First property: mature community or a newer townhouse further out?

With a dog I would walk the community at seven in the evening before deciding anything. Plot size on a floor plan tells you nothing about whether there is anywhere to walk, whether the paths connect, and how much shade there is in summer.

The older communities usually win on that, because the trees have had fifteen years to grow. That is the one thing a new development genuinely cannot give you yet.

Compare the actual unit, not the community and not the logo on the brochure. Two houses in the same phase can be very different buys.

The things that moved the price when I sold: plot size and shape, whether the back of the house faces another back or a road, distance to the park and the pool, and how much was still being built nearby. A mid terrace facing a service road is a different asset to an end unit backing onto green, and the listings will describe both the same way.

Ask for the master plan and count what is still to be delivered around you. Supply that has not arrived yet is the thing most first time buyers forget to look at.

Ask about drainage specifically, and ask the neighbours rather than the agent.

After the heavy rain a couple of years ago some clusters took water and others in the same community did not. In most cases work has been done since. What matters is whether your street was affected, what was actually changed, and who paid for it. It is a reasonable question to ask and you will learn a lot from how people answer it.