With multiple grants and subsidies available for first home buyers, now is the perfect time to take the plunge and buy a new home. But how do you know you’re ready to take the next step? A lot of renters don’t think they’re ready and often ask us for our top first home buyer tips. They want to know if they’re ready to enter the market.
So, to help you out, Darren Walters from No1 Property Guide created this list of top first home buyer tips. As well as the best questions you can ask yourself to see if you’re ready to begin your journey into homeownership.
Have You Got the Deposit?
This is one of the more obvious questions. But if you’ve managed to save a large deposit while renting, you’re more than likely ready to buy a house. Being able to save a deposit is a great indicator that you’re good with money. There’s a reason it’s such a big deal for banks and lenders.
That said, not having a deposit doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t ready either. There’s plenty of renters who are good with money but just can’t save a deposit. No1 Property Guide has helped thousands of buyers in that exact situation with Darren Walters’ no or low deposit new home system.
Have You Done the Maths?
There’s more to owning a home than making your monthly mortgage repayments. There will be additional costs like rates, utilities, repairs, and maintenance fees. These generally aren’t anywhere near as expensive as your mortgage will be of course. But if you’re not factoring these into your plans you might find yourself in trouble down the line.
You can look into what rates are for the area you’re looking to move to. Find out how much it costs to get a plumber in. You can even talk to your potential neighbours to discuss any regular maintenance or utility costs that are common in the neighbourhood.
Also check for any additional fees that you’ll incur when building or buying a property. Some real estates or builders may charge a fee or extra for base features that any normal house will have.
At No1 Property Guide, all of our house and land packages are fixed price and fully turnkey. Meaning you’ll know exactly how much you’re paying and exactly what you’re getting from day one.
Darren has a great team around him, that in essence really do what they say they can do. We are really happy with our journey thus far and excited about our build. Communication fabulous, mitigated concerns. Well done you guys. You promised and delivered!
Mike Kelly
We can’t thank Leon, Caleb, Clay and Darren enough for helping make our dream a reality, we got unconditional approval last week and now steaming ahead to fulfil that dream. The communication has been great and regular updates have been appreciated during the first part of the journey and now we move on to land settlement and then building our own home.
Steve Allan
Do You Plan to Move Again or Are You Ready to Settle Down?
Something to consider is whether you’ve still got the itch to move or if you’re ready to settle down. Buying or building a new home is a commitment, and while property prices generally double every 10 to 15 years, it can take time for property to grow.
So, if you’re already thinking of the next place to call home before you’ve even bought one, you might want to consider the costs of selling and moving houses regularly.
Of course, if your property value skyrockets and you make money from selling it, or you’re able to keep it and rent it out as an investment property, then go for it! Darren is a firm believer that investment properties are one of the best ways to build wealth. And property prices doubling every 10-15 years backs this! In fact, we have an entire team dedicated to helping you establish an investment property portfolio if you want to.
Can You Handle the Maintenance?
We touched on this earlier, but owning your own home means you’re responsible for the maintenance of it. Be ready to fix it yourself or to pay someone who can. This can be a bit of a shock for someone who has only rented before. But with some research and general care, you’ll hopefully need minimal maintenance over the years.
Purchasing an existing home can often seem like the easiest method, but there are many cases where buying a home can end up costing you more. Thanks to hidden damage that you may need to pay to have fixed. This is especially relevant if you’re buying at auction, as you can’t back out of the sale once you win.
On the other hand, if you’ve built a brand-new home through No1 Property Guide, extensive maintenance won’t be an issue for a long time. We only work with builders that have proven track records of outstanding new home builds. And we ensure every house and land package is 100% complete and ready to live in before handing over the keys.
Read more about First Home Buyer Tips:
- What is a Good Credit Score for First-Home Buyers?
- First Home Owners Grant Increased to $30,000
- House and Land Packages Perth WA
- Self-Employed Mortgage Australia
Be Ready to Cut Back if Necessary
Living the lifestyle you want is important. But if you’re looking to buy a home, there might be times you need to cut back and be ready to save when you can. It might be to try save a bit extra for the deposit. To simply reduce your expenditure and make your repayments easier. Or you might need to cut back and save money to cover the costs for a repair after a bad storm.
Understanding that this is a possibility and being prepared to do it is the first step.
Our New Home Specialists can help advise on any changes you might need to make to afford your new home. Every situation is different and the only way to know exactly what’s possible is to assess your situation individually.
You’re Prepared to Wait
With Darren’s precise pre-qualification process, our team is able to advise you on all of your factual options faster than traditional banks or lenders. In most cases, this means you can start the process of buying your new home straight away.
But there are times you may need to wait while we help clean your credit or get you into a better position for the approval process.
Getting into your new home ASAP is the goal for everyone. But understanding you may need to wait before you can be approved for, or move into, your new home, is a great indicator that you’re prepared to build your home.
A great way to help get yourself prepared is to get pre-qualified! Knowing you’re likely to be approved for a home makes the wait that much easier to handle.
Credit Score
Most people don’t understand how credit scores work or how they affect your chances of getting approved. A good/high credit score is going to make it easier for you to get a competitive rate once approved on your home loan. At the same time, a bad credit score can make it hard to get approved. So whether you have a deposit or not, ensuring your credit file/score is in order is an important step towards buying a home.
Of course, having a low credit score isn’t the end of the world. Darren’s knowledge, along with his system, has helped hundreds of clients improve their credit file and credit score, which will help your mortgage approval and interest rate. Our pre-qualification accurately calculates your borrowing capacity and, when combined with Darren’s knowledge of lending policies, ensures you will be qualified to fit one of the lenders.
You’re Pre-Qualified
One of the best ways to know you’re ready to begin your journey into homeownership, and the last of first home buyer tips, is to get pre-qualified. This doesn’t mean you’ve been approved for a loan. But it does give you all your factual options and what you can or can’t do.
It will give you confidence when discussing floorplans with our New Home Specialists.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.