Step 2 of 6
Where to look: choosing a suburb and reading the listings properly
How to shortlist suburbs on evidence rather than vibes, where the listings actually live, and how to read a price guide that is designed to move.
10 min read · Written for Australian first home buyers
Choosing where to buy is the decision with the longest tail. You can repaint a kitchen. You cannot move a house closer to a train station.
This step is about narrowing to two or three suburbs you can defend with evidence, then learning to read listings for what they are actually saying.
Shortlist suburbs on evidence, not vibes
Most people pick a suburb because a friend lives there or a listing looked nice. Do it deliberately instead. Start with the constraints that do not move.
- 1Fix your commute and your budget first
Draw a travel-time circle around wherever you need to be on a weekday morning, then remove everything above your ceiling price. What remains is your real search area, and it is usually smaller than you hoped.
- 2Check what actually sells, not what is listed
Listed prices are aspirations. Sold prices are facts. Both major portals publish sold data, and state land registries publish transfers. Look at the last three months only.
- 3Walk the streets at two different times
Saturday at 11am and Tuesday at 6pm are different suburbs. Traffic, noise, parking and who is around all change. This is free and it is the step most buyers skip.
- 4Check the boring infrastructure
Flood and bushfire overlays, planned road and rail projects, school catchments, and anything the council has zoned nearby. Council planning portals are public.
Where the listings actually live
- The national portals. realestate.com.au and Domain carry the overwhelming majority of advertised stock. Set alerts with a price ceiling slightly above your budget, because guides move.
- Agency websites and mailing lists. Individual agencies often publish a day or two early. Getting on the list costs you an email address.
- Off-market and pre-market. Some properties sell before they are advertised. The only reliable way in is a relationship with local agents, which is one of the genuine advantages a buyer's agent has.
- State land registries and sold data. Useful for checking what a property last sold for and when.
How to read a price guide
A price guide is a marketing number designed to bring people to an open home. It is not a valuation, and it is not a promise.
Underquoting, meaning advertising a guide the agent knows the property will not sell for, is illegal in New South Wales and Victoria. In 2026 the New South Wales penalty rose from $22,000 to $110,000, or three times the agent's commission, whichever is greater. Enforcement has stepped up alongside it. That tells you both that the rules tightened and that the practice was widespread enough to need them.
What to do with a guide instead of believing it
- Ask the agent for the Statement of Information or the comparable sales the guide is based on
- Pull three to six of your own comparable sales from the last three months
- Adjust for the obvious differences: land size, condition, aspect, parking, floor level
- Ask what the vendor has rejected so far, and listen carefully to the non-answer
- Assume the sale price sits above the guide unless the evidence says otherwise
Picking comparable sales properly
A comparable sale is only comparable if a buyer would have seriously considered both properties. That is a higher bar than the same suburb.
| Factor | Why it moves the price |
|---|---|
| Recency | Anything older than three months is a different market |
| Land size and frontage | Drives future value more than the building does |
| Position on the street | Main road, corner, flight path and noise all discount |
| Condition | Renovated versus original can be twenty per cent apart |
| Aspect and floor level | North-facing and higher floors sell for more, consistently |
| Parking and storage | A secure space is worth real money in inner suburbs |
Mistakes that cost first home buyers money at this stage
- Searching only at your ceiling. If your limit is $800,000, guides of $800,000 are usually properties that will sell for more. Search below your limit.
- Falling for the first place you like. You will pay for that. Inspect at least ten properties before you offer on any of them.
- Ignoring the strata report because the apartment is new. Newer is not safer. The New South Wales Building Commission's 2025 survey found serious defects in 53% of the strata buildings surveyed.
- Treating the agent as an adviser. They are pleasant, knowledgeable and paid by the seller.
Common questions
Where do Australians actually find properties for sale?
The two national portals, realestate.com.au and Domain, carry almost everything. Agency websites sometimes list a day earlier, and some properties are sold off-market before they appear anywhere. Getting on agent mailing lists in your target suburbs is the cheapest way to see stock early.
Is a price guide the same as what the property will sell for?
No. A price guide is a marketing number. It is often set low to draw a crowd, and in New South Wales and Victoria advertising a guide the agent knows is unachievable is illegal. Treat the guide as a starting point and check it against recent comparable sales.
How many comparable sales do I need to price a property?
Three to six recent sales of genuinely similar properties in the same pocket, ideally within the last three months. Same suburb is not enough on its own, because one side of a main road can differ from the other by a wide margin.
What is a Statement of Information?
In Victoria, agents must give buyers a Statement of Information for residential sales showing an indicative selling price, three comparable sales and the suburb median. New South Wales is moving in the same direction under 2026 reforms. It is the single most useful free document you can ask for.
Where these figures come from
- NSW Government - tougher underquoting laws and penalties
- Building Commission NSW - research on serious building defects in strata communities
Grants, thresholds and duty rates change. Always check the current rules with the relevant state revenue office or Housing Australia before you rely on a number here.
Start with the free price check
Paste a listing and see the likely range against the guide. No account needed, no card.
Information, not legal advice. Confirm with your conveyancer before acting.