To buy well do your homework well

More than 50 per cent of home buyers end up buying properties that are not in line with the detail of their original briefs or intentions. They might originally insist on 'north facing or 'no pool' or 'it must have a study'or 'it must be in xyz area' and end up buying a property that varies substantially from the original brief. This is not a problem. We are used to that. It's human nature. It is common even with regard to their budget. 

Prospective buyers need to visit, and look at, a variety of homes in order to fully understand the value that is - or, indeed, isn't - on offer. It is important to be as familiar with pricing and value as the agent is. 

Swiping left or right online (not that I've ever used Tinder) is simply no search comparison. Don't use your usual online buying habits to buy a house.

Shotgun or rifle shot

Buying online is a rifle shot experience. Before the internet the process of buying generally was a shotgun experience...the emergence of supermarkets. Has 'online' become a habit? Buying a home should be a combination of both rifle shot and shotgun. It is essential to see as many houses in your target area as possible. You are buying the most important asset of a lifetime - and missed opportunities seldom reappear.

Using your senses

This is about using all your senses. You want to see the roads, talk to residents, take note of the trees, smell the flowers, and experience the traffic flow. You need not only to see the home but also to get a feel for the environment in which it is located.

You cannot do this while swiping left or right on a device. Part of the homework is not to elimate to eliminate options too quickly without even viewing them.  My key tip to buyers is to go into the areas of their focus - and look at a minimum of at least 10, and perhaps even as many as 15, homes. In doing so, you should not be guided only by asking prices. There isn't a set formula. Some properties will be priced with a 10 to 20 per cent premium - thus providing wiggle room for negotiation.

Other properties will be bang on the right price - even to the point of being perceived as relatively cheap. This reflects a seller/agent strategy to price low ('offers from...') and build up price-enhancing competition among interested buyers.

Do the homework

This is why it is important for buyers to do their homework. Obviously, area-focused agents are a great source for this information - not least because they often come across "off-market" opportunities. Only buyers who are close to, and have relationships with, those agents will be shown those properties.

As an aspirant home buyer - and, particularly, a first-timer buyer - it would help to ask your agent, bank, or mortgage originator, to pre-qualify you financially so that you have a very clear idea of your budget parameters.

In doing so, don't forget to factor in the transfer costs.