Essential Information For Home Buyers
When it comes to buying a homes, we want what is best for you so we have created a Home Buying Guide that is filled with all the essential information for home buyers. Ready to buy a home? Chat to one of our friendly agents today!
BUDGET
Knowing how much you can afford to spend on a home before you start looking will make your life easier, less stressful, and less disappointing.
1. Go Shopping For A Mortgage
Too often, home buyers leave mortgage shopping to the last minute and watch their dream home go to another bidder who already had their financing in order. Having mortgage pre-approval will present you as a serious, qualified buyer.
Tip: Don’t just check out the banks – we have relationships with professional mortgage brokers who would be happy to assist you.
2. Prepare Your Deposit
When you buy a home without a decent deposit, you risk being hit with lender’s mortgage insurance, which protects the bank against you failing to meet repayments. This can cost you upwards of $5,000.
Tip: First home buyers should aim for a twenty percent or better deposit. The more the deposit you have the better.
3. Don’t Forget About Stamp Duty
Many Australian home buyers forget to factor in stamp duty. This is a mandatory tax that varies from state to state, but needs to be paid within 30 days of settlement. Get an idea of how much you might have to pay by using the realestate.com.au stamp duty calculator.
Tip: There are certain concessions for first-time buyers, and rates vary for land purchases, so be sure to check out whether or not you are eligible for an exemption.
4. Consider Other Costs
Home buyers often get blindsided by extra costs that they didn’t plan ahead for. When you’re purchasing a property, try to forecast all future costs so you don’t cause yourself unnecessary stress later down the line. These extra costs can include:
Home & Contents Insurance
You will need to decide whether or not to take out home and contents insurance, though some lenders can insist upon it. Not having it can be risky, as it covers you for damage to the property and its fixtures. If you buy into a community titles scheme, you will still be required to ensure your own individual property and contents, while the body corporate will be expected to take out insurance for any common property.
Property Inspections
For most of our listings, we will have building and pest inspections available to potential buyers. However, you may wish to conduct your own professional inspections as well. Knowing exactly what condition the property is in will inform your future decisions, and help you to feel confident in your final offer. When getting an inspection, be sure to find out exactly what the report will cover, and what it won’t cover.
The main types of property inspections are:
Building and Pest Inspections
You can get a combined building and pest inspection. The person conducting the inspection must hold a current licence from the Queensland Building and Construction Commission. These usually cost between $400 and $600 for a standard, 3-bedroom home.
Swimming Pool Inspections
If the property has a swimming pool, the owner may provide a current pool certificate. If not, you are required to arrange for a licensed inspector to verify that it’s safe and complies with local safety regulations and attain this certificate within 3 months of purchasing a property. Swimming pool inspections can cost between $170 to $350, and inspectors must hold a current licence.
Tip: If you can’t arrange for inspections to be conducted prior to making an offer, you may still have inspections carried out during the conditional period of the agreed contract. In this instance, it’s crucial that you write conditional terms into the contract that will allow you to cancel the sale if the property gets a poor inspection report.
PROPERTY SEARCH
Once you’ve sorted your budget, it’s time to focus your energy on finding the property of your dreams. But there are many variables to consider when choosing that perfect place to call home, so it’s worth taking the time to do your homework; do you have the ability to buy a home in an area, which represents great value for money?
Where are the hot spots? Suburb choice is incredibly important when you’re looking for a place to call home. Ideally, you’ll want to be in close proximity to good schools, public transport lines, and local shops. You may also want to look into crime rates and statistics of an area, and do some research into the market value of that suburb. Click here for our in depth suburb guides (Insert link to Brisbane Market)
If you want to quickly kick off your property search, simply check out Place’s For Sale section. Select your own personal must-haves, familiarise yourself with the different styles of housing available from Colonials and Queenslanders through to Ultra- Modern, and check out what you can get for your money.
Tip: Property searches are made up of these essential elements – price range, location/suburb, dwelling size, style, and era, and land size.
FINDING AN AGENT
Building a relationship with an agent can help you to achieve your property dreams. They can help make the process easier for you by:
Finding your ideal property faster: Once a Place real estate agent knows what you are looking for, they will help you to actively search for your dream home
Preventing wasted time: Place agents will only show you properties of interest, which will ensure that none of your precious time is wasted
Making sure you never miss an opportunity: Gain access to true off-market properties, hidden gems, and little-known opportunities through our collective network
Avoiding bad decisions: Our agents are happy to share their market knowledge to ensure you make the best decision possible
Providing property expertise: When you buy with Place, you’ll benefit from our collective networks, knowledge, experience and expertise
Tip: When finding an agent, look for someone you feel comfortable and with whom you are able to easily communicate. The best place to get to know an agent is at property inspections