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6 things people forget when buying their first home

Published on December 3rd, 2020
  Written by 
Bill Tsouvalas
Bill Tsouvalas is the managing director and a key company spokesperson at Savvy. As a personal finance expert, he often shares his insights on a range of topics, being featured on leading news outlets including News Corp publications such as the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun, Fairfax Media publications such as the Australian Financial Review, the Seven Network and more. Bill has over 15 years of experience working in the finance industry and founded Savvy in 2010 with a vision to provide affordable and accessible finance options to all Australians. He has built Savvy from a small asset finance brokerage into a financial comparison website which now attracts close to 2 million Aussies per year and was included in the BRW’s Fast 100 in 2015 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. He’s passionate about helping Australians make financially savvy decisions and reviews content across the brand to ensure its accuracy. You can follow Bill on LinkedIn.
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When it comes to buying a property, being caught off guard can determine a range of unexpected expenses. Purchasing a house is rather challenging; however, when you know what you’re doing, things go down your alley.

Matters such as loan pre-approval, lender’s mortgage insurance, stamp duty tax, conveyancing, contract of sale and professional inspection shouldn’t be undermined. Nonetheless, these get often forgotten.

Some quick stats about home buying

  • The numbers of first-time house buyers have dropped significantly. In July 2016, the statistics recorded 14.1 percent of Aussies.
  • New home sales grew by 2.7 percent in September 2016.
  • According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, annually, residential property prices increase.

It goes without saying that purchasing your first home is a time of excitement. Nonetheless, it can also be disorienting. Hence, apart from our tips, we would advise you to ask for the assistance of a loan specialist. What other practices do you think first-time home buyers should embrace? Make sure you communicate your opinion in the comment section.

Not anymore, we present to you a checklist you should follow if you’re in the market for buying a house.

Loan pre-approval

Although this may seem rather obvious, many Aussies forget to obtain a home loan pre-approval. This paper should state the amount you may borrow. This way, you can establish a realistic budget for your financial situation. Plus, it proves real estate agents you are a reliable buyer.

Lender’s mortgage insurance

In the case in which you want to borrow more than 80 percent of the total worth of the house, you’ll be required to pay Lender’s mortgage insurance. This provides the lender protection in the event in which the borrower fails to complete the payments. Ideally, you should save up for a larger deposit, to get around this necessity.

Stamp duty tax

Stamp duty is a tax assessed on the majority of property purchases made in Australia. The sum depends on the price of the property, the territory, and state in which you dwell. Nonetheless, note that it must be paid on settlement; hence, make sure you don’t overlook it. Read your complete guide of stamp duty via our article.

Contract of sale

When you finally get to purchase your dream home, because of the excitement, you may overlook analysing the contract of sale. Ideally, you should have it reviewed by a reliable, professional conveyancer before you proceed to make an offer. If you’re determined to purchase the property, we advise you to ask for a copy of the contract.

Professional inspection

Even though a house may look impeccable from the outside, you should always consider having a qualified professional inspect the property before sealing the deal. Hidden problems such as structural damage, rising damp, and pests are immediately noticed by a professional. This is a practice that may save you considerable amounts of money, in the long run.

Conveyancing

Conveyancing is known as the legal process that passes on the ownership rights from the seller to the buyer. This is a complex and lengthy process; hence, it would be best to look for a reliable professional to cope with the formalities on your behalf.

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This guide provides general information and does not consider your individual needs, finances or objectives. We do not make any recommendation or suggestion about which product is best for you based on your specific situation and we do not compare all companies in the market, or all products offered by all companies. It’s always important to consider whether professional financial, legal or taxation advice is appropriate for you before choosing or purchasing a financial product.

The content on our website is produced by experts in the field of finance and reviewed as part of our editorial guidelines. We endeavour to keep all information across our site updated with accurate information.

Approval for home loans is always subject to our lender’s terms, conditions and qualification criteria. Lenders will undertake a credit check in line with responsible lending obligations to help determine whether you’re in a position to take on the loan you’re applying for.

The interest rate, comparison rate, fees and monthly repayments will depend on factors specific to your profile, such as your financial situation, as well as others, such as the loan’s size and your chosen repayment term. Costs such as broker fees, redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, aren’t included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts may result in a different comparison rate.

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