Canberra real estate

Traditionally, buying and renting in Canberra can be an expensive exercise; even more so when you seek out the more affluent suburbs. Public servants and those with a higher disposable income drive up the house prices.

This can make buying or building a new home in Canberra quite difficult. With tighter lending criteria these days to add into the mix, you'll need a substantial deposit to even loan approval.

Sneaky real estate agent tricks

Some people think real estate agents are lower than a snake's belly in a wheel rut. While this may be an unfair generalisation and not every real estate agent in Canberra is unscrupulous, it pays to be wise to some common tricks and traps.

First of all, remember their job is to get the highest price possible for the seller. Remember this whenever they tell you something like: "It's a lovely place, it's a lot like mine, in fact" or "we've had a lot of interest in this place". Don't believe it, they'll tell you anything to get the sale.

If you decide to make an offer, don't feel pressured to make it higher just because the real estate agent says "oh, that's too low, they'll never accept it". By law, the agent must pass on all offers to the vendor.

*Special offer for a limited time. Standard listing price $149/year.