With interest rates low and economic prospects looking better, the number of first-time buyers is rising again. But most are still looking for “bargains” and in this respect they might want to take a tip from best-selling author and motivational speaker Harvey Mackay (Swim with the sharks without being eaten alive).

He suggests searching in up-and-coming suburbs where creative people are settling. “The pattern in urban revival is always the same: first come the artists - writers, painters, art directors and photographers who are looking for cheap space, for each other and for that certain cachet that their eyes can detect before ours can.

“Then come the galleries and the restaurants, then the boutique advertising agencies and small architects who want to give off an aura of artiness. Then come the yuppies. Then come the tourists.

“And with every new wave, property values go up. Until eventually, the artists who started it all get priced out of the market and have to go somewhere else.”

Chas Everitt International CEO Berry Everitt says such areas are also, of course, the haunts of career renovators – “those who not only love turning sad old homes into cheerful, desirable properties, but who also know how to make decent profits doing so”.

And, he notes, their advice on what novice buyers should be looking for includes the following:

• Learn to spot the best prospects - homes with peeling paint, overgrown gardens and tatty roofs but sound structures;
• Look for a good, “liveable” floorplan;
• Also look out for homes with shabby or outdated décor where the only changes needed may be cosmetic;
• If remodelling is necessary, try to contain it within the existing exterior walls;
• Make an offer to purchase immediately you find a good renovation prospect, as they are not so plentiful as one might imagine.