Tiny Mighty Property Guide

Know Yourself

A journey cannot begin until you know the destination.

A clear understanding of what you want to achieve is one of the first things you need to do along with setting up your budget.

Buying property is a long-term decision and one of the most expensive purchases of your lifetime.

Mistakes can be costly and set you back years, but they can be avoided by charting a course.

Though life can be unpredictable, you still need a plan based on the information you have at hand.

This can be an intense exercise as so many factors can come into play, but it will set you up for success by making sure your decisions are future-oriented.

Things that may factor in your plan can include:

  • career
  • marriage
  • kids
  • current investments or savings
  • investment time frame
  • risk tolerance

Property is a long-term investment, meaning you should consider holding it for a minimum of 10 years.

The transaction costs that come with buying and selling, including the tax implications, make it an expensive proposition so you really want to minimise costs by transacting only as much as necessary.

Is Your Next Purchase A Home Or Investment?

Taking the above into consideration, are looking to buy a home or investment?

Searching for your next home is different to searching for an investment.

The search for your home will often be guided by emotion and influenced by personal circumstances and preferences.

An investment should have no emotional attachment but based on the numbers and factors that make it a good investment.

Buying A Home

You need to establish your search criteria by identifying your needs and wants, lifestyle preferences and desired location.

If you are buying with your partner, make sure you are both open about what you want, are actively involved in setting up your criteria and engaged property search.

Needs and Wants

Write down your lifestyle preferences, property requirements and desired location:

  • Shortlist of preferred suburbs
  • Property requirements:
    • Property type: house, apartment, townhouse/villa
    • Number of bedrooms, bathrooms and car spaces.
    • Outdoor space requirements (eg, yard, pool, entertainment area, etc.).
    • Proximity to amenities such as work, school, shops and public transport.

Buying An Investment

Whereas buying your home is largely an emotional decision, an investment property should be based on property fundamentals that guide you to choose a property that will always be in demand and whose value will grow over time.

Write It Down

You can pay thousands of dollars to have a buyer’s agent do the work for you, but they still need to understand your circumstances and what you want to achieve. If you don’t provide them with accurate information, you don’t get the personalised service you are paying for.

So, whether you pay an expert or not, you still need to do some leg work.

Clearly understanding your financial position and goals is the foundation to success.

With this in mind, let’s go through the information a buyer’s agent and mortgage broker will need to help you. From their perspective, the information they collect from goes into creating their client brief, a document that outlines your requirements based on your budget, expectations, objectives and timeframe.

  • Client information:
    • full name
    • contact number
    • email address
    • current address
  • Purchase type:
    • primary residence (your home)
    • investment
  • Purchase timeframe – When do you intend to buy?
    • Immediately
    • 3-6 months
    • 6-12 months
    • More than 12 months
  • Do you currently have a mortgage broker or lender?
    • Yes (Provide broker/lender name)
    • No (Would you like assistance in finding one?)
  • Property Preferences:
    • Property Type:
      • House
      • Apartment
      • Townhouse/Villa
      • Duplex
      • Land
      • Other
    • Location preferences (The top 3 to 5 suburbs of interest)
    • Approximate budget or price range
    • Living space:
      • Minimum bedrooms
      • Minimum bathrooms
      • Minimum carspaces
  • Property Features:
    • Must-haves, eg:
      • Pool
      • Garage
      • View
    • Nice to have features, eg:
      • Fireplace
      • Updated kitchen
    • Deal breakers, eg:
      • No fixer-uppers
      • Not pet friendly
  • Lifestyle and Community
    • What is your lifestyle and how does your home accommodate it?
      • Eg, entertaining, remote working, large family
    • Community Ammenities:
      • Schools
      • Proximity to work, shopping centres, public transport
  • Financials
    • Pre-approval amount (if applicable)
    • Deposit (percentage or amount)

As you can see the list of information required by a buyer’s agent and/or mortgage broker can be quite extensive.

You may have vague ideas of what you are after but completing the above list helps you get specific on your requirements. So, take you time to go through it and make sure to include everything you can think of.

Now that know where you are going, it is time to set up or update your budget.