property and the contract of sale.
• Waiving cooling off. In NSW, a form called a 66W waives the cooling off period. It can make your offer more appealing because the vendor knows your deposit is locked in, but once you waive it you only get the deposit back if the vendor defaults.

Once your offer is accepted, you review the final version of the contract of sale and pay the deposit, which typically goes into the agent's trust account to be held until settlement. Both you and the vendor sign and date the contract. You will need this as part of your loan application to get formal approval.

Once the contract is signed, dated and the cooling off period is finished, that is called exchange. From there you work towards settlement.

You will usually get one or two inspections before settlement:

• One to look around or measure up for furniture.
• One just before settlement to check the property is in the condition it should be. If it has been left in a poor state, you may be able to ask the vendor for compensation.

At settlement you receive the keys and, if you are borrowing, the loan draws down, so there is now a loan against the property that you begin repaying. Then you can move in.

NSW settlement defaults to around six weeks (42 days), but a shorter settlement is possible if all parties agree, and extended settlements of three to six months happen in plenty of cases.

• Don't be scared to show some interest. People clam up so the agent cannot push the price. The risk is real, but go too cold and the agent will not take you seriously or chase you up. Show genuine interest.
• Never enough time at an open? True, you rarely feel you get long enough. That is exactly why the must-haves list and knowing your numbers beforehand matter so much.
• Look past the styling. Check for concerns like damp, and whether the place genuinely works for your furniture, your family and how you will use it.
• Auction nerves. If you do not trust yourself to control emotional spending, or you are too nervous to focus, have someone bid on your behalf. Give them very clear instructions on your absolute limit.
• Get everything in writing. Any offer, term or inclusion, from anyone, at least by email. Never rely on a verbal.

A buyers agent works for you, the buyer, and they are becoming more popular as people get busier. It is a separate decision worth understanding.

People tend to use one when they are:

• Buying in an area they do not know well, such as an unemotional investment property.
• Time-poor and unable to spend their Saturdays searching.
• Unsure what to look out for, or simply wanting an expert in their corner.

They have relationships with real estate agents, so they often hear about properties early, including off-market listings and those just about to come up. Some people use them to negotiate too, although if you know your numbers and your ceiling, that really comes down to how comfortable you feel doing it yourself.

Buyers agents usually charge either a flat fee or a percentage, and most specialise in a particular area. The larger agencies have agents across the country who can help in most places you might be looking.