It’s one of the biggest purchases you are ever likely to make, and it can end up being a serious time-sink – but it’s easy to let your heart rule your head when it comes to buying a house.
There’s a huge number of things to consider when buying a house, and most of them are more important than paint colours. With that in mind, Canstar has put together our very own ‘buying a house checklist’ – with a few (unemotional) things to keep in mind when attending the myriad of houses you’ll look at as a prospective home-buyer.
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Take a look at what 100+ lenders are currently offering.Here’s our 10 things to look for when you’re buying a house:
- Consider where you really want to live
- Is the house close to important facilities?
- Does the house have the right number of rooms to suit your needs?
- Are the building and roof structurally sound?
- What are neighbourhood noise levels like?
- Does the house have good natural light?
- Does the house have adequate power?
- Is there any sign of termite activity?
- Are there any planned developments nearby?
- Is the garden suitable?
Ready to buy? Find out how to buy a house with our guide.
Now for the detailed considerations…
1. What makes us want to call a new suburb home?
When it came to house hunting, everyone will want something different in terms of their built environment. Affordability will obviously be a top criterion, but peace and quiet, good schools, shops and a low crime rate are also likely to be important. Check out Canstar’s summary of the top 10 fastest selling suburbs around Australia as of January 2017:
| TAS: Montagu Bay at 5 days |  |
| VIC: Tooradin at 8 days | |
| NSW: Lapstone at 9 days | |
| QLD: Keperra at 10 days | |
| WA: Daglish at 14 days | |
| ACT: Ainslie at 16 days | |
| SA: Melrose Park and Rosewater tied at 25 days | |
| NT: The Gap at 41 days | |
| Source: CoreLogic, Jan 2016 – Jan 2017. |
Suburb aside, let’s examine what makes for an attractive home!
If you’re in the market for a new home loan, see our comparison table below which features some of the best products on our database sorted by comparison rate and with links to lenders’ websites.
The table above displays a snapshot of fixed & variable rate home loans available for first home buyers on Canstar’s database, with links to providers’ websites.
Source: Canstar. Based on residential fixed & variable home loans available for a loan amount of $500K at 80% LVR, and available for Principal and Interest repayments.
*Comparison rate based on loan amount of $150,000. Read the Comparison Rate Warning.
The table above displays a snapshot of fixed & variable rate home loans available for Refinance on Canstar’s database, with links to providers’ websites.
Source: Canstar. Based on residential fixed & variable home loans available for a loan amount of $500K at 80% LVR, and available for Principal and Interest repayments.
*Comparison rate based on loan amount of $150,000. Read the Comparison Rate Warning.
The table above displays a snapshot of fixed & variable rate home loans available for Investing on Canstar’s database, with links to providers’ websites.
Source: Canstar. Based on residential fixed & variable home loans available for a loan amount of $500K at 80% LVR, and available for Principal and Interest repayments.
*Comparison rate based on loan amount of $150,000. Read the Comparison Rate Warning.
2. Is the house close to facilities that are important to you?
Unless you want to live rural, making sure that prospective future homes have at least some level of proximity to the essentials is probably important to you. You may want to look for a house that’s walking distance (a subjective term if ever there was one) from the following as a minimum:
- A small set of shops, or at least a convenience store of some description
- A park, or some other kind of significant green space
- Public transport (being able to get to work or your regular engagements without the use of a car is useful)
Closeness to facilities may be especially high on the list of things to consider when buying a house for families. If you have kids, consider how close to their school(s) you want to be, along with school catchment areas. Obviously living within walking distance of them may not be possible (or practical in the case of inner-city schools), but you don’t want to leave yourself stuck with a half-hour drive every morning to get the kids to class.
Maybe try looking for houses that aren’t necessarily walking distance from the schools in question, but that your children could comfortably catch public transport from and to or ride a bike to.
3. Does the house have the right number and configuration of rooms to suit your needs?
This one might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s on our buying a home checklist for a reason. Obviously you won’t spend more than a second or two figuring out the number of rooms the house has, but how those rooms are configured is where your noggin needs to start joggin’.
When it comes to rooms, you should consider the following:
- How close are the bedrooms to the living room(s)?
It might not seem like a big deal, but if you end up with a bedroom that’s directly next to the room with the TV in it, you might be in for a sleepless night if you decide to turn in early. Look for a house where the living room is a reasonable distance from the bedrooms.
