NSW Syd inner west/south $700k, 2bdr unit

First time buyer and total newbie.
Looking for an apartment, 2 beds and a lock up car space. Will be PPOR at first, turned to IP after a year or two.

Happy to renovate. Prefer older style but open to options.

Would love Marrickville, Earlwood, Summer Hill but may be a stretch?

Domain is turning up hits in
Bexley, Rockdale, Brighton-Le-Sands which I don’t mind.

have also seen Campsie, Canterbury, Wolli creek (very new) etc but not as fond of those areas.

Would love Earlwood, Dulwich Hill, Marrickville but may need to stretch the budget too far?

 

Finance first. Have a broker? Understand pros and cons of offset accounts and how they help you upgrade later?

Understand the nsw buying process? Cooling off, 0.25% deposits, conditions, long or short settlement, what the market is like now? Get rp data on sold properties for the last month or two in those areas to get a feel, adjust for market conditions (in the current market, probably adjust down).

there are 3 or 4 things you need to research before actually looking at property.

Understand finance and legal process, have a solicitor and building and pest inspector ready, understand whether asking prices might be high or low.

extra round: think about future strategy. Ips? Move out of this and make it an ip? What will you do after buying this? Whats your attitude towards debt? You want to change that? Goal? How do you get there? Often people invest for capital gains when they are young and can borrow money, then sell down to buy higher yield stuff when older. Is that the plan?