Looking

Searching for a house to buy in Australia can be a difficult thing; Although, I guess it's not "looking for the house" that's the hard part it's securing it that can be the difficulty. It's a hot market, prices are high, (unsustainably in my opinion), and even though there's been a softening of the market in the last few months there's not much sign of prices dropping dramatically anytime soon.

I've been looking around lately myself, scanning the listings on realestate.com.au with the view to finding something suitable for one of my brothers who is actively seeking and buying. He's asked for my help; I'm well-placed to assist thanks to a job I had for twenty years.

Looking for a house can be annoying, my brother is over it, but I've been enjoying it - probably because I'm not the one actively buying. I go over the listings in the areas he's interested in every few days and have found some options and while he'll make his own choices it's my objective (and professional) opinion he's looking for in counter-balance to his own.

We've discussed a few like this one, and this one here, and one more here each of which are close to what he wants but are not quite right so he's put them aside; the search continues and in other regions also.

He and his wife are looking for acreage, meaning a large land parcel, because he wants to have some hobby-animals, a vegetable garden and other things. His mind is set on 2 hectares (4 acres) which equates to 20,000 square metres and for the right situation would compromise...that's a good thing because he's going to have to do that to secure something. He's offered on a couple already and missed out for various reasons, one he didn't offer enough and the offer on the other was just a little late and he's starting to get annoyed at the whole process which is why he's asked me to help.

Fortunately he's flexible with his needs so able to look at a wide range of properties increasing his chances. Of course, the distance to his work and his wife's business can't be compromised but they homeschool Hive account@mrbonkers (my nephew) so they don't need to factor school into it. I'm sure he'll find the right thing eventually but certainly understand the frustration he's feeling having been through it many times myself and can only imagine what it's like for others who don't have the flexibility or funds he has at his disposal.

Naturally, I don't mind helping and even though I'll not spend much time at the house he eventually buys because he lives at the other side of Australia from me looking is a bit of fun and I like being involved.

Have you ever gone through this scenario yourself? What experiences have you had while going through the process of looking for and securing your house and then how about the move itself? How did that go? Feel free to comment on that or anything you like really.