Pierce Brosnan is one of many actors to play James Bonds to exude utter coolness.

If you want to save money buying and financing real estate, you’ll need to channel your inner Fonz, Bond and Iceman.

One of my favourite recent TV ads showed an excited woman wandering through a house inspection crying “Oh my God” in every room, signalling her love of the property to the agent and destroying her chances of getting a good deal.

The Fonz would say that sort of behaviour is “wrongamundo”, Iceman would declare he doesn’t like her because she’s dangerous, while Bond probably would share an inappropriate sexist comment that you can’t really get away with these days.

Keeping cool in property purchases is not as hard as it might seem.

On the finance front, it’s important to be prepared and know what the mortgage market is offering. That will allow you to bargain with your own bank or a potential new lender and threaten to walk if they don’t look after you.

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There are plenty of comparison websites that give a good idea of the deals available, but always make sure you are comparing apples with apples. That includes not just the interest rate but other fees and charges that can increase your overall cost.

Competition is intense at the moment and loan experts say the right borrowers are getting big interest rate reductions. Of course, being able to back up your coolness with a large deposit or lots of existing equity will help your grab the best deal.

When it comes to buying, experts say a good way to save money is to say as little as possible to the selling agent at an inspection or over the phone.

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Real estate author and buyer’s agent Patrick Bright says you should never disclose your motivation for buying, and never be the first to name the price.

“If you are interested in the property, tell the sales agent that you are and that the property is ‘comparable’ to others that you’ve seen, and leave it at that,” Bright says. Always appear as an indifferent buyer.

Never disclose your budget or the maximum you are prepared to pay, Bright says, because the agent will then try to extract every cent of it.

“Never tell a selling agent that you’ve already sold. They will assume that you are a highly motivated buyer.

“Always wait until you’ve left the premises to discuss the positives and negatives you see. The sales agent will be listening out for information that will assist them in negotiations down the track.”

Bright says if you love a property, keep it to yourself. That means no “Oh My Gods” and no getting shaken and stirred by the high-stress environment of negotiating your largest-ever purchase.

If you can stay cool, you’ll get the thumbs up from Fonzie, a licence to save money from James Bond, and Iceman will let you be his wingman anytime.