The market has been so strong in Victoria, you may be feeling like it’s becoming harder to find your dream home. It’s a process we go through with many of our clients and it’s important that you work through your criteria in a way that will make it possible for you to enter the property market – after all does the “dream home” really exist or is it something you have to make your own?

1. Decide on your non-negotiables

These aren’t your nice to haves – these are the fundamentals that will really impact your lifestyle and relationships. Some people will want to be social and be close to their friends, others prefer more privacy and space to move. People with children may need a specific number of rooms or location to certain schools, or others might want to be closer to work. Whatever the situation, you need to decide on the kind of lifestyle you want to live and what that looks like realistically with your budget.

2. Understand your budget and search criteria

Once you really have a grip on your budget and fundamentals you can start drilling down into suburbs or locations and the type of property you want to live in. We recommend writing down the features you love and also being clear on your price range, location, dwelling size or lot size as well as style of living. This will give you a great indication about how you want to live and enforce what the ‘must haves’ are and what you may need to compromise on. It will also help with your search online – after all, there’s no point searching for properties that don’t fit within your criteria.

3. Fear of missing out

We all know that one friend or family member who got that once in a lifetime deal to secure their dream home. Are you holding on to the expectation that you will get the same deal even though their purchased their home 10 years ago? The market has changed dramatically in the last five years let alone a decade, and with varying circumstances you may be holding on to an expectation that may not be viable. We all want great value for our purchase, so we recommend you take out the emotion when planning your search, this will really help with your property criteria and keep you focused on your outcome and priorities.

4. You’re searching for your “forever home” when you are a first home buyer

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Not many people buy one home and live in it forever, so if you’re looking for your forever home and you haven’t even stepped a foot on the property ladder you may want to revisit your expectations. When you think about it, there’s no such thing as a forever home. There may be times where you have outgrown your home and need to upsize and there may be a time where you have to downsize to something more low maintenance. Trying to find that “family” home on a first home buyer budget may just be making your property search harder for you. If this is you, take some time to map out your short term and long term plan for the future to include career, family and lifestyle. The worst thing you can do is let fantasies impair your judgment when purchasing a large asset.

Read more about buyers agents:

First-home buyers: know your market

Where to look for property in 2017: Simon Cohen of Cohen Handler

Tips from a buyer's agent