Once you have selected the area(s) that you are interested in, then it is time to understand the property market in the area(s). At this point you’ll be able to carry out most of your analysis at a time that suits you, and from the comfort of your own home – So long as you have access to the internet.

The two biggest search engines for real estate in Australia can be found at www.realestate.com.au  and www.domain.com.au  – both of these engines will give you an extensive list of properties for sale as well as a number of photographs, property details, and price details. By entering your suburb details and a price range you’ll be able to ‘see’ the vast majority of properties that are listed with agents in the area, and get a good idea of what your money will buy. To start with you may want to use minimal selection criteria (known as filters) so that you get a broad cross-section of properties. For example, if your price range is around $700,000, you may want to look at properties from $600,000 – $900,000, and not worry too much about number of bedrooms etc. You’ll be able to print off the property lists and review them at your leisure.

Simply by doing the above, you’ll quickly get a picture of the quality of home you can afford in the selected suburb(s). You can even start to see that there are ‘hotspots’, where certain streets or areas demand a higher price. This is particularly useful for those that are not familiar with a suburb.

TIP: - A couple of the more useful features that you can use are: -

Sort By Date.  When you return a list of properties you can use the default sort criteria or you can sort by location, by price, or by date. The “by date” function will list the most recent properties first. 

Alerts. Alerts allow you to set up a number of search filters, enter your email address and each day the properties that match your criteria will be emailed to you. This helps you stay on track of what’s new to the market (so you get to see it first) as well as getting an understanding of how many properties are coming onto the market each week. 

The internet a fantastic tool for building knowledge of an area and the market. There are several other good sites they include: -

www.homehound.com.au 

www.justlisted.com.au

www.inconjunction.com.au

Other sources of information include: -

Local real estate publications – such as property showcase. Here you’ll get a nice glossy magazine, printed weekly, with a selection of properties that are on the market. Again it’s useful for building awareness, but note that this is a selection only – you won’t find all of the properties advertised in any single issue. The magazines can be picked up from outside most Real Estate offices, and usually appear weekly or fortnightly.

Local newspapers – You can browse the classified ads in many of the local newspapers, though here you can usually get only a few lines of description + a small thumbnail picture.

Individual Real estate web sites - Most agents run their own website, with their own list of stock advertised. An example is our site www.inconjuntion.com.au – here you may find more pictures than on the public websites, as we (and other agents) are not constrained by the number of photos we can use on our own sites (Domain allows only 5 images).

Real estate shop windows – Again a selection of properties are posted in the shop window of many agents. If you have the time to drive to each and browse through some of the stock, then there’s value in it (though, again it’s much easier to get the full list in one spot from the web!).

Open Homes – you will regularly see a list of properties that are “Open for Inspection” – normally this occurs at the weekend, where the public is invited in to see a home ‘in the flesh’. Usually an agent will conduct the open home, and it’s an ideal time to get a hands on feel for a property.

For Sale Signs - Drive around the area and look out for agent “For Sale” signs that alert you to the properties that are on the market (though, you’ll need further research to understand price etc.).

All of the above are easy ways for you to learn the market. You will learn about the vast majority of the properties that are listed, but there will be a few that are not yet visible. These are the properties that vendors have requested a discrete approach, where agents are asked to use their contacts (of buyers) rather than advertise to the world that a property is for sale. Unless you contact an agent you may never know of these sales.

Of course, whilst you are still learning the market you may choose to contact one or more agents and leave your details and a set of criteria that outlines the type of home you’re looking for – You’ll certainly want to do this when it comes time to “Take Action” (See next section).