I'm officially a home owner. It's a weird thing to think about.
The process was daunting but overall I think we were pretty lucky. We went to a mortgage broker to get our finance done. We then had about 2-3 months of serious house hunting. That involved shortlisting homes using Domain and then going to inspections. The inspections would usually be a 4 hour ordeal on a Saturday morning plus a couple of quick ones during the week.
We went to 2 auctions as serious bidders. One we were completely blown out of the water. The other we only lost by about $5k. We also put in 3 offers with the final one being successful.
We preferred putting in offers especially for homes that were up for private sale. The process was just so much more relaxed. This was helped as we got to know the agents in our areas of interest better.
As time went on our idea of "what we wanted" become clearer. I think spending time looking is important for first home buyers with little knowledge of the market. With every inspection and experience putting offers in you learn more.
We now have a 3 month settlement period which will be great to save up some money. Looking forward to moving in and having our own home.