Cody Renouf, 23, pleaded guilty to nine charges, relating to three separate incidents, at the Ballarat Magistrates Court.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Mitchell Prewett said Renouf and his co-accused, who was the tradesman, drove to the victim's house on December 30 while the victim was holidaying overseas.

He said they did a lap of the block before Renouf exited the car and made his way to the property which was under construction.

Senior Constable Prewett said Renouf went to the garage side door, pulled out a jemmy bar and forced the door open, damaging the lock and door.

He said Renouf tried to get inside but a piece of furniture blocked him from entering.

The victim's home security alerted him to the break-in and as he was overseas, his sister was also alerted. Police arrived a short time later and got a still image from CCTV.

Senior Constable Prewett said the image showed Renouf wearing a hoodie and black pants and gloves. Police members located Renouf and the co-accused.

He said the attempted burglary occurred after the victim spoke to Renouf's co-accused, a tiler working at the victim's property, about unsatisfactory work on the house and he was asked to stop working there.

The co-accused then sent a text message to Renouf telling him the victim was away on a holiday.

In another incident on February 28 at 10.30pm, Renouf attended the front door of a Drummond Street, Ballarat, house and started knocking on the door.

Senior Constable Prewett said the victim and her twin daughters were asleep. He said 10 minutes later, the victim heard persistent light knocking and she looked out of the window.

She then heard someone play with the door handle before seeing a man standing at the door. The victim heard a chipping sound, which became louder and stronger.

Senior Constable Prewett said the victim telephoned her husband, who was not at home, and police were contacted.

He said police attended and saw Renouf running from the property along Drummond Street. He was found carrying a black face mask, bumbag and gloves.

Renouf was taken to the Ballarat Police Station where he refused to be interviewed. He was on bail at the time of the offending.

Defence barrister Cameron Baker told the court in relation to the Drummond Street incident, his client was not wearing the items he was found with but he had pleaded guilty to going equipped to steal.

He said Renouf's family lived across the road and his friends lived two doors down from the victim's house, and he had gone to the wrong house.

Mr Baker said Renouf had stable accommodation at his father's house and his appointments with a psychologist started on Wednesday.

Magistrate Ron Saines said he regarded Renouf's situation as "quite serious" because it was "premeditated acts of dishonesty". He said he did not ignore Renouf's impoverished upbringing.

The magistrate said it would be unjust to sentence Renouf to prison and derail his vocational opportunities. He said there was a strong case for imprisonment, but there needed to be more time for Renouf to continue making changes to his life.

Renouf's bail was extended and his sentence was deferred until December 8. He pleaded guilty to nine charges, including attempted burglary and going equipped to steal.

Renouf's co-accused has his matter listed at court.

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