What's the process to buy my first home?

Step 1 - Establish your budget and chat to a broker:

Before you start looking for properties, it’s essential that you determine your budget. Consider your income, expenses, savings, and potential borrowing power. Discuss potential grants you may be eligible for with your broker – They’re there to ensure you make informed decisions. It is important to put the horse before the cart and work these things out so you can go to market with a realistic expectation of what you can buy.

Step 2 - Get pre-approved from the bank:

Once we’ve determined your budget, it’s time to get pre-approved from your bank! We’ll help you submit your application for pre-approval. This will help you understand what you can actually spend and give you some confidence when making an offer on a home.

Step 3 - Find the one:

The admin is out of the way, it’s starting to get exciting! Start your property search, either on your own or with the help of a buyers agent/advocate. Attend open homes, schedule inspections, and compare properties and areas to find the home that best suits your needs and budget. Be careful with agents, they can be sneaky operators. Always remember that they work for the “vendor” they’re not out there to serve you.

Step 4 - Making an offer:

Once you’ve found the one, making an offer to the agent can be done in a few different ways. Sometimes you sign a copy of the contract, and it gets sent to the vendors for review and hopefully, acceptance! Sometimes you just need to formalise your offer in an email. You can also verbally make the offer to understand if you are in with a chance.

Step 5 - Conduct due diligence:

Before the sale’s finalised, you’ll need to conduct due diligence on the property to ensure it’s up to scratch. This includes building and pest inspections, strata reports (if applicable), and contract of sale and Section 32 reviews. You don’t have to worry about it yourself, just get your conveyancer to review the contract, and the building and pest inspector will do the building report.

Step 6 - Lock it in, Eddie!:

If the property passes all due diligence checks, you’ll need to finalise the sale. This involves signing the contract of sale, paying the deposit, and exchanging the contracts with the seller.

Step 7 - Time to settle:

Most settlements are either, 30, 60 or 90 days from the date the property is “sold” to you. This allows time for people to arrange moving, packing up and organising themselves. This is also when you pay things like Stamp duty, Legal fees and Loan settlement fees. But don’t worry, between us and your conveyancer, we organise all of this for you.

Once this is done, you’ll have the keys to your new home!