I bought a unit in Sydney in 2021, and I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by how many different signals we had to pay attention to.
You’ve got agents in your ear. You’ve got pressure from the world to jump on the property ladder. And underneath it all is a general disillusionment with how brutal the market is. In the middle of all that, I found I didn’t have enough agency, or enough belief in myself, to make the right decision.
The unit we loved
We ended up buying a unit we loved. But five years later, I’m coming to regret that decision, mostly because of how it’s performed financially. (Waah. Everyone wants house prices to go down except their own, right?)
Looking back, the problem wasn’t a lack of information. It was too much of it. I had so many things flying in my face that applying logic and reason felt impossible. I couldn’t tell what was worth listening to and what was just nitpicking.
A spreadsheet for a friend
A few years after we bought, a friend asked me for help. He and his partner were inspecting houses and wanted a way to evaluate each one against what they both actually wanted. So I made him a spreadsheet.
That was my light-bulb moment. I realised I could make something to share with others.
The idea is simple. Work out what matters to you, and how much it matters. Then see how each property lines up against those preferences. That’s what compareyourrealestate.com does.
Now, I’m not saying your gut isn’t important. But everyone around you is pulling on your heartstrings, so it’s easy to let that feeling take over. If you’re like me, having a baseline to validate your decision against could really help.
A quick disclaimer
I’m by no means a property expert. I’m just somebody who has worked in various tech roles throughout my career, and I love building things. Hopefully this one ends up being useful to somebody.
What’s next
I’ll be writing more posts about what I’ve observed in the industry, what a good inspection checklist looks like, and the relationship and emotional journey of buying a property.
For now, I hope you enjoy compareyourrealestate.com. I’d love to hear your opinions on what you’d like to see on the platform. Drop me a line at support@compareyourrealestate.com.