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Best place to begin is on the road. Go out to a few open houses and meet the Property Managers. Depending on the area and type of property, they will give you some ideas on how to put your application forward. Also, don’t be afraid to take on a short term lease so that you can prove yourself.

The condition of the bathroom will be the factor when selling. Consider whether the purchaser will be able to live with the bathroom as is and renovate in a year or two. If not, renovating may be the best option.

Because the purchase of a property at auction is unconditional, you need to ensure that all searches, checks and finance approvals are conducted prior to the auction. The agent and your solicitor can assist you with arranging these. Your solicitor should also seek approval for any changes to the contract from the seller’s solicitor prior to the auction (such as length of settlement, inclusions or repairs).

You should bring the confirmation of any such approved changes with you on auction day and present them to the agent if you are the successful bidder. You should also bring an acceptable form of payment to the auction – either a personal or bank cheque. A bank transfer following the auction is not acceptable.

The agent can assist you in advance should you have any concerns regarding payment of the deposit. It is possible to pre-register to bid at an auction and the agent can assist you with this. If you wish to have someone bid on your behalf, whether you will be present or not, you should let the agent know in advance so they can give you the correct forms for authorising another party to bid for you.

You should always let the agent know well in advance of auction day that you are intending to bid as there may be last minute changes to the contract or other developments that the agent will need to inform all interested buyers about.

On settlement day your solicitor and the buyer’s solicitor will forward to your agent notification that the property has settled. Once your agent receives these instructions in writing they are able to release keys to the buyer. The agent will not release the keys without first receiving these written instructions from the solicitors even if they have been verbally told that the property has settled. Your solicitor should also notify your agent of how the deposit funds are to be sent to you or your bank following settlement. These should be sent well in advance of settlement and you should allow a few days following settlement for the agent to be able to release these funds to you.

You are not legally obliged to reduce a tenant’s rent to compensate them for the inconvenience of intrusions such as open homes. However, in unusually difficult cases, your agent may advise you to offer the tenant a temporary drop in rent in order to get their cooperation in presenting the property at its best. This reduction is totally discretionary.

Generally, if you’re buying via private treaty (not at auction) you have the ability to set some purchase conditions. For example, you may be able to make your offer ‘subject to finance’ and ‘subject to pest and building conditions’. It’s a good idea to get your solicitor or conveyancer to look into this for you and give you advice.

When you make an offer subject to conditions you need to set a date that they expire. You’ll need to factor in the time it might take for final approval to be given. You should check that time frame with your lender too.

If the house you want is being sold at auction you probably won’t be able to make a conditional offer. Auction conditions usually state you must have the deposit on the day and finance secured. Even if you want to make an offer before auction, the conditions are usually the same.

The sales agent will be able to give you some guidance as to where an acceptable value lies, taking into consideration the interest from other buyers, the seller’s expectations, recent comparable sales and other properties currently for sale.

It is advisable to maintain contact with the agent leading up to the auction so you are aware of any changes in what the property will likely reach on auction day. The agent will also be able to give you feedback on whether the price you are prepared to pay is within the likely selling range. When determining what you’re prepared to pay you should consider where you see value compared to other properties.

Best idea is to speak to your agent. They’ll know the area best and can help direct you according to the type of buyer you’re hoping to attract. Always best to have a clear space for buyers to walk through the home easily.

If you are the highest bidder at auction you will need to hand over a deposit of 10% of the purchase price on the day. This can be in the form of a personal or bank cheque – a bank transfer is not acceptable.

The deposit is paid to the seller’s real estate agent or solicitor who will place the money into a trust account until settlement, when the balance of the purchase price is paid. The interest earned on this deposit is shared equally between vendor and buyer.

An Unconditional Contract of Sale is accompanied by a Section 66W Certificate which your solicitor or conveyancer will provide you with. This effectively waives the five day cooling off period of the standard Contract of Sale for a private treaty sale, and the contract is unconditional once exchanged. This means there is no backing out without serious financial consequences!