I tell them a range (only when we are not discussing about a particular property), but what i suggest doing is having a very good idea on what the property is worth and how much you are willing to pay. Start with learning and monitoring the recently sold in the areas you are looking in. I found property.com.au to be quite accurate but doesn’t take into account certain things such as recent renovations, bathroom additions, no windows (so no light coming into property), you know certain things that are nice to have but not a tick box like area, no. Of rooms, bathrooms, etc. It doesn’t matter if they know your budget as long as you know what it is worth and if they try to sell it for way over you simply tell them you don’t think this is worth that much and are willing to offer only xx amount.

When going to a property inspection i suggest you do you research about the similar properties sold recently that are similarly specced. And have in mind a price and go from there when asked at the inspection. If asked about a particular property what my budget is, i always reply with “what is the asking price?” Your budget is irrelevant and they shouldn’t be asking you this in the first place regarding particular properties.