First Home Buyer Tips
Buying your first home is an incredible achievement. However, the process isn’t as simple as choosing a property and signing a contract. It involves strategic planning to ensure that you’re buying the right home for your needs.
Before you buy a home, you need to ensure you’re well prepared. Here’s our top 4 tips to help you.
Tip 1: Save as much as possible
This seems like a simple tip, but it’s really the first and most important step before buying a home. Home loan repayments aren’t cheap, and you’ll need to make them on top of your usual weekly expenses.
Take a look at some online budget calculators to determine exactly how much you’re spending each week, and then you can get a better idea of how much you can afford to pay back each month on a home loan. You could also choose to talk to a financial advisor to help you work out how much you can afford.
It’s a good idea to try and live on your new budget for a few months (factoring in your home loan repayments), to see if this is a sustainable lifestyle for you. You may realise you can afford higher home loan repayments, or you may decide you need to look at some less expensive properties.
Tip 2: Set a realistic deposit target
Working out what deposit you can afford can be done in a variety of ways. First, find out if you’re eligible for the First Home Owners Grant, as this lump payment of $10,000 can be used toward your deposit.
Tip 3: Take a look at your credit history
Before approaching any lenders, you must ensure that your credit history is as clean as possible. This means paying off or reducing any outstanding debts you have. The combination of regular savings, a strong credit rating and a steady employment history will help you secure a good home loan when you decide to buy. Lenders will want to know that you’re a reliable person with a consistent income before they approve your loan application.
Tip 4: Apply for a home loan pre-approval
This will give you an indication of how much money you can borrow from a lender. With this figure in mind, you can begin confidently searching for properties that you know are in your price range.
However, it’s also important to be aware of the additional costs involved in buying a home. These include legal fees, stamp duty, moving costs and charges for connecting utility services like electricity or gas. Make sure you factor those costs in as well in your home-buying decision.
How we can help
Taking out a first home loan can be daunting. At Wisebuy Investment Group in Newcastle, our experienced and licensed brokers can help you to find the right home loan for your needs. We can also help you with your loan application. And best of all, our service is free!
Contact us to find out how we can help you!
