6 Things To Do Before Inspecting A Property In Person

If you're in the market for a new property in Newcastle & Lake Macquarie, you'll likely know that purchasing a home is one of the biggest investments you'll ever make. If you’ve already started the property search, you’ll also know that seeing a property in person doesn’t always live up to the online marketing. Or better yet, while you’re at the inspection you hear or see something that had you known prior, would have stopped you inspecting in the first place.  

Everyone falls for it, so don’t worry. But how can you ensure you’re making the most of your Saturday inspections and looking at only pre-qualified properties? We’ve provided a few tips below. 

1. Check The Internal Floorspace 

Have you ever walked through a property and thought, wow this is small! 

If so, then the first thing you should examine when considering a property is its internal floorspace. For a typical 3-bedroom home of the federation era, you should expect to find around 120 square meters or more of internal floorspace. If you're eyeing a 4-bedroom home, aim for a minimum of 140 square meters to ensure the property doesn’t feel too cramped. You can often find out this through the floorplan on the online listing, or if the property is off-market, subscribing to CoreLogic RP Data for historical information. 

2. Consider Bedroom Sizes 

You may have a growing family, or you may be looking for something with good potential rental return. Whatever the case, its worth knowing that a bedroom should be at least 3 meters by 3 meters to comfortably accommodate a queen bed and bedside tables. Any smaller along one wall, and you may be forced to downsize to a double, then sacrifice a bedside table. We generally recommend our clients purchase properties with no narrower than 2.8m across any given wall. Also keep in mind that if there’s no built-in robes (BIRs), installing some could reduce the width of one of the walls. A typical BIR is about 600mm deep, so if you intend to install BIR’s, ideally you want 3.6m in width across one wall. 

3. Review Flood & Fire Risk 

Before you inspect a property in person, you can check whether it's in a flood or fire risk zone. You can use resources like Mecone Mosaic and your local Council Flood Mapping tools to assess the potential risks associated with the property's location. In Newcastle, we use the Newcastle City Council Flood Mapping Tool which often saves us and our clients from inspecting high flood-risk properties. 

4. Get A Feel For The Area 

With technology at our fingertips these days, its quite easy to feel like you’ve walked the street by reviewing the street and neighbourhood on Google Street View. Bear in mind that some Street View pictures are years old and the street may have significantly changed since that point in time. 

5. Do Your Pricing Research 

Have you ever inspected a property, only to find it was well out of your budget? One way to avoid this from happening is reviewing similar properties in the local area that have sold within the last 3-6 months. This gives you a great read on what the Real Estate Agent is pitching as justification to the price guide and/or sales price expectations. Knowing the recently sold properties in the area also gives you a yardstick to measure your own price estimates on. Use this information wisely and be mindful of how much you share with the Real Estate Agent if you do plan to inspect. 

6. Call The Real Estate Agent 

Lastly, picking up the phone can be a true lifesaver. If you have very specific criteria that you can’t confirm from the property listing, or want to know price estimates upfront, attempt to call the listing Agent. Before we inspect properties on behalf of our clients, we often clarify information over the phone to ensure we aren’t wasting our time. Here are a few questions that you might want answered before inspecting: 

• If no price guide: What is the asking price? 

• If price guide provided: What are the vendors expectations on price? 

• If not recently listed: Is there any other interest in the property? 

• If timing is important: Can we book a private inspection? 

• May I have a copy of the contract & Building & Pest Reports (if provided)? 

Bringing It All Together 

Saving time is a crucial component of having an enjoyable home-buying experience, and using a few of the tips above could help you focus on the right properties with much more intensity.  

However if you’ve already given up on the search, we’re here to help.