Buying your first home

Budget
Your budget will have a big impact when it comes time to purchasing a property. The way you budget will have an affect on the amount you can save for a deposit, which will impact the amount you can borrow and how much interest you will pay. Ensure your budget is helping you to make regular savings deposits. A solid track record of employment and a history of regular savings in your bank account can make it easier for you to get a home loan.

Research
Research the property market you are wanting to buy in to ensure you are across price points and value. This is the time to consider looking at a number of different suburbs or areas to see the difference in pricing. Once you start to look at how much your mortgage repayments will be you may be prepared to make a compromise on property price to help keep your repayments realistic. 

First home buyer Government schemes
The Australian Government has two schemes to help first home buyers - the First Home Owner Grant and the First Home Super Saver scheme.

There are a number of costs associated with purchasing a property. It's important to understand these costs and how they might impact your repayments and your overall budget.

• Deposit
• Stamp Duty (tax)
• Settlement fees
• Home loan application fee
• Mortgage registration fee
• Legal fees
• Insurance
• Inspection costs
• Moving costs
• Utility connection
• Council rates
• Strata fees
• Maintenance

What is Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance?
Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance (LMI) protects lenders should their customer default on their repayments. Whether you pay LMI and how much depends on your loan to value ratio. 

What is loan to value ratio?
The LVR is the loan amount as a percentage of the value of the property. If you want to borrow $450,000 to buy a property valued at $500,000, that’s an LVR of 90%. All home loans have a maximum LVR.

Talking to a specialist lender is a great way to find out what kind of position you are in prior to making an offer on a property. Specialist lenders can help you even before you start researching properties, which is a great way to get your financial history and budget in order. 

At Heritage, our specialist lenders love helping first home buyers and can take you through the process of purchasing a property step-by-step, from saving and budgeting for a deposit, to working out which kind of loan will suit your situation.

Mortgage Brokers are professionals who can help you find the right home loan amongst a range of different lenders based on your situation. Brokers generally charge the borrower nothing for the service, as they are paid a commission by the lender when the mortgage is settled. 

 

Get pre-approval for your loan

Waiting to have your finance approved after making an offer on a property can be stressful. It can also mean you may miss out on a property if your finance is not approved.

To help you shop with confidence you can apply for a pre-approval on your loan. A Heritage lending specialist can help you through the process - phone 13 14 22 or visit your nearest branch.

The home loan application process can be a confusing and stressful time, particularly if you are waiting on approval to make a home purchase unconditional. To help make your journey easier, we've put together an application checklist. The checklist lists the documentation you will need to put an application together at Heritage Bank. As this is a guide only, it's important to talk to your lending specialist in case you may need to provide extra documentation.  

It can be disheartening to find out a loan for your first home is not approved. To keep the contract on the property you could consider having a family member guarantor for you. This means your family member can use the equity in their own home to provide additional security for part of your loan amount. Find out more about how family guarantee works at Heritage. If this is not possible, and you have no other funds available, unfortunately you may have to cancel the contract on the property. 

While this is an unfortunate circumstance, we can work with you to put a road map in place to help you secure a future property within your approval limits. This can include helping you set up the right accounts to save more money and put a budget in place. To do this, talk to one of our lending specialists.