Last year almost 110,000 Australians bought their first home, you can too!
As Launceston’s top home loan broker, we’ve provided this quick guide to help first home buyers at each key stage of the home buying journey. This will give you a framework that you can follow when buying your first home, while avoiding costly mistakes.
Or you can also check our complete rundown on everything you need to know about first-home buyers.
Before you start hunting for your new home, the first thing you need to figure out is how much you can afford to spend.
The easiest way to do this is to add up all your current living expenses (you can use our template below) and subtract the total from your income.
The amount leftover is the amount available to put towards home loan repayments or put towards saving for a deposit.
There can be huge differences in how much you can borrow depending on the lender you apply with because of the way each lender assesses your income, debts and expenses.
If you would like to improve your borrowing power:
There are certain upfront costs when buying a property that you need to take into account.
Generally, these fees can cost up to 3%-5% of the property value with stamp duty being the most expensive single item cost. As first home buyers, you may be exempt from stamp duty. For example in New South Wales, on a $650,000 existing home purchase, first home buyers can save up to $24,585 in stamp duty.
No doubt you’ve heard of the 80/20 rule in home loans. You provide a 20% deposit and the lender will lend you the remaining 80% to make up the purchase price.
That means on a $600,000 purchase, you’d require a deposit of $120,000 (20%). That is a lot of money to save especially if you’re renting.
These days, however, first-home buyers with less than 20% saved up have a few options available to them.
First-home buyers have access to a range of government grants and schemes which can significantly reduce their property buying costs. The most prominent ones are:
The First Home Owners Grant (FHOG):
It is a one-off grant for first-home buyers purchasing a new home or building a new home.
Stamp Duty Exemption Or Concessions:
Stamp duty is exempted or discounted for first-home buyers up to a certain price threshold. The price threshold depends on the state you’re looking to buy in and whether it’s an established or new home.
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS):
This federal government scheme essentially allows first-home buyers to buy a modest home with a 5%-20% deposit while avoiding the high cost of Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance fees.
Over the years at Hobart’s own Derwent Finance, we’ve seen many first-home buyers successfully bid at auction only to get declined for a loan.
This is one of the key reasons we strongly recommend you get pre-approvals from at least two lenders before you consider putting down a deposit on a house.
A pre-approval or conditional approval simply means a lender has looked at your income, expenses, and overall financial situation, and agreed to lend you an amount towards the purchase of your home.
Our broker fees are free to you, so you are not out of pocket for our service. Click the Get Started button now.
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