House hunting requires lots of talking, reading and viewing to find what you want. Know where to look and you'll be fine.

There are a number of different ways to search:

• Drive around the area you want to live in, looking for 'For Sale' signs and details of open homes.
• Get chummy with real estate agents. Some homes are listed exclusively with one agency, so the more agents you contact the wider you’ll spread your net. They can let you know of properties that are not officially on the market too.
• Surf the net. Most of the major real estate companies have a website you can browse:
  • Barfoot and Thompson
  • Bayleys
  • Century 21
  • Eves (Bay of Plenty)
  • First National
  • Harcourts
  • Harveys
  • Just Paterson (Wellington)
  • L.J. Hooker
  • Ray White  
  • The Professionals
• Composite real estate sites like these are handy too:
  • Open 2 View
  • Realestate.co.nz
  • Search 4 Homes
  • Trade Me Property
  • The Real Estate Guide
  • All Real Estate
• Browse the real estate section of local and national newspapers. You can get a good idea of the house prices in different areas and look at them, at least from the outside, in your own time.
• Pick up free real estate publications like Property Press. You’ll find them in your mailbox, at real estate agents, on stands in the street and at places like bus and train stations.
• Pop over to open homes/viewings. These usually take place at an advertised time on weekends. Check out what to look for at open homes on our iwantahome website. Click here for our ten tricks for open homes. Oh yeah, and don't forget your buying checklist.  Return several times at different times of the day to check on key factors…like the position of the sun, noise and neighbours.

Of course searching's only half the job. You need to compare what you've seen too.

• Take notes and your camera to every open home, this will jog your memory later on, and
• Jump onto housepoints.co.nz – the online service that allows you rank and compare the features of each house you visit.

For more articles on tips and tricks about the process of buying, building or selling a home, visit www.iwantahome.co.nz. Here you’ll find all the essentials.