5 Tips to Find Your Dream Home

November 16, 2023

The white picket fence, the four-bed and two-bath home in the established suburbs, the modern designer property in a new suburb – everyone’s idea of their dream home is different. That means you’ll have your own unique criteria for finding the ideal property.

To help get you started, we’ve put together five tips on how to find your dream house – so you can start your home-buying journey with confidence!

Do Your Research

Before you start perusing listings online or viewing new master-planned communities, do your homework so you are fully prepared once you start looking at homes in earnest. Do you know which suburb you want to live in? How long will it take to travel into the city? What amenities and public transport options are nearby, and is the suburb even walkable?

You can do so much research in your own time before actively seeking out your dream home. Plug in the postcode to see whether apps like Uber and Menulog service the area, and maybe even go for a visit in-person to see whether the suburbs feels ‘right’.

Get Your Finances in Order – and Preapproval!

What could be worse than finding the home of your dreams only to see it snapped up by another buyer because you didn’t have your finances in order?

Not only is getting preapproval highly recommended to ease the buying process, but it means you will be less stressed when visiting properties for sale and display homes. Instead of constantly worrying about whether you’ll be able to afford it, you’ll be able to focus on the most important things: like whether there are good schools and cafes in the area, how far the nearest public transport station is, and whether the neighbourhood has a community spirit.

Write Down Your ‘Must-Include’ List

What must your home have in it? If you’re looking for an established property, this might mean vetting homes depending on the fixtures and fittings included, the number of bedrooms, the speed of the internet – it depends on your needs.

Alternatively, you might want to find your dream home in a master-planned community. These new suburbs have been designed with liveability in mind, meaning everything you need will likely be close by. More importantly, buying a new house-and-land package will help ensure you get everything you’ve written down on your ‘must-include’ list.

Keep Track With Photos

If you’re visiting lots of different houses or display suites every weekend, it will probably get to the point where you start forgetting what some of the homes looked like – even the properties that felt ‘right’ at the time.

To avoid missing out on your dream home while still feeding your FOMO, start snapping photos of the properties you visit. You’ll be able to keep a ‘property diary’ to review at a later stage, and you never know how your feelings might change a few days later. Maybe that home that seemed like the dream pick won’t conjure the same feelings when you go through the photos a week down the track.

Be Particular

It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for a home in an established suburb, a brand new property in a new community, or a block of land so you can build your dream house – it’s important that you don’t compromise on what you want.

Being particular about the type of property you want can get challenging with established homes, especially if your ‘must-have’ inclusions are suddenly pricing you out of your dream suburb. That’s why buying in a master-planned community gives you much greater choice. You can work with the sales agent, builders and designers to customise your property, and even choose the type of fixtures (e.g. energy-efficient) to include.

After all, it’s your dream house – you should get exactly what you want.

Central to everything the Sunshine Coast has to offer, Harmony perfectly encapsulates the desirable coastal lifestyle. Boasting a unique casual culture that is also genuine and welcoming, living at Harmony means you are part of a connected community.

Enquire today to learn about buying in our master-planned community.