The Search is On

We have been very hardworking these last 2 weekends, dilligently attending house inspections. For those staying in Melbourne, you'll understand what that is. In S'pore this is probably called "open house" or something. We have decided that if we are ready to purchase a property, then we should start doing our homework or research of the property market now. Signs have been promising that house prices might began to fall or flatten. So it might be the right time for us to find our dream home soon.

In Melbourne, the property industry works a little differently than from S'pore. Firstly, you search online for properties that are listed for sale in the suburb that you like. The search can be very advanced, narrowing to the land size, no. of rooms and toilets you want. Then you see the pictures and read the descriptions about the property. There are usually at least 8 to 15 pictures accompanying each property, showcasing the interiors and the exterior. Nowadays, many property agents use professional photographers to take the pictures so many of them actually look picture perfect, some looked like those straight out of home and lifestyle magazines! The price range is often stated, though some agents would prefer you to call them to find out. Finally, there're the inspection dates. These are dates and time slots, usually on the weekends, lasting 30 mins, where interested buyers can go and view the property. During this time, the owners (sellers) absent themselves after tidying their home and there's only the agent to show off the property and answer queries. This point about tidying their homes, they really go all out to impress, including hanging matching towels in the toilet, laying pretty bedsheets, keeping all the clutter on the kitchen countertop and putting aromatherapy!

I personally like this style of buying/selling property. The online listings makes the information accessible to everyone. As buyers, we don't just depend on the agent to find us the right property, everything on the market is there for everyone to see. As sellers, this ensures a wider coverage of potential customers. The prices, as a result of the transparency, are rather consistent with market trends. The fixed inspection schedule makes lives more predictable and is efficient. The sellers don't get interrupted so often by potential customers popping over to see the house. The agents move from one property viewing to another, all in one weekend of work. And the buyers, we can plan to see many properties all in a day or two.

Of course, with the internet, this can make the agent a little redundant as their main responsibilities are now reduced to opening doors and taking down contact information. And some of them literally do just that. Some won't even walk into the house or highlight to you what are some of the strengths of the property. I certainly won't choose them as my agents if I want to sell my house next time!

After 2 consecutive weekends and about 20 or so properties, we are suffering from what I call "house hunting fatigue". I have some difficulty recalling some of the houses we'd seen earlier when the agent called me later in the evening. Some of the properties are really fantastic but prices are not at that level where I think there's value. There were a few that caught our eyes but nothing that we think is ideal enough to put in an offer. However, I do find that the more houses we compare, the more we get a feel of the market. If we see something that really meet our needs and at a great value, we will be able to know it. But before that, I think next week we should take a break.