📝 Home Buying Tool

Property comparison sheet

Use this worksheet to compare up to three properties side by side. Score the same criteria, apply weights where needed, print the sheet, and keep the decision anchored in what matters rather than whichever inspection happened last.

Best time to use this sheet

Once you are actively inspecting properties. It is most useful after the financial guardrails are already set, because then the sheet is comparing realistic options instead of fantasy ones.

Property Comparison Sheet
Score up to three properties side by side
Field
Price
Price fit
Location
Condition
Commute
Growth outlook
Unweighted total252525
Weighted total606060
Notes

What to capture while inspecting

Does the layout work for the way you actually live, not just how the property is styled?
What maintenance looks obvious now, before a formal building report lands?
Would the commute and local amenity still feel acceptable six months in?
Which property feels strongest once the emotional pull is stripped back and the same scorecard is applied?

Use notes for anything a score alone cannot hold: smell, noise, awkward layout, or subtle condition issues.

Why this sheet matters once inspections start stacking up

Property choice tends to get less rational as the process speeds up. Buyers start with a checklist, then gradually shift toward instinct, urgency, or fear of missing out. A comparison sheet does not remove judgment. It improves it by making the trade-offs visible in one place.

This is particularly useful when the decision is not really “good house or bad house” but “better layout versus better location”, or “lower price versus lower future maintenance risk”. A weighted sheet gives those trade-offs somewhere concrete to land.

If you are comparing suburbs as well as properties, pair this worksheet with the suburb comparison tool so the location decision and the property decision are not getting mixed together.

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Frequently asked questions