Smart ways to find great first home value

Sometimes trying to find that perfect first home can seem like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially when you have a tight budget!

You don't need to go to school to get home loan smarts, however, as there are lots of ways of finding great value at a good price.

Here are some tips!

Look for a suburb on the make

Take a leaf out of the property investor playbook and think about how popular suburbs will be five years from now, ten years and twenty years from now.

You don't need to be a savant to figure this out – start reading property blogs, the real estate columns in your local newspaper and get your hands on as many statistics as you can!

Just because you buy a house in an area not considered super desirable right now doesn't mean that in a few short years it may have jumped in value and attractiveness.

Think potential

Just as with the area around the house you buy, the house itself needn't be restricted by its current proportions or appearance.

Renovations and improvements can do wonders with even the most basic of structures – so keep that in mind when house hunting.

Potential is the name of the game here – focus more on what could be, than what is.

Buying a fixer-upper and then getting stuck in with some DIY could be cheaper and quicker in the long run than trying to find a place that ticks all your boxes.

Get home loan pre approval

Once you find a place you love, there is no guaranteeing that there won't be a bunch of other admirers circling in at the same time.

Rather than find out the hard way that all's fair in love and buying property, get your first home loan pre-approved so that when you get to this point you can show sellers you are a serious buyer.