- Do any of the bedrooms face the west?
The cardinal directions aren’t something that you might have at the forefront of your mind when inspecting homes, but believe us when we say that compass points are definitely one of the most important things to ask about when buying a house, especially when it comes to bedrooms. Bedrooms that face west can get very warm, very quickly, and that goes for all times of the year, not just summer. A home with a single western-facing bedroom is forgivable, especially if you plan on using it as a guest room, but if the majority (or all) of a home’s bedrooms face to the west, then that’s a deal breaker in our opinion.
- What does the future hold?
Were you planning on having a kid/another kid anytime soon? Maybe you’ve got a parent who may need to come and live with you in the future due to illness? Either way, consider the number of rooms you’ll need in the future, rather than the number of rooms you may need right now.
4. Are the building and roof structurally sound?
This one isn’t on our list of ‘things to ask when buying a house’; it’s on our list of ‘things to figure out the answer to yourself’. What we mean by that is that when it comes to the structural safety of any given building, we don’t recommend taking the agent’s word for it. Get an independent building inspection done, and go from there.
We’d also recommend having a building inspector check out the overall build quality of the home, along with the various fittings, the level of insulation, etc. According to House Search Australia, this can reveal issues with the building you wouldn’t have uncovered by yourself, which can actually end up being useful to you.
Director Jacques Parker says, “Not only will it reveal what the dwelling is really like (warts and all) but may provide a further negotiating tool should the vendor not be aware of some faults.”
Problems with construction and build quality can also be a deal breaker if severe enough, so it’s important that you be prepared to deal with that potential heartbreak.
5. What are neighbourhood noise levels like?
Property agents can be wily with the way they schedule property inspections and open houses. What can seem like a quiet suburban street in the day can turn into the complete opposite at night, whether that’s due to rowdy neighbours, or inconsiderate motorists.
Case study:
Melinda purchased a home on a street that was very quiet and peaceful on the several occasions she visited it to inspect the home in question. However in the days following the move, she realised that she had moved to a street used as a rat-run by many commuters to avoid traffic on weekday afternoons.
Even if there aren’t any official inspections scheduled for different times of day, you should try swinging by and seeing what the neighbourhood is like in terms of noise. Noise levels are in the same basket as structural safety; they’re something you should inspect for yourself, rather than put on your list of things to ask when buying the house. You’ll be hard pressed to find a property agent who’ll be 100% honest with you about rowdy neighbours, even if they’re the noisiest bunch of uni students within a 50km radius.
6. Does the house have good natural light?
This may seem like a minor consideration, but bad natural light can really have an impact on the attractiveness of a house, even if you don’t realise it when you’re inspecting the home. The natural lighting (or lack thereof) of a house is one of those things that seems to get overlooked initially, and then noticed post-move, which can lead to some serious disappointment if it’s an area where the house doesn’t excel.
That’s why we’d definitely recommend putting natural lighting on your list of things to consider when buying a house. There’s no better way to dash your initial post-move excitement than realising that your home’s gloomy and poorly lit for a large portion of the day; it can really be a bummer!
Try to look for homes that face north for optimum natural lighting, and make sure that the house in question is well-equipped in terms of windows. All the natural light in the world isn’t worth anything if it can’t get into the house!
7. Have you checked out the following?
Here’s a list of little things to consider when buying a house which aren’t major on their own, but can definitely have an impact on the attractiveness of a potential home:
| Lights | We talked about natural lighting before, but it’s also important that the home in question has sufficient electric lighting to keep it well-lit at night. Try to see if you can inspect the home at night to see what it looks like when relying on electric lighting. |
|---|---|
| Water pressure | This may not be a concern for some, but for certain people low water pressure can be seriously irritating, and even a deal breaker in some cases! It can be hard to gauge, but try to at least have a quick look at the shower(s) and judge the water pressure that way. |
| Power supply | Power points are another thing which can cause headaches for new home owners. Make sure that any home you’re looking at has an adequate number of power points for its size, and that the power points are in suitable locations. |
| The hot water system | You might not have a distinct preference when it comes to what kind of hot water system you end up with, but different kinds of hot water systems come with different pros and cons, some of which may work well (or poorly) for you. To learn more about the differences between various kinds of hot water systems, you can read here. |
| Air-conditioning | Does the home have it? Is it split-system or ducted? Is it an efficient system or a money guzzler? Air-conditioning can be crucial to |