Given this is your first foray in to the housing market, you will need to conduct some thorough research. One of the most important things to consider is where you want to live. If you have an idea of the area you want to live in, you can then start to get an idea of price and what you can afford. Also, visit the friendly Gregory Hills team who will be able to show you the many highlights of living in an existing community.

There are various tools out there from lending institutions that will help you calculate how much you can borrow. The best idea would be to book an appointment with your local financial institution or lending agency and have a face-to-face discussion. They will be able to ask you the right questions needed to determine the amount you borrow.

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, home buyers should aim to have 20% of the purchase price, and enough to cover ongoing costs. Obviously the more you save the less you will need to borrow.

Aside from the purchase price of the house, there are some lead-up costs that are involved. One of the biggest costs will be the deposit. While 20% of the purchase price is ideal, some lenders will accept 5%, and then you will have Transfer Duty on top which can be a few thousand dollars. Other up-front costs that may fly under the radar are:

• Legal and conveyancing fees
• Removalist and cleaning costs
• House inspections

Buying your first home can be an exciting experience. And in most cases, you want it to happen as soon as possible, and therefore patience will not be your strong point. If you have a deposit amount of between 5% and 20% and are wanting to get a home soon, you may be required to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)

The purpose of an LMI is to protect the lender against the event the borrower is unable to make loan repayments and therefore defaults on the loan. This will be a one-off payment the lender may ask you to pay.  

When the time comes to choosing a mortgage there is a good chance that you will need to decide been a fixed or variable home loan/mortgage. As it sounds, a fixed rate home loan is where the interest rate is fixed for a set period of time – often 1,3 or 5 years. Therefore, if interest rates rise, yours will remain the same. However, if they drop, yours will remain the same. 

A great benefit of fixing your interest rate is knowing what you are paying. This helps with budgeting for your repayments, upcoming expenditures and savings.

As for variable interest rates, once again, they are as they sound. As the rate is not fixed, it will rise and fall with the market, meaning your payments will vary over the term of your loan. When rates drop that means your payments drop as well, which is one of the main benefits behind variable rate loans. Others include:

• Extra repayments at no extra cost
• Have more features like unlimited redraws on additional repayments, or the ability to save on interest by setting up an offset account. 
• Easier and cheaper to switch loans if you find a better deal elsewhere.

It’s an account that is linked to your home loan in a way that it reduces the amount of interest you have to pay. Simply put.

In essence, it’s a savings (offset) account linked to your home loan. For example, if you have a home loan balance of $200,000 and have $10,000 in your offset account, you’ll only pay interest on a home loan balance of $190,000. The more savings you have in your offset account, the more money that is paid off the interest of your loan.

Generally, this will be determined by your financial institution, based on the requirements of your loan approval process. For most loans, settlement can take 14-21 days for unconditional financial approval. If you have someone going guarantor, or buying through a trust, you will find this can add days or even weeks to the settlement period. 

Property settlement is a legal process that is facilitated by your legal and financial representatives, as well as those of the seller. This is when ownership passes from the seller to the buyer, and the balance of the sale price is paid. The seller will set the settlement date (settlement day) in the contract of sale. Generally, the settlement process can take 30 to 90 days, but can be longer or shorter depending on the situation. 

To determine if a longer settlement is required, it’s best to speak to your solicitor or conveyancer, who will be able to advise or negotiate on your behalf.

Getting a pre-approval is a very valuable thing to have done before applying for a home loan. Why? Because when you get a pre-approval, the lender will check your credit history and have verified your documentation to approve a specific loan amount. 

Knowing the amount you are able to borrow gives you more confidence when house hunting, because having an understanding of your financial limits will help refine your search, saving you time. Time will also be saved when you move on a property, as the pre-approval process has taken you further down the purchase path already. One of the greater benefits to a pre-approval is that it gives you greater appeal to sellers as it will confirm how serious you are about buying, and there is less chances of your offer being withdrawn due to a lack of financing.

They are a financial adviser specialising in helping people find a home loan. They will get to know you, your needs and your budget, then start researching the right type of loan that will benefit you. Once that has been done, you can have them stay on to help manage and facilitate the application process.