Real estate: how to speed up your search for the perfect property

Property price growth is slowing but waiting for a dip in values isn’t the wisest strategy for those wanting to buy into the market, according to the experts.

The pace of property growth across Australia has slowed – and slipped into reverse in some locations – but that doesn’t mean that real estate buyers should drag their heels on purchases.

Buyers agent Michelle May says some people are hesitating amid fears of potential price falls and interest rate rises, but she says people waiting for a dip in values to score a bargain are “probably waiting for something that’s never coming”.

“More often than not, the right time to buy is as soon as you are in a financially secure position to do so,” she says.

“Waiting until that crash that everyone’s talking about is just wishful thinking.”

May says people can cut their property search time in half by:

• Putting your property wants down on paper, including areas where you’re willing to compromise.

• Researching a desired area comprehensively, including stock that recently sold.

• Widening your search if the numbers don’t stack up.

• Enlisting the help of good advisers.

Buyers agent Michelle May says it’s easy to speed up a property search Picture: Richard Dobson

“By working up a good brief and knowing how to navigate the process from the beginning, an average nine-month search is often successful in under three months,” May says.

Chris Gray, a buyers agent, investor and host of Your Property Empire on Sky News Business, says Australia has a “mixed market” where the growth rate has dropped but many properties are still rising in value.

“It’s always more comfortable emotionally to do nothing than it is to make a decision,” he says.

“The best buying times have been in the GFC, the banking royal commission, the credit crunch and more recently Covid. However, it’s very hard to be a contrarian and go against the crowd as everyone would be criticising you and saying don’t you read the papers?

Gray says people who just buy when they can afford it are those who get ahead.

He says you can speed up a property hunt by getting pre-approval for finance, having a cash flow buffer and concentrating on two or three areas at most.

“Know exactly what you want to buy,” Gray says.

“Look at last three months of previously sold prices. Does the property you want actually exist for your budget? Are you realistic?

“Consider hiring a professional buyers agent – if the seller hires a professional, why wouldn’t the buyer?”

Originally published as Real estate: how to speed up your search for the perfect property