Melbourne

Step 1 - sort the money - talk to bank about borrowing limits, knowing that these can change in a blink of the eye. If you can get a guaranteed borrowing amount GET THAT IN WRITING and the expiry date. Step 2 - look at houses available. Set up list of criteria in 4 sections - 1) Must have 2) Nice 3) Nice but can do without 4) Dealbreakers. Get agreement from spouse and kids on these. Step 3 - identify possible purchase. Then get council reports, engineering reports, architectural reports - and any other reports you think apply like flood prone land, possible future freeways, asbestos and other soil contamination etc. They are cheaper than remedial works - trust me on this. Step 4 - start negotiations. If the house needs essential work, an estimate of price of the work (not from the REA) should form part of your calculations. If they want the $$ fast, expect to get a substantial discount for settlement in less than 60 days. Don't allow REA to panic you into a fast decision. You might want to employ a purchasing agent - they charge a fee but do Steps 2, 3 & 4 for you once they have your criteria. As these are the difficult bits, this might be time/hassle effective.
Step 5 - pay up. Step 6 - move in.
Step 7 - discover all the stuff that you should have done in steps 2, 3 and 4 above. Scream and regret not having a father/brother/sister/cousin with electrical/gas fitting and other general trade qualifications. Step 8 - install petunias

Source: purchased just before the pandemic. Yes I did employ a purchasing agent cos I was ignorant/out of date of all that stuff. Seamless experience which I recommend. They even went to the auction and bid for me (within the limits I'd set) so I didn't have to panic about that either.