Hello

In my experience most buyers will tick about 7 of 10 boxes and often spend around 10-15% more than they intended to on a house. You might have a list of 10 priorities, but it would usually be fair to say that only 3 to 4 of them are absolute necessities. For example, it might be nice to be near a train line, but you only catch a train every 2 to 3 weeks, whereas it might be imperative to be close to the kids’ schools. Or it might be nice to be close to a group of shops, but it could be more important to be close to your parents. Also, one issue could be fixed with something else. An example of this could be that you don’t get your large rear yard, but you are close to parkland.

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My advice for buyers that would like to stay close to their budget is that you need to break your ten things down to three separate lists. Firstly, a list of 3 “must haves”, these things are deal breakers if you can’t get them. Your second list could be called “2 out of 3 isn’t bad”! (self-explanatory) The final list is out of 4 and could be called “it’s a bonus if we get them”. So, they are things that you can live without, but if you get 2 of them, that would be a good result.

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Some buyers spend months and even years trying to tick 10 out of 10 boxes. What can unfortunately happen is that you just get frustrated, and the market goes up in price while you are looking. It’s not my place to tell you what you can do without, but I have found over the years that a good result is ticking 7 out of 10 boxes and getting the three things that are most important to you. Sometimes, something that you miss out on can be obtained years later. For example, you may like a second living area and you could add this on down the track when finances allow for it. Or whilst it might be good to be near a train station if you research the area, you might find that the local bus service takes you to the places that you like to go to.

Often in today’s society we want everything, and we want it now but over life our priorities change too. We all have budgets, and we need to compromise, I just wouldn’t compromise on the things that are really important to you.