Blog · Buying
The first-home checklist we
give our own clients
Deposit, pre-approval, contract review, strata checks, auction rules — the exact order we walk buyers through, plus the mistakes we keep seeing people make.
Every first-home buyer we meet has the same question order wrong. They start with suburbs and finishes, then discover the budget reality halfway through. Flip it: money first, suburbs second.
Here's the sequence we use with clients. It's boring in places — the boring parts are where the money gets saved.
Step one: get the finance boringly right
Pre-approval before you fall in love with anything. Not a calculator estimate — an actual lender's pre-approval with conditions you understand. We've watched buyers lose $40k of negotiating power because their finance was 'probably fine'.
- Get pre-approval in writing, including the expiry date
- Know your absolute ceiling — not your comfortable one
- Factor in stamp duty, conveyancing and a $15k buffer for the things nobody mentions
Then pick suburbs. A first-home budget in this district typically stretches further in Lakemba or Wiley Park than Bankstown proper — half a train stop can mean a bedroom.
The checklist lives on one page. It fits on a fridge.
The buyers who lose money aren't the ones who pay a fair price. They're the ones who skip a check to save $500. — Tom Whitfield, buyer's agent
The checks that save buyers
Before offering on anything: contract review by a conveyancer, building and pest inspection, and a strata report for units. We keep a running list of what these have caught — special levies nobody mentioned, a 'renovated' bathroom hiding waterproofing failure, a strata scheme one quarrel from litigation.
None of these checks are optional. A $500 inspection that kills a bad purchase is the best money in the whole process.
Auction day rules
If you're bidding yourself: set the ceiling the night before, in writing, and treat it as already spent. Don't bid early, don't bid emotionally, and understand that the auctioneer works for the seller — legally, actually, not just in spirit.
Or have us bid for you — it's part of the buyer's agent service, and it removes the two things that cost buyers money: nerves and momentum.
Related reading & services
Where to go next.
Quick questions
First-home questions.
Ready to start the search?
Bring your budget and we'll bring the suburbs — a twenty-minute chat is usually enough to get the plan moving.