Investigate property price trends
It�s worth getting a feel for the market before you start looking. Luckily, a raft of high-tech websites now give you access to the kind of detailed house price data that was once the preserve of agents and mortgage lenders.
The Land Registry collects official data on real sales, recording virtually every residence sold. Its House Price Index gives average house prices by country and region, breaking them down into different property types.
Stats geeks will enjoy Lloyds' housing research, which features its official house price index, a regional house price map and average prices by postcode. There�s a full list of tools in the Free House Price Valuations guide.
Scour for suitable properties
Gone are the days when peering into estate agents� windows was the only way to see how much folks were advertising a house for. There are a plethora of property search sites out there, though do remember asking prices are often wildly optimistic, showing what the seller wants for the property, not what they�ll get.
Rightmove
The daddy of these sites, Rightmove is one of the best places to compare homes on the market. As well as a dizzying number of properties up for grabs, it plots listings on a Google map for ease. For the best results, turbo charge it with the ingenious Property-Bee Firefox add-on below, to see how sellers have altered listings and dropped prices.
Globrix
Close behind is Globrix. This is an excellent option if you're looking for a particular type of home, as it allows you to narrow searches by period, eg, Georgian or Victorian, as well as detailed criteria such as wooden floors, balconies, garden size or even swish cribs with swimming pools.
It includes an interactive Google search map that plots where pads are for sale, so you can hone in on your favourite roads.
Home.co.uk
MoneySavers also rate Home.co.uk. The site can be clunky, but includes reams of data alongside the listings, including how the asking price compares with others in the town and postcode.
Another useful function is that you can click on homes' 'price histories', to see how the asking price has shifted. Other home search sites worth a look are Teamprop, PrimeLocation and Findaproperty.
PropertyBee
Finds properties that've dropped asking prices
One of the best property tools we�ve seen, Property-Bee is a free add-on for web browser Firefox. It works with property listing site Rightmove to show you how sellers alter their listings, including, crucially, price cuts.
You can see when the seller put the property up for sale; each time they cut the price and by how much; and if it was taken off the market and put back on. These are all useful bargaining chip in purchase negotiations, yet whether you�re buying or not, the results are fascinating.
Installing is incredibly simple: if you don�t already have FireFox, head to mozilla.org and follow the prompts to install (read Best Web Browsers guide). Then go Property-Bee and hit the �download� button on the left. Follow the prompts and restart Firefox. Go to Rightmove, do a search and the sellers� alterations will magically appear.
Repossessed property buying tools
It�s possible to pick up repossessed
or distressed sale properties at up to 30% off the market price. For
those willing to put the work in, both on research and repairs, these
can represent some of the best buys on the market. For a full guide
to how it works and how to find bargains, read the full Buying Repossessions guide.
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Befriend estate agents If you're house-hunting, do remember that some properties are sold before they appear on the property sites. The way to get a heads up about these is to get in with local estate agents, so they call you as soon as they get a place on their books. Turn up on time for appointments and be polite, while maintaining a healthy scepticism.
Go leafleting.
Another way to find the home of your dreams is to write out a nice letter explaining you�re keen to buy and posting it to homes on streets you like.
Not only could you nab a fab place before it goes up for sale, but the seller may give you a discount as they save on estate agent fees.
Get a feel for the neighbourhood.
No matter how fabulous the pad, MoneySavers are unanimous that location
counts. Remember, you can�t move a home�s location, but you can
do it up. MoneySaver Ixwood puts it bluntly: �A rough house in a nice
area is much more desirable than nice house in a rough area". As well as web tools, prowl the neighbourhood on foot. Walk around and check out the parks and pubs, at different times of day. Get the lowdown from locals. Hunt for clues as to the kind of area it is. Are the cars clean and well maintained? Do you like the local shops? If you�re a total newcomer, stay over in a local B&B; to get a real feel for it.
Ask a local bobby
MoneySaver DGX has a fantastic tip to get location recommendations: �With no clue about the new area, I took a map into the police station and asked the policeman to mark down on the map "where the bobbies live" and "where they get a lot of calls". 10 years later, I still live in the same house and love the area."