Buying a Home Smart Guide
Guide Index
- 1 How much can I borrow?
- 2 Choosing a lender
- 3 Types of loans
- 4 Finding your dream home
- 5 Buying your home
- 6 Paying off your mortgage
Checklist
- Make a list of the things on which you wont compromise. Some considerations are:
- Number of bedrooms
- Size of backyard
- North-east orientation
- Freestanding or semi-detached
- Off-street parking
- Bath or shower
- Built-in wardrobes
- Storage
- Sources of external noise
- Proximity to shops
- Proximity to schools
- Public transport
Get Smart
- Tools
- Go to Baycorp Advantage for a credit check, at www.mycreditfile.com.au.
- Find out more about the first-home owner grant at www.firsthome.gov.au.
Tips
Dont compromise on what you need in a house just because youve fallen in love with one. It may have a lovely garden, but dont let that blind you to the fact you need three bedrooms, not two. Youll only end up moving or renovating, at vast expense.
4. Finding your dream home
What youll learn in this step: Do your research on house prices, and consider using a buyers agent.
You have the finance lined up it's time to start house hunting. You may know where you want to live and the type of dwelling you want freestanding house, semi or unit. But whether you can buy that type of property in the area you like is another matter.
Before hitting the pavement, it pays to do a bit of research on current house prices. You can keep an eye on sale and auction results in the papers, or buy reports on specific suburbs from researchers like Australian Property Monitors Home Price Guide (www.homepriceguide.com.au). Talk to real estate agents and attend auctions.
If prices are looking a bit rich in your suburb of first choice, you might consider moving your target just a few kilometres to a neighbouring suburb. You could save a substantial sum by living alongside, rather than in, a trendy suburb.
Or you could lower your sights, from a freestanding house to a semi perhaps it all comes down to how willing you are to compromise.
Buyers agents
You could also narrow down your search by using a buyers agent or advocate. Popular with wealthier buyers and those overseas or interstate, advocates are also used by people at the lower end of the market who dont have the time or inclination to house hunt.
Buyers advocates act on your behalf, sniffing out properties that meet your criteria and, if you wish, making an offer or bidding at auction on your behalf. All this for a fee, of course.
Advocates argue that they save buyers time and money (even after their fee), by filtering out unsuitable properties, by knowing the market and by helping you to stick to your price limit.
They argue that real estate agents have a conflict of interest because their role is to achieve the best result for the seller, not the buyer. Estate agents may suggest properties and offer advice, but in the end keeping you happy is only with the aim of keeping the seller happy and earning their commission.
- Other home buying guides and factsheets
- Before you buy
- Searching the title
- Top ten home buying questions
- Conveyancing - who does it?
- Conveyancing - what to do?
