I have pulled together my July Top Tips for you to keep in mind when you go out shopping for your home:

• Be a Smart Buyer

An informed buyer is a smart one. There are numerous resources available to you through the internet. Realestate, Domain, RPData and even the ABS are fantastic sources of information on the property or area you are looking to buy in.Know

• What You Can Offer

There is no greater feeling than finding the house of your dreams after you have been shopping around for months (or what might feel like years!). You put your offer down, and it has been accepted by the vendor! and now you just need to sort out the finance.. right? To avoid the horrible feeling that you have overestimated your spending capability and won’t get approved by a bank for what you offered to pay – make sure you find out your borrowing capacity and obtain pre-approval before you offer.

• Get Your Inspections Sorted

This might sound simple, but it still surprises me that many people don’t get (at least) a pest and building inspection done on a property. Most buyers would spend several hundred dollars getting a 10 thousand dollar car inspected – so why wouldn’t you do the same with a purchase worth hundreds of thousands? It’s always better to know what you are in for – than find out the hard

• Know Your Settlement Date

I feel a little silly putting this tip in – but problems occur from this too often for me not to. Especially if you are moving out and need to leave your own home as a vacant possession – you need to plan for when you are able to move in or make final payment. It’s equally important to note the date on the contract of sale specifies a number of “days” till settlement. One common mistake is to think this is from the end of the cooling off period – but it’s actually from the day both parties signed/exchange.

• Do your final walk through

Pretty straight forward – but I recommend you make sure this happens. There may be something you missed or you notice a contract inclusion that isn’t physically there anymore.