Are you considering an investment property? Or perhaps you are looking for your next family home, and want to guarantee a good return when you sell in years to come?

The New Daily has compiled some rock-solid tips for selecting a property in the best area, courtesy of Real Estate Institute of New South Wales president Malcolm Gunning.

Follow the crowd

When it comes to property investing, it doesn’t always pay to stand out. Take a serious look at where everyone else likes to live.

“Where the population is most dense is [where] you’ve obviously got the highest demand,” Mr Gunning says.

“If you had to pick where is the hottest location in Sydney to lease property [it would be] Potts Point, Darlinghurst, Surrey Hills. Where’s the densest population? It just so happens to be there.”

• How you can save thousands on your mortgage
• Why the Great Australian Dream must be bigger than home ownership
• The six fatal mistakes of property investing

Established infrastructure

Shopping centres, schools, coffee shops – all of these can boost the desirability of a property if they are close by.

“You should buy where there is established infrastructure and transport,” Mr Gunning says.

Public transport

Of course, one of the most important pieces of infrastructure to look for is public transport. Other crucial facilities like schools and shopping centres will almost certainly be close by.

As an example, Melbourne suburbs like Richmond and Carlton “lease their head off”, Mr Gunning says.

“You might ask why. Because you can hop on a bus or a tram to work, and it’s easy. In fact, you can nearly walk to work. That’s why it’s so popular.”

Go for high demand

Again, keep a close eye on what everyone else is buying. If there is an oversupply of properties available in a certain area, demand could be low, which will drag down sale prices and rents.

Mr Gunning points to Docklands in Melbourne, which ticks many of the boxes above, but is probably over-supplied and best treated with caution as an investor.

“You’ve probably got some over-construction [in Docklands],” he says.

Employment opportunities

This is more important for suburbs further away from the city.

An example is Parramatta in Sydney, where “all the distribution factories and all that sort of thing are all moving to. [There is] plenty of work out there, so there’re job opportunities,” Mr Gunning says.

For reliable returns, don’t scrimp

This old adage often rings true: you have to spend money to make money.

“That’s where many investors make a mistake. They say, ‘Oh, I bought it cheap.’ But how long is it going to take to lease? And they might not get any rental growth,” Mr Gunning says.

“To go along and buy something which is very well presented, in high demand, you’re not going to get that cheap. You’re going to make money by incremental growth.

“Our most popular locations are in, really, the five kilometre ring of Sydney or Melbourne.”

For big returns, bet on growth

A somewhat riskier way to make bigger returns is to “buy the worst house in the best street”.

This property would need to tick most or all of the previous boxes, and be in a poor, but salvageable, condition. For example, a rundown apartment in a building that is in reasonable condition in a good location with high rental demand.

“If you want to be able to make a dollar, you buy old, rundown, and value add,” Mr Gunning says.

Another way to speculate on growth is to follow public transport development.

“So in Sydney, you start to look out at the new North West Rail Link. It’s an ideal place to buy because you’re going to have a direct rail link into the city. Obviously, the further you go out the more affordable it becomes. They will always be strong locations,” Mr Gunning says.