General Discussion

it's easy to get wrapped up in thinking of buying a house to speculate, flip, etc. but that's just bullshit from an industry that makes money off you moving a lot and swooping in to fix home repairs you've screwed up when you bite off more than you can chew. Unless you're absolutely certain (ideally based on significant past evidence) that you love giving up every night and weekend to doing DIY for the next ten years, be realistic about your capacity for, skills in, and interest in undertaking major renovation projects you couldn't otherwise afford to pay a professional to do for you. And even then think about the impact that living on a building site for years will have on your other life plans and goals.

What I did, and what I'd recommend to the young people in my life, is to wait to buy a house until you have some stability in terms of your job, location, etc. and then buy a home (not an investment, a home) with a 60+ year time horizon in mind. Even if the market is a bit inflated today, over that horizon, you will make money. As the man said, they're not making any more land. Even if the bubble bursts and you lose $20 or $30K in first few years, you will eventually make that up and it will be a blip in your rear view mirror by the time you retire. And since you're not planning to sell any time soon, what difference does it make? Just block Zillow on your search engine for the first 5 years and don't worry about it.

Rent a lot of different places and work out what you like and what drives you mental first, especially the things that can't be changed or that will cost a fortune to change.

Every time you buy and sell a house you take a significant financial hit - you have to fix up the house and hire a real estate agent and a lawyer and potentially make two mortgage payments for the overlap period and pay for movers, etc. It's a costly, stressful pain in the ass that you should avoid unless major life events compel it.

So buy a house that you can age in place in and plan to invest that money instead into making it a perfect home for you. Think about how many kids you will realistically have, how often are you really going to have people staying over and is it cheaper for them to get an Airbnb nearby instead of you paying for an extra guest bedroom year round for them, how much time are you really willing to give up to keep a big lawn/garden up to scratch when you're 80 or are you happy to pay for a gardener once your knees and back go? Do you have space for the hobbies you do or are planning to take up? Current or future pets? Get a place that will be wheelchair accessible without needing massive renovations, ie has a ground floor bedroom with a roll-in shower or the potential for one, definitely bathrooms on every floor. How are you going to get around to access essential services when you can't drive anymore?

Don't buy a house that requires you to back your car into a major road. Always get an inspection no matter what and price in major repairs and renovations. Don't bother with a house if the foundation is stuffed.

Buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood you can afford but make sure it has the right bones so over the next 60 years you can invest in fixing it up to be what you want. Price in the cost and time to travel to work. Try not to buy a brand new house (they depreciate the first few years like cars) or fall in love with a character property that's also a money trap. 5-10 years old is the sweet spot - especially since modern construction methods have come * a long* way in terms of things like thermal performance, mould resistance, and durability.

Look for areas where there is a lot of construction happening, especially upgrades to local shopping areas. But check the local planning maps which should be available on the local council's website. Don't buy in areas with significant natural hazard risk. Don't pay a premium for things you don't actually care about or use, like buying a home in an area marked up for top schools if you don't plan on having school-aged kids or being next to a golf course if you don't play. Look out for signaled future development that will impact your property values like zoning for a planned shopping centre expansion, a new stadium, upgrades to rail lines, or highways nearby, etc. Visit it a few times, at different times of day, to pick up issues like odours from nearby industrial areas , noisy neighbours, airport or helipad flight paths, etc.

Look for areas that have been upzoned to allow for increased intensification because they are near public transport nodes but not developed yet and then decide accordingly. Your land value will increase more in those areas because of speculation and land banking but your neighbours are going to be building at a higher density too - so can you preserve what you like about your property (eg, privacy, aesthetics) through that process? Or would you be happier in a quieter area, accepting that the land value potentially won't go up as much? How high can the neighbours build and what are the building setbacks? Can you live with what the neighbourhood is probably going to look like when you're 80?

Be picky but be prepared financially for when the right one comes along. And then don't worry about the market at the time. Just go for it. If it's the one in a million house that you love and that ticks all the boxes (and I think you can see you should have *a lot* of boxes), it's worth overpaying for it a bit as long as you don't go over what you can actually afford.

Ah yes, and as above get a fixed rate mortgage with no penalties for extra payments and pay off that mortgage as fast as you possibly can.