What To Look For At Open Homes - First Home Buyer’s Checklist

In This Week’s How's The Market | Edition 56

• What To Look For At Open Homes - First Home Buyer’s Checklist
• Stock Is Coming Back
• China Has Invested $700m In Property In Australia In The First Quarter Of This Year

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What To Look For At Open Homes - First Home Buyer’s Checklist

Going through open homes for the first time can be daunting.

Especially in today's market, you are probably lining up behind groups of people and then only walking through each property for 5 - 10 minutes so that you’ve got enough time to make it to the next one.

Then you get a text or a call from the agent later that day saying someone else has made an offer and they’re asking if you would like to compete against the offer.

But you’ve only seen the property for 10 minutes?

And it’s only been online for 4 days…

Then you miss out and the cycle continues.?

We get it…

Unfortunately, the first home buyer market and properties within the affordability belt around $500k - $700k are very competitive at the moment and speed plays a major factor in who is able to secure deals.

This means you need to know what you’re looking for when going through open homes so you can determine if a property is of potential interest to you quickly and you can complete your due diligence.

But firstly, before looking at what to inspect in an open home, I believe it’s more important to detail what not to inspect!

Staging / Furniture

When first-home buyers start out looking for properties, it’s very common to see them get sucked in by the staging and how pretty the home can look, however, you must remember, this doesn’t come with the home.

Sometimes, it is also staged in a way that would not functionally make sense and you need to consider if your furniture would actually live in the places that the staging is set up.?

Cosmetic Design

I know first impressions matter, and when there are pink walls and brown carpet it may not immediately feel like your dream home. But don’t sweat the small stuff.

Things like carpet, paint, blinds, light fittings and curtains can be changed fairly easily and for a relatively low cost. Plus this can actually add more value to your home than what you pay for it.

Now, what should you look at?

Internal

Look for the things that you can’t easily change or that could be expensive to fix. These include:

• Room sizes
• Natural light
• Floor plan flow (are the kitchen and dining room connected?)
• Storage
• Heating/cooling
• Appliances
• Privacy from the neighbours (can they see into your backyard or even your bedroom)
• Views
• Cracked walls
• Mould
• Cracked titles or signs of leaks throughout the home
• Uneven floors (is there creaking? Does one side of a room feel higher than the other?)

External

Again look for things that could be difficult to fix or that could be a major item in the next couple of years. These include:

• Gutters (are they old or new?)
• Cracked titles on the roof
• Cracks in the brickwork
• Holes in the garage or garage roof
• Drainage issues like ponding water??
• Extremely unlevel grounds, concrete or brickwork (could be caused by tree roots)
• What do the neighbour's houses look like??
• What's the orientation?
• Is there a slope or a fall on the block?
• Is there an outdoor living area? What’s its quality? Or could you add one?

These are just a few things to consider when inspecting properties as a first home buyer. If you would like our First Home Buyer Checklist - you can download the full document for free via the link below.

FREE DOWNLOAD - First Home Buyer Checklist

What The Agents Are Saying

As agents are beginning to return from vacations, slightly more properties have come onto the market.

Demand and enquiries from the weekend just gone have been strong and agents are selling a lot of properties off-market.?

Agents have been telling vendors that it may be a better time to sell now than to wait and sell in the Spring market amongst more competition. I agree with this sentiment as there is a massive undersupply of stock at this point in time.

Agents are now, however, getting more listings. I was speaking with an agent today that has 17 listings coming online in the next 2 months already signed up.

The Wow Factor!

7-9 Leveson Street, Nort Melbourne, Vic, 3051

Behind an unassuming facade is a nature lovers dream!

The amount of natural light in this beautiful home is glorious!

Price Guide: $3,300,000

In The Media?

Offshore demand: Expert point to rising investment in Aussie Homes .

China invested $700m into Australian property in just the first 3 months of the year.

Whilst it may seem strange to allow a country to purchase land in another country.

International purchasers can apply for permission through the foreign investment review board.

Chinese investors are particularly interested in homes nearby to highly regarded schools in Australia. The Jellis Craig Director Chris Savvides stated that Chinese investors are willing to pay an additional 10-20 per cent for a house that is well zoned to high-performing schools.

While this might be good for the overall Australian economy, for the citizens of Australia it may be concerning. All Aussies dream of owning their own home and this is becoming more and more difficult. Now Aussies are having to compete with a large number of foreign investors, particularly from China & Hong Kong.

In an attempt to rein in property prices and reduce the number of homes sitting vacant, Canada recently took a huge step by banning foreigners from buying residential property.?

Will Australia do the same?

Final Thoughts

As a first home buyer, inspecting properties can be an extremely daunting task, especially when you first start out.

We know because we work with first-home buyers all the time and help guide them through the confusion.

We hope this article and our free checklist will help you on your journey from confusion to clarity.

Thanks for reading this far!

We value feedback and if you have any suggestions on what you would like covered in the future please email me at [email protected]

Happy Buying!

Note: This is general advice and does not take into consideration your objectives, situations or needs. Please consider if this advice is suitable for you and your circumstances and speak to a professional before making any financial decisions.