Around the time I started looking to buy my first home this year, this masthead published a special investigation into Australia’s property market – and how home buyers are bidding blind, especially in Sydney.

I should have heeded the warning.

We already know the country’s supply of housing is cooked, with many first home buyers locked out of home ownership. But the process of buying a home is much more costly than just paying for a conveyancer, stamp duty, and the exorbitant cost of the property itself.

Home ownership rates have fallen to historic lows, and individuals without access to the bank of mum and dad are finding it increasingly difficult to get a mortgage.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Crucially, it costs us time: something we can’t get back. And far more of it than is necessary.

Over the past few months, I’ve been to dozens of inspections on my weekends and registered to bid at many of those going for auction – seemingly in my price range. Plenty, of course, didn’t list a price range, so I would have to email the real estate agent and try to keep tabs on the prices they pinged back.

Of course, participating in an auction, like agreeing to buy something second-hand on a platform such as Facebook Marketplace, means you accept that the outcome is uncertain – to a degree. It’s impossible to know if an especially eager, loaded bidder might rock up and throw a ridiculously high bid at the auction on the day – just as it’s impossible to know if that old couch you want to pick up actually exists, if it looks the same as it does in photos, and if another buyer might pick it up before you.

While it is easy to blame the real estate agents, most of them are just playing the game.Credit: Peter Rae

But I’ve attended far too many auctions where the price range advertised has been well below what the seller is looking for.

It’s like when people label items they’re........

